I'm Back

Okay, okay, I've been a delinquent blogger. I'm trying to get back into the flow.

So, last night I see something that one should never see. I'm in Walmart a little past midnight. Hey, it's not crowded and I'm a night owl! Anyway, I see a young couple come in with a one year old in the buggy like it's 3 in the afternoon. I wondered about some social implications here. What are our social guidelines for caring for children in our society? I mean, what responsibility do we all have? If you hear someone use foul language or racial slurs in front of children, what responsibility do we have to quiet the loud mouth down? If we see children at Walmart in the middle of night, do we have any responsibility at all to pull mom and dad aside and say, "Hey guys, this isn't healthy for her"?

I'm not sure where those social boundaries are, but it at least raised some interesting questions in my mind about parenting and a community awareness for the well being of all children. Of course, it was freezing cold, and when I told my wife about it, she responded, "Maybe they don't have a home and they new Walmart was open all night and they were trying to make sure they kept the baby warm." Once again I was brought down to earth. So, I felt like a "judgmental joey", and the point is well taken. At what point do we cross the line from care to judgment? And is it always clear-cut? And what behaviors merit crossing that line for the sake of children. In the end, it was a lesson to grapple over some of those hard issues. I'm not sure I have the answers. But I am sure that I'm called to love everyone. I am sure that I'm called to take care of my own business before I worry about others'. I am sure that I'm called to be light in the world for God, and not judgment.