The way I see it, children should be brought up in the way of the Lord and should be TAKEN and not SENT to church, from the time they are born and then continually encouraged in the way of the Lord.
When they get of an age when they will move into their own homes and could make their own decisions, then maybe they may stray away but the word of God still reminds us that when they are old, they will not depart from it.
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
As a matter of fact, the experts, having completed their studies, have indicated that a child’s basic way of thinking, mindset and philosophy on life, are basically set by the age of seven.
It means therefore, that a child trained from birth—and some even venture to say, ‘from the womb’, is basically on one road or the other, by age seven.
If they are brought up to revere God and go to church regularly, they will be so minded for the remainder of their lives, even if they err in between, as we all do as humans!
However, if they grow up in environment where the bible is not read, prayers are not offered, church is the last thing on the agenda-maybe to attend the occasional funeral and in an environment of drinking, swearing and no regard for order and discipline, then you would have raised a virtual criminal for life!
Well I newa!
I remember my days of growing up with my parents at Fenton Hill (the second nicest village in Nevis).
We were taken to church and even when we may have gotten away with the occasional ‘belly ah hut me story,’ it may work for one week but just know that the following week you better be dead!
Growing up in the Anglican Church, I was unfortunately allowed too much freedom to be irreverent.
Sadly, I was the one who when Canon Blant was preaching, would have my headphones up my shirt, unbeknown to my parents and updating my buddies as what the score at the then Grove Park was.
So, you may have heard me whisper something like this: Nevis on 73 for 2. Amory is on 34 and Al Liburd just hit a four!’
Well I newa!
Nothing to be proud of really.
Church was also a source of entertainment. I looked forward to the constant rivalry between David and Ms. Maynard as to who would have taken communion the most. So one day I heard David say: ‘I done had communion 34 times and she only reach 32!’
Then there was Emily. She had a thing going with Mr. Newton.
So, this particular Sunday, when Newton was sharing the wine during communion, it appears as if he only touched her lips with the wine glass.
Well, Emily exploded. ‘Kip you wine!’ she yelled as stormed out of one of the nearby big windows and headed home.
So churches do have some drama, every now and again.
However, when you understand the way the very angles praise and worship God in heaven, we will get to understand that church is a serious and somber place to be and God’s presence ought to be acknowledged with due reverence.
Imagine the scene in heaven how the angels reverence God:
Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
So, even though people make light conversation about the fact that we have over 68 churches on Nevis, it must be noted that a fair portion of the population do not attend any regular church worship sessions and do not encourage their children in that way either.
As matter of fact, we are raising a generation of children who will view church like a foreign language.
Small wonder we have so much indiscipline in the homes and in the communities and small wonder that there is a constant threat of crime and violence hovering over our once tranquil paradise.
The way to go?
We need to get back to God. The bible and church life MUST be prioritized as a part of our daily living.
Then and only then we can break the stronghold that Satan himself has placed on our tiny paradise.
That’s the way I see it. How do you see it?