Parenting is the most vital work on the planet- its strength is the basis of all caring- we learn to love and heal with our parents, and we pass that on to our children. We change lives with love, at our best, and we face the deep dark demons of anger and violence at our fingertips, and usually we chose to stay our own hands and not harm our children. These are life-lessons, huge emotional and spritual brinks that we come to the edge of, face with courage and fear, and for the most part stand tall and firm on the edge with gathered strength from the experience. Standing on that firm edge is thinking better than our emotions would sometimes have us do- it is parenting with a broader view, parenting with knowledge gathered from many sources- within and without. And I think that talking about Quaker parenting is talking about standing firm on that edge...and then choosing to leap. Choosing to believe that there is more at hand, more at risk than what is immediately evident. Taking the knowledge and the intuition that help us be our best and taking it one step further, into a precious arena of wordless whispers and gentle leadings. It is what helps us to see the broader picture, and also the tiniest details. I think all this work we are involved in doing for the Quaker Parenting Project is about taking what we've learned from child psychology, from social humanism, from daily practice, and surrounding it all with spiritual silence, awaiting an opening. It is not easy to claim parenting as a spiritual journey, and standing tall and firm is an exceptional way to parent- but in this writing we are exploring the thing that parents of faith attempt, and that parents of Quaker faith attempt in our particular way- Parenting in the Light.
Posted by Cornelia at September 18, 2003 06:46 PM