Family

"Although my father and my mother have forsaken me, yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child]"

Psalm 27:10 (Ampl.)

Childhood, for some of us, was a mixed blessing. Being unaware, through innocence, can sometimes make the most difficult moments, happier. In last week’s Posting I referred to a recent publication of a public health survey, that highlighted the impact of wealth and poverty and argued decisively for the recognition that ‘inequality kills’. It appealed to my sense of justice and my conviction that "the Church" has a mandate from God, herself, through Jesus of Nazareth "to do justly" and to treat all people fairly and impartially, regardless of their "outward" appearances and economic circumstances.

Published in book form, the findings of the survey were reviewed in a national broadsheet newspaper and the concluding paragraph touched my heart. It sketched a present reality for many children that echoed my own, decades ago. I read “The book is evidence for what common sense already knows. Children on free school meals, with no holidays to talk about, unable to afford the school trips, who never invite anyone back…home, painfully understand their place in the hierarchy from their first day at school...This is a book that puts the numbers to a psychological truth: inequality is the real enemy”. In hindsight, I am grateful that my "innocence" prevented a painful awareness of how others, may have perceived me. And I regret that children being raised today, are not so unaware - their hurt must be acute.

Recently I read a lengthy article about a woman from Manchester in Jamaica, who came to the U.K. in 1973. Under the caption "We are family" it praised her colossal achievement of having fostered 850 children, over a thirty year period. Her commitment, as a foster mother, to the welfare of other people’s children is awesome. However this accomplishment was counterbalanced by the depressing statistics that underscored the importance of "family" in its myriad forms and varieties. Adults, raised as children in residential or foster care have a higher rate than the national average of experiencing mental health problems, unemployment and being imprisoned. Coupled with serious educational underachievement and increased risks of homelessness in adult life, children in care are "10 times more likely to be excluded from school and 88 times more likely to become drug abusers. Perpetuating the cycle, parents who have been in care are 66 times more likely to have their own children taken into care".

Only the grace of God, non abusive children’s homes and a Christian foster mother, prevented my "destiny" being fulfilled in all its misery. When times were "ruff" as a maturing adult, I knew the parental love of God and took great comfort in this particular text - "The eternal God is your refuge and dwelling place and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27). We are all precious to the Divine - the "apple of God’s eye"– we can be proud of our value as children and adults in God’s family. And we are blessed when given the opportunity to play a loving and nurturing role to those in need of ‘family’. We must never doubt our self worth or our value to others.

"…for I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am. I know how to be abased and live humbly in straitened circumstances, and I know also how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want. I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through [God] Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency." - Philippians 4:11-13 (Ampl.)

May the Holy Spirit of God, bathe you in the love of those you see as ‘family’ or provide a familial experience to support you lovingly, in hope of your future.

We are family.

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