Parenthood, Generosity, and Courage

Aside from responsibility, parenthood is about generosity and courage. One’s excitement to have children is not enough to really appreciate the joy and dignity of being a parent because mere sentiments may come from different sources, either a self-giving or a self-serving one. Moreover, parenthood is not just accepting the “inevitable” result of sexual relations, though this is becoming the common perception. This current of mentality and disposition makes a family miserable, having hard time to find a real meaning in any relationship and even in one’s own existence. It makes a mother’s or a father’s life burdensome and falsely sacrificial. To be a true parent is to be a true sacrifice – giving oneself joyfully and with the right reason.

In the eyes of today’s man, co-creation with God is the primary cause of human destruction. He calls the Gospel of life doctrines of death, and describes its advocates as ruthless and negligent. Ironically, what this “modern man” promotes is non-life for the majority of population. He thinks that most people today should have not been born, and that we should not make the same mistake of bringing more children into this world. He blames the population (where he also belongs) for giving problems to humans who happened to the same population he charges against. He wants to be the one to decide, even for others, who should be created and who should not be. Are you black? Do you have a low IQ level? Do you have a history of mental illness? Do you have a disease? Are you feeble-minded? Are you homosexual? If you belong to one of these groups, then this man of the day might throw you into to the “unfit” pool where the should-have-not-been-borns and the should-not-be-allowed-to-propagates belong. Does it sound human to you? If it does, then you are a “modern man” – that is if the word “modern” means foolishly updated. It shows that the more you search for knowledge, the more stupid you become.

On the otherhand, courage and generosity come from true knowledge, and also goes with it is a true sense of responsibility. A parent knows that every child not only comes from God but is God’s. We are guardians of his children, thus we do not own anybody, nor has we any privilege to decide “who” should be born. We even don’t have a right to say, “Anak ko ito, gagawin ko sa kanya ang gusto ko;” instead, we should wisely say, “Ipinagkatiwala siya sa akin ng Diyos kaya dapat ko siyang protektahan.” Courage plays its role by making it clear to us that we are not the source of our strength, and that the Father of us all will give us everything we need when we need it. Generosity, on the otherhand, is a result of courage, and it creates in us a joyful willingness to give ourselves for the life and welfare of others. Both courage and generosity recognize the sacrificial character of parenthood, and that is the very reason why they find their abode in the parents.

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Every parent should know that by giving one’s life – strength, love, and power to create – does one receive it back; and that every human person that they bring into this world is a child of God that will not just live, suffer, and die on earth but will be glorified and will reign with his Father in heaven. The “modern man” thinks that all we have is this life, and that is the reason why we need to make sure that we only perpetuate the perfect breed and do everything to end the propagation of the inferiors.

This man of the so-called modernity does not recognize the equal dignity that all human beings possess; he always thinks that his class is superior over the majority of the population. This mentality makes him fear imaginary dangers that the inferior class might bring, and so will do everything to stop their existence.

Good parents recognize the divinity of conception and the presence of God in every child. It does not mean that they just create human beings mindlessly; instead, their awareness of the truth makes them the most responsible of all parents, planning everything and subduing both their children and themselves. They do not cowardly turn to immorality due to the fact that they have no true lordship over their own self, nor do they justify their uncontrollable self and blame it on human nature. If they delay conception, it is self-control, not birth control. If they manage their number, it is family planning, not contraception. If they give birth, they call it delight, not burden. If ever they have to suffer, they are sacrificial, not miserable. They always look from above, not from this world because what our eyes can see is only misery while through the eyes of God, everything ends up in glory.