Should our children know God?

For some children, who are part of a family where God plays an important role, they already have the advantage of knowing about Him.

For other children, where God is entirely absent from family life, they don’t know about Him.

And still for others, whose family members are lukewarm  about any type of spiritual presence, the children really don’t know whether God exists or doesn’t exist.

As adults, we can either do something about this, or ignore it.  The choice is that simple. I was on a cruise recently where I had a fabulous time.  On the last day I was sitting in the lounge thinking about the cruise, and my thoughts turned to three adventure books I had written about children getting to know God.  The books are about three teenagers who fall head long into exciting adventures.  An ostrich, a tiger and a bald eagle, accompany the children.  These animals are far from ordinary, they are angels, causing mayhem, disbelief and chaos as they stay firmly by Kate, James and Amanda.  What a wonderful analogy, I thought, those children and this cruise. Let me explain.

Throughout the books, it is suggested, very subtly, how much a young person can benefit from believing in God who is always there for them, although they can never see Him.

Cruise travel has moved on since I was last at sea, but what has not moved on is the reliance and trust we place in the captain of the ship when we travel by sea. Our complete past, present and future is in the hands of the ship’s captain. We believe that everything will be just fine, in spite of the remote possibilities of serious problems, especially perhaps in bad weather where there is very limited control – even for the captain of the ship. This trust has developed because there is little evidence of major sea disasters involving large passenger ships for many years due to incredibly advanced technology.

We therefore board the ship with the confidence and assurance that the journey will go according to plan and there will be no problems. It never enters our heads to worry about anything. The captain will steer the ship;  he will see that every little need or want of its passengers is met.  We expect that he will keep us safe and ensure that the crew are also committed to this.  

For the captain of the ship, the buck stops with him. His ship, crew and passengers are his responsibility. No matter what anyone else is doing, he, or his designate, will be at the helm 24/7.  (Naturally, passengers do their part to make it easier for the officers and crew to accommodate them and carry out their work on the ship.) The position of captain of a ship and the response of the passengers to the rules and regulations in force, is called discipline. If passengers do not obey the regulations, they could possibly become a hazard and liability to the safety of the ship. All of this we accept without question when we book a cruise. During the voyage, we become complacent, forgetting about everything but having a good time and enjoying ourselves.

Given the above scenario why do we, as human beings, have so much trouble trusting in God?  We go on a cruise or board a plane and we put our implicit trust in the captain of the ship or the plane. If we are not able to equate this trust with trust in God, why should we deny our children this opportunity? Encourage them to believe in God and that He is there whenever they need Him. There is no need to educate them at high school or college level about God, just assure them that there is a great being who is keeping watch over them as they start their lives. That is enough for now.   When they are older they can learn more and start making choices.  Why not let them get on the ‘cruise ship’ and know that a ‘captain’ is looking after them? They needn’t know His name or what their parents feel about Him, or what anybody else believes. But they do need to know that when they emerge from the love and protection of their parents, outside the home – especially during the school years, there is someone else who is there for them and will keep the ship on course.

For many children, until they become adults, they don’t really have a handle on the depths of religious belief. The subject of beliefs, religion and children cross paths from time to time, but the young person’s focus is more on growing up and coping with what lies before them. While exploring the theories and spirituality of life about them children will eventually accept or reject the theories and experience they have encountered. But, in order to make this decision, the child must be exposed to the facts. To encourage them in a simple belief initially, might also help them in the area of discipline. 

The captain, crew and passengers of a ship have to depend on discipline on board. In Hell’s Gate Trilogy, the books I have written, when Kate, James and Amanda realize that someone is watching over them, they also learn that there is a small thing called discipline needed to realize the benefits of a relationship with God.

In turn this will introduce the young person to the discipline required to make progress in their own life, whether we acknowledge a greater being or not. Too often we don’t have this discipline and we do what we want to do, not what we are supposed to do or what we have been taught to do, or what we have learned to do. On board ship this would be a recipe for disaster. How far are we going to progress in a career or life without the will to get things done and the discipline to do them?  By encouraging our children to think about God, might give them a head start. We must ask ourselves why we would not give the child the knowledge of God, when we are only too willing to give the child everything else? 

Is it because we are set in our own ways and ideology in general and find it hard to be liberal towards our children in the area of religious or spiritual beliefs? Why can’t we give them this small confidence of belief? It doesn’t matter how dogmatic we are, a child will ultimately go his or her own way and believe in what he or she wants.

To conclude on an interesting and positive note, according to new research at the University of British Columbia, if people are made aware of words like God, spirit, divine or prophet, these people are inclined to be nicer and more generous.

What more could we ask for our children?