Daddy Who?
So, the current time is 00:54 right now. I am awake because well, I’m an adult and it’s my decision. I don’t have to get up early tomorrow and I like using this time of being alone to write (obviously), read, and sometimes (scary times) just think. I’m an adult, it’s my right.
But up right now there are about a dozen children from pre-school age on up running around on my block. Some of them are teens, but others are little children. They are loud, rowdy, and running completely unsupervised. Never mind the fact that the City of Cleveland recently changed it’s curfew for kids under 15 from 23:00 to 21:30. What is more important is that these kids are missing valuable sleep time when there young bodies do most of their developing and growing, and are risking getting themselves into big trouble.
Now the natural question that most people would ask is,”where are the parents? Why are they letting their kids stay out so late at night, and not putting them to bed?” I can’t answer this question, but I would like to ask a more specific question that I believe is affecting this society and is related to this issue.
Where are the fathers?
Now I understand that fathers are parents and are therefore a part of the previous question. And I’m not saying that all of these kids have physically absentee dads, I honestly wouldn’t know. But as a Christian Man I know that we are called to be the Priest and Leader of our households. So it pains me greatly to see kids who are not being (in my opinion) cared for even in the physical sense. Because if they are not being cared for physically, being allowed to wander the streets at all hours, do you think they are being cared for spiritually? Somehow I doubt it.
If we are going to change our society for the better, or prevent it from sliding further and further into degradation, then we as men must start in our own households. As a child, I can recall many instances of my father doing things to protect me. But who is protecting these kids, if they are being allowed to run anywhere they want at any time? Bring them inside, put them in bed, and tell them you don’t care if they don’t like it. It doesn’t do any good to discipline kids simply because they are annoying you in Wal*Mart. You have to take care of them all the time, even when you don’t feel like it. Men, if we take charge of our own house, we can slowly change things around the world. If every Dad came home, talked to his children about Christ, and then put them to bed at a reasonable hour, just think about how that could change our world for the better.
By the way, it’s 1:49, and there still out there.
