When I was growing up my mom had these set of ceramic ducks outside our front door that she would dress up depending on the season. They wore pilgrim outfits in November, Santa outfits in December… and yes, even ghost costumes in October.
While my mom made an impression with her benign version of silliness, many today try to make an impression by being shocking, brass, or even rude. Christ warns us that one day we will give account for every idle work we speak. We should be careful for those morsels of gossip we look for on social media, we ought to take the words of wisdom of Proverbs to heart, and the stories of Courage in the Bible and of our Orthodox Saints for inspiration. That is what our fall and winter lineup is all about.
We hope to inspire our teens to make an impression this season based on something that matters - something that brings people together in love instead of pushing people away - even if it is seemingly as silly as ceramic ducks.
I remember with clarity my first day of Law School receiving some important advice- not to use the skills we learn on argument, communication, and negtoitation on our friends and family or they will cease to be our friends and family.
Unfortunately, I catch my self in the midst of arguments completely disregarding this advise all the time - my instincts take over and I often forget that I'm speaking to a human I love and not merely a "point" to win.
The Bible tells us to do our piece to keep the peace with all people - and that is especially important with our most precious relationships - our parents, our siblings, our family. These people love us unconditionally, but their words can cut deeper than most. This fall, let's help our teens form good habits and choose "people over points" and remember that Christ came not to destroy lives, but to save them.
As a parent, I often struggle with how to navigate raising my kids up in God’s character and not worrying so much who we offend. I wish I had a little of my dad’s moxie for pushing that envelope. True - his sense of humor didn't "age" very well, but he always emphasized character over substance.
I suppose that is why with my own kids and my Church’s Youth Ministry, I’m really big on something we call the “252 effect.” What’s that, you ask? (Or maybe you didn’t – but just humor me). It comes from Luke 2:52 and it is the moment when the world was astonished with the amazing character, wisdom, and stature of a 12-year old Christ. Isn't that what we want for our kids? Let's mirror our Youth Ministry off that blueprint - no dad jokes required.
