In this world we share with a vast multitude of people it can become a confusing place to inhabit if we spend inordinate amounts of time listening to the mixed messages we receive almost on an hourly basis. When we look at women magazines, we see on one page where the latest fad diets are promoted but turn the page and there are recipes filled with delicious temptations such as chocolate cake or cookies, ice-cream confections, candy or fried foods, so on one hand we are told to eat less yet on another hand we are tempted to eat more, confusing? Imagine young teenagers reading the very same articles and also taking in the confusing messages presented by the worldly to young and vulnerable minds.
The same mixed messages are also on many TV programmes, where marital happiness is under attack by shows such as 'Desperate Housewives', 'Will and Grace' or so called reality TV shows as 'Big Brother', 'Temptation Island' or 'Joe Millionaire' where sincerity is seen as passé while good looks, money and fashion are esteemed above all other things. There are also the shows where humiliating others seems to be the order of the day, where contestants are called the 'weakest link' and others are denigrated in front of live audiences and made to look and feel foolish, is this truly the message you want your children to imbibe? As the late Pope John Paul II cautioned, "Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." Sure we have the freedom to watch what we like, but does that ensure happiness?
In order to live happy and productive lives, we need to fill our minds and souls with wholesome activities, this does not mean that the TV must never be switched on, there are many good and educational programmes on air and also entertainments that do not convey negative subliminal messages to its viewers. What is needed in all things is moderation, in order to feel happy we must BE happy, this means keeping an active and healthy body not to fit an 'image' but to enable parents to participate in their children's lives and activities without becoming exhausted. It is also the same with children in order for them to be truly happy one must live a healthy lifestyle of good food, exercise and nourishing the soul through reading and studying the Word of God and participation in the Sacraments of the Church not through habit but with joy!
We need to understand that where you spend the majority of your time you will become. Therefore if you spend more than 10 hours a week watching the TV, your body will become lazy, your mind will also become slothful as the soul absorbs the wrong messages of superficialities over substance. When members of the family spend more than 10 hours on the internet for entertainment purposes, who in your family are you ignoring as you enter chat rooms or play computer games? If you spend more time conversing with strangers on the internet rather than your spouse or children, who gains by your inattention? Once again Pope John Paul II explains very eloquently, "The great danger for family life, in the midst of any society whose idols are pleasure, comfort and independence, lies in the fact that people close their hearts and become selfish" Do we ignore these wise words and carry on with things that will corrupt not only ourselves but also our family unit?
Our lives have become so hectic that we all need places to relax and regroup, but it is what we choose in order to do this that will provide us with peace and happiness or a continual pattern of selfishness and the ME first philosophy. Sometimes we need to stop and take a hard look at our efforts to escape the mundane which many lives have become and in seeking to find meaning within their lives many choose the wrong avenues. We are surrounded by the beauty of nature yet spend copious amounts of time closed off indoors as we sit glued to the TV or our PC monitors. It doesn't take much to go for a drive in your car to the nearest park to spend an hour or so taking in the beauty of flowers, trees and the joy of your family as they too enjoy the beauty of nature. On cold winter days and nights as families settle around the fire, instead of immediately reaching for the remote control choose instead to spend an hour or two playing board games and to end the night by the reading of Scripture and prayer to God from the heart with praise and thanksgiving. Surely this has to be preferable to being glued to a TV set that hinders our spiritual progress rather than helping it?
All of this takes discipline and some self sacrifice as families discover a better way of living rather than merely existing in a dog eat dog world. When families relegate or exclude God from their daily lives, they also exclude the joy and peace that all families need in order to live happy and productive lives. It is an understanding that happiness springs from within the individual and cannot be given by another, for if our lives are out of control we cannot and should not expect another to try and the be 'soul fixer' that job belongs between the soul and God. This is why it is integral especially for Christian families to be a beacon of light to those around them so that others may see your joy and long for it themselves. In order for us to present this picture of inner personal happiness we must live it, this means understanding and following the Will of God in our lives everyday, this can only be achieved by prayer, study of Scripture and attendance at Mass through love of God.
When Christian families start buying into worldly philosophies and their behaviour exhibits worldly language and immodest dressing then where is the difference between the worldly and the Christian? What example are the Christians setting when one cannot tell the difference as all behaviour becomes crude and vulgar?
In order to gain an understanding of just how much quality time you spend together keep a small diary for a week and note down the hours spent conversing with each other, with God and how much time is spent watching vulgar TV programs or on the internet in wasteful activities which have no spiritual input. This should indicate your families spiritual health and should be a wake up call to acknowledge that good families don't just happen they need to be worked at with God at the helm. As that wonderful humorist Erma Bombeck once said in her immutable style, "I have a theory about the human mind. A brain is a lot like a computer. It will only take so many facts, and then it will go on overload and blow up."
In the end fill your time with positive messages and positive activities and rid your family of negative influences which only destroy and destruct one's happiness and wellbeing. Once again Erma that wise woman once said, "There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt." Life is made up of laughter and tears, how long you spend on both is your choice.
All good things take effort, is your family worth the effort that is for you to decide.
Peace of Christ to you ALL
Copyright © 2006 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.
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