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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1987)
Page 4 • Faith Today ON PILGRIMAGE “When I look at you, 1 the young people, I feel great gratitude and hope. The future far into the next century lies in your hands....You must be people with a deep trust in man and a deep trust in the grandeur of the human voca tion — a vocation to be pursued with respect for truth and for the t dignity and inviolable rights of the luman person.’’ (Pope John Paul II’s 1985 World Day of Peace Message ) Parents need to start early to get their views on the value and dignity of life across to their children, said Laura Meagher, director of religious education at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Hockessin, Del. Even before entering school, youngsters have formed “a concept of God and a concept of their own worth and the world around them,” she said. In large part, it is based “on how their parents treat them” and those around them. Parents need to find ways to in itiate such conversations because young children “don’t think in abstract terms,” Ms. Meagher said. And they are not likely to bring such issues up without prompting. Parents can initiate discussions by taking advantage of their children’s activities and interests, the religious educator suggested. Little children, Tor instance, are fascinated by the world of nature. The religious educator told how when her children were young, they had a very sick kitten and she was tempted to take the easy way out, to put the kitten to death. She didn’t, deterred partly by the view of life learned in her childhood. “Mother wouldn’t let us kill a bug in the house,” she said, chuckl ing at the memory. “We had to open the screen door and let it out.” The sick kitten also gave her an opportunity to talk with her children about the value of an in dividual life. It helped them learn that each “life is to be treasured and honored,” she said. In her parish preparation classes for first confession and first Com munion, she often uses an exercise aimed at letting “the children know they are special, that God has given them life.” One way she does this is by ask ing parents to talk with their children about their baptism and “how they chose the baptismal name.” She also asks parents to bless their children with water as a reminder of their baptism into God’s life. The long-range goal of talking with children about these issues is to help them see that life is a gift from God, Ms. Meagher said, and that we have a responsibility to respect that gift in ourselves and others. CHILDREN'S PLACE- By Janaan Manternach NC News Service R achel grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. As a child she loved the farm animals and she loved to explore the fields and the woods. Everything that lived and moved fascinated her — plants, flowers, insects, birds, rabbits, squirrels, fish. Rachel was a shy, quiet child. When she was not exploring the mysteries of the woods and streams, she often sat and read for hours. As Rachel grew older, she saw some things that upset her. The world around her farm was get ting uglier. Coal mines were tak ing over the fields, woods and streams. She saw fewer animals, birds and fish. The air and streams were dirty. In college Rachel began to study biology and zoology. Her love and respect for all forms of life con tinued to grow. Rachel spent years working in Washington, D.C., for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She was one of the first women to work there as a scientist. She spent her Nature lover! days doing research and writing official publications during World War II. Then Rachel decided to share her love and knowledge of nature with as many people as she could. She worked at night writing books about the sea, about the fish and animals that live in the ocean depths. People loved her books. Two became best sellers and a movie was made of one. She helped many people learn to know and love the beautiful world and all that lived in it. People who knew Rachel were struck by her kindness and generosity. She was attentive to others’ feelings, willing to listen to their needs and to help others. But the more Rachel learned and wrote about the mysteries of life, the more concerned she became about the damage people were doing to the world of nature. Factories polluted the air and waters; new poisons used to kill weeds also hurt flowers, crops and people. Some pesticides caus ed cancer. Aerosol sprays weaken ed the ozone layer that protects the world from deadly sun rays. Rachel felt she had to share her knowledge to help save the world. She worked for four years on a book called “The Silent Spring.” It was a best seller almost everywhere in the world. It helped change the course of history by moving people to care about the environment and all forms of life. President John F. Kennedy and many world leaders honored her for her contribution. Rachel Carson died of cancer two years later in 1964. Her ex ample and writing continue to help people learn to respect nature and all living beings. (Ms. Manternach is the author of catechetical works, scripture stories and original stories for children.) V: Connect the Dots Make a line from dot to dot beginning with 1 and you will draw one of the living creatures Rachel loved. 27 28 11 24- 13 14 16 ' 1 * Lo"\' > • 'Q 18 What do you think? □ As a child, what sorts of things did Rachel Carson like to do? Can you tell by these things what her attitude toward life was? From the bookshelf Sometimes people in our society are mistreated by others who think 'they are better. This detracts from the true value of people. In the story Song of the Trees, by Mildred D. Taylor, Cassie is growing up in rural Mississippi during the Depression. Jobs are scarce so her father goes to Louisiana for work. While he is gone, some men take advantage of his absence to threaten Cassie’s mother and grand mother and force them to give permission to cut down trees on the family’s property. How Cassie s mother acts to get her husband to return and how he stops the destruction makes for a moving and unusual story. The book is based on a true story and is an award winner. (Dial Press, 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10017. 1975. Hardback, $4.95.)
