How Far Back?
Author: The Rev. Dr. David Bridges, Priest
March 22, 2021
I have been asking various people a question; “How far
back can you remember?” Most say they can remember as far back as about 3 or 4
years old. My question is, “What happened to those first few years? Did you
totally forget them?”
The answer is no, but a bit more explanation is required.
When you were born your brain contained only the basic information your body
needed to survive; the things you don’t have to “think” about, such as,
heartbeat, breathing, expressing hunger or discomfort.
Beyond that, you knew absolutely nothing about life.
Everything else you know was learned by experience and teaching. You learned to
interact with the world by experiencing the people around you. You also learned
language and certain opinions from them.
You learned how to navigate life in those earliest years
by everything that was happening around you. This is where you learned to react
to your world.
If you struggle with relationships, you possibly
developed that difficulty as a result of things you experienced at a very early
age. If you are afraid of heights, you may have fallen out of bed at a very
young age. Most people don’t realize how influential every early childhood
experience has been to their present and future.
These facts make it clear that we have a responsibility
to direct young children in developing a productive and positive outlook on
life. We must be careful of what we say and do; how we act and react to the
various situations of life.
In our extremely fast-paced, information-based world, you
are expected to make decisions as quickly as possible. For example, the media
presents an issue to you with expectations of how you should react (fear,
anger, etc.). You are being asked to make judgement calls in seconds after
receiving the information.
Yet, more information is coming right behind it, and that
means you have to make a judgement now, in order to keep-up with the rapid flow
of more information. You then carry that style of information handling into all
areas of our life.
Our young people, even those ages birth to three or four
years, are affected in the same way through television and other screen-based
sources. If you have watched some of the children’s cartoons lately, you might
be shocked at some of the “information” being imparted to your children.
As parents,
grandparents, older siblings, other relatives, and friends of very young
children, we all take part in the “training” of the children around us. You may
not think they understand much during those earliest years of life, but
children are learning at a pace we may never understand.
Every second of every life is a learning experience. What
are they learning from us now? How will it affect them later? These are tough
questions that must be asked.
Blessings and Peace to you
All,
Fr.
David+
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