Little Child…

One of my favorite radio stations is The Effect Radio Network. I listen to it on-line while at work and while I am driving. One song I heard often was Caroline by Seventh Day Slumber. Thinking I was ordering the correct CD, I purchased Picking Up The Pieces a while back from Amazon.com. That wasn’t the right one. Turns out, the right one is, Once Upon a Shattered Life – which I thought I had ordered. Oh well, I thought, I’ll give it a try and order the correct one. Boy am I glad I did. I think I like the entirety of the CD better than the one I meant to order.

But that is not my point.

On Picking Up The Pieces is a remake of the White Lion song, When the Children Cry. While I absolutely love most of the other songs on the disc, this one really hits home since I am the father of a two year old daughter.

When I hear the first lyrics:

little child ~ dry your crying eyes

I immediately think of Daphne and the many times I have said that exact phrase to her, somewhat in reference to the song. Then the rest of the song produces an odd cocktail of guilt, hope and inspiration:

how can I explain ~ the fear you feel inside ~ cause you were born ~into this evil world

Think about it! How do you explain the ways of this world to an innocent child as they grow up? How do you explain the images that child is exposed to on a daily basis while her country is embattled in an constant state of war (be it figurative or literal)? The next set of lyrics says it all:

where man is killing man ~ and no one knows just why ~ what have we become~ just look what we have done

Then you lay upon them an ominous challenge:

all that we destroyed ~ you must build again

Who could do that? While we all profess to act in the interest of progress, what have we destroyed at the expense of progress? Peace? Hope? Religion? While the song so far seems to be a message to the next generation, it also becomes a message to those who come before it:

when the children cry ~ let them know we tried

This is where the guilt begins. What have I done to prove to my daughter that I have tried? In my lifetime, I have done very little. I have a job that allows me to donate a little bit of money to some of the causes I support. I go to church. I even was a youth leader for two mission trips to Mexico with World Servants. But beyond that I have done very little. For that, I am somewhat ashamed.

While I am not one for New Year’s Resolutions, I do think I need to make a conscious effort to act in ways that my daughter would be proud of. I need to show her how I tried.

Only then, can I feel right by professing that:

little child ~ you must show the way ~ to a better day ~ for all the young

So, we have asked that our children lead the way, and we have asked of ourselves to lead their way. Why?

cause you were born ~ for all the world to see ~ that we all can live ~ with love and peace

I recall a sermon that Joel Osteen gave in which he discuss the way in which successive generations will feel the blessings – and the negative effects – from the actions of the generations before them. I tend to believe in that sentiment. That is why the next set of lyrics makes me smile somewhat:

no more presidents ~ and all the wars will end

Ironically, our former President, Teddy Roosevelt, set out to establish the Roosevelt name so his children would be proud to carry it. He tried to do so to an extent that he often put his own life in danger (and nearly died on more than one occasion). At the same time, he was never one to discourage war – if for the right reasons.

I can think of no other war that the one between good and evil; the one between Heaven and Hell; the one between God and Satan:

one united world ~ under God ~ when the children cry ~ let them know we tried . . . when the children pray let them know the way ~ cause when the children sing ~ then the new world begins

So, what have you done to let them know you have tried? I’m going to try to do more.