Another Step A Way ....

As we continue our study of how we got so far away from that Good Old Time Religion, we must next look at the family...and how the dynamics of family, raising children, technology and sports have worked quietly behind the scenes to disrupt and even destroy the family unit here in America and across the world.

When I was being raised as a child, my family had a different dynamic than most. There was my dad, mom, my younger sister, me....and my aunt (my father's younger sister) and her daughter who was six months older than me....and all this new family came to be shortly after I had my sixth birthday. It was quite different; adding a sister/cousin and an additional mom....talk about a double whammy when it came to being chastised and disciplined. But, as families did back then, we settled into life, loving and leaning on one another for familial support. My sister now had someone she could play with and thus, not spend her time, bugging me....and I had another mom who was a great cook. We did what most families did back then....go to work and school, play outside until the street lights came on or my dad hollered for us to come home for supper or school work; went to church Sunday morning for Sunday School, worship service; back at 5 pm for Youth Choir; Wednesday family supper, prayer meetings and youth activities...and if all was going well, a vacation trip each summer for a week's vacation at the beach or to the mountains to visit aunts, uncles and other cousins. I played baseball and took up golf and basketball in junior high....and my all-star baseball team traveled some in the summer before school began in the Fall.

But the mainstay, rock-bed foundation of our family was our evening meal. WE ALL SAT DOWN at the same time, ate the same thing, seated around the dinner table as we discussed the highs and lows of our day... parents and children all joining in to share what was taking place in our lives. If the phone rang during the meal, it rang until it stopped...no one got up to answer it, thus breaking our family circle that was sacred at dinnertime. Everyone was given a chance to share, no interruptions, and seconds, both in food and conversations, was always allowed. The only night we did not eat together at home was on Wednesday night, when we ate at church; or if a special occasion occurred and we went out for dinner. Fast food was NOT AN OPTION....only thing about fast food at my house...how fast I could eat it, so I could be excused ands get back outdoors!

There were no answering machines to take a message; no cellphones, tablets or personal computers, vying for our attention; no tweets, no Instagram, no selfies, no self-inflicted interruptions to take us away from what mattered most...SPENDING TIME TOGETHER, CATCHING UP ON LIFE, EATING A GOOD MEAL, TALKING ABOUT OUR SUCCESSES AND OUR "SPEEDBUMPS"....AND LETTING THOSE WE LOVED KNOW THAT WE HAD MISSED THEM DURING THE DAY!

But all one has to do is look at what modern technology has done to the family dynamics in this modern era....everyone coming and going their own ways, with little to no interaction with others in the family. Hardly ever eating together; both parents working and the kids involved in almost every sport imaginable; running from one end of the county to the other; exhausted and distraught, shortened hours for sleep, homework....but plenty of time for X-box or other diversions that may add to self indulgence, but do little for self-worth and self-improvement. 

Church life is almost becoming an extinct activity for families. Forget Wednesday night at church or Sunday afternoon choir for kids and young people....they are all wrapped up in traveling team sports, often leaving on Friday afternoon to go play in a tournament that won't wrap up until late Sunday afternoon; or participating in a swim, track or gymnastic event that takes them away from attending Sunday School/Bible Study or worshiping together as a family on Sunday. SPORTS FOR OUR CHILDREN HAVE BECOME THEIR IDOL AND WE DRIVE THEM TO WHEREVER THAT MAY TAKE THEM...until they can drive and then, they leave to go play and we go back to taking a long nap on Sunday afternoon. 

No wonder our world is being turned upside down with all these "woke" and "off-beat worldly views." God has been left off of our "things to do" list and our children, our families and our churches are suffering the ill effects of trying to teach our children to live a "good life" with a broken compass that gives them neither spiritual guidance nor heavenly directions....What we need is to return, once again, to that 

OLD TIME RELIGION.....AMEN AND AMEN,

WPQ