What do I say about how I am handling this situation?
Hopeful?
Heartbroken? Lost?
Prayerful?
Helpless?
Stronger?
Yes, Stronger. I feel stronger from this situation. Or at least I know this situation will make me stronger. And God willing, it will make these youth stronger as well.
I feel for these youth, I really do. A good number raise themselves. I suppose this plays a big role in their behavioral development. Some don't like talking when something is wrong, like they are taught to hide their emotions. Every one of them always tries to act tough. Most of them come from broken homes. It effects them and it effects me severely. I can say I have "sympathy pains" for them. Usually when I hear people use this phrase, it's after someone takes some bodily injury in a very painful fashion and those people who spectate can "feel" how that pain felt. Emotionally, it's something deeper. I could say that "sympathy pains" have always been something that stick with me. I'm not sure what everyone else's opinions are on "sympathy pains", but for me it plays a big role in my spirituality. Those pains make me feel alive, thankful... human. I'm not saying that's what they really are, that the ability to feel "sympathy pains" MAKES a person human, it's just what makes ME feel human. For me, they make me feel connected to the people around me. A connection I cannot understand or explain without referring to God, the creator, the ever-moving force all around us. I hope you understand.
But then what is humanity? What is humane? Is it Love? Toleration? I'm sure it's the ability to feel, for everyone "feels". But I sense something savage with this situation I am in. People are different when they don't get fed, when they don't get attention, when they are always harassed, when they are forced to fend for themselves, and at such a young age, it almost makes a small amount of children uncontrollable. In this case, I am saying savage as an adjective, which is how I feel some of the youth I have to deal with are acting:
SAVAGE (ADJ) - Fierce, violent, and uncontrolled
(Google Search "Definition of Savage")
Don't get me wrong, they aren't all like this. There are wonderful youth here. As a matter of fact, I feel blessed to have them all in my life.
EVERY.LAST.ONE
It's heart breaking to hear about some of the backgrounds they come from. And sometimes it makes me feel powerless. And sometimes, as all parents probably also do around their children, I have lost my patience with a few. I never thought I would yell at a child to stop their behavior, and stop to listen to myself and how angry I sounded. Or step in the middle of a pushing fight which almost turned really violent and try to get the two kids to settle their differences and try to work out some peace. And often I get no response. The policy we have at the Boys & Girls Club is to send children home when they don't want to listen, or behave with the rules that the Boys & Girls Club has set up, or start a violent act toward another kid. I worry about what happens when they leave that door. I fear for children who fall through the cracks. I fear for children in violent situations, abusive families, or families surrounded by alcohol and drugs.
I have to pray, and pray hard for the Lord to lend me strength. And I have to pray hard for the Lord to lend these youth strength, the very young, to the young adults. I ask you to pray for the youth of this world. Pray for them as often as you can. They are the future. They are the future of the place you live in, the electricity filtering from the wires, the technology we have to help us live longer, the hands behind the working cyberspace, the shield behind counties defenses, the doctors, politicians, soldiers, janitors, electricians, plumbers. They make our coffee, our cars, our clothes. They grow and hunt our food. And if you don't look at a child and see the future of the world in their eyes, in their hearts, I beg you to look closer. What happens when we are old? What happens when we can no longer care for ourselves? What happens when our lives rely on them to grow up, find freedom, find destiny, find lifestyle.
True, the world is in God's hands, but remember:
"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body." ~1 Corinthians 12:12
If we aren't treating the body correctly, raising it properly, teaching it, how are we treating ourselves? If we are bullies, vicious toward one another, violent, savage, how are we treating ourselves. If we don't look into the eyes of every youth on this planet and see the body of our survival, the body of our future, how are we treating ourselves? It is like trying to pick up a cup, but ignoring the fact that we have hands. It is like wanting to smell something but forgetting that we have a nose.
If we aren't treating the body correctly, raising it properly, teaching it, how are we treating ourselves? If we are bullies, vicious toward one another, violent, savage, how are we treating ourselves. If we don't look into the eyes of every youth on this planet and see the body of our survival, the body of our future, how are we treating ourselves? It is like trying to pick up a cup, but ignoring the fact that we have hands. It is like wanting to smell something but forgetting that we have a nose.
If we are not trying to raise up the future, what are we doing to it? Truly I tell you, we are causing the body death.
+PeAcE+
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