Several years ago, Robert Fulghum touched the hearts of millions with a short piece entitled, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten“; it became part of a book by same name.
He wrote: “Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox. These are the things I learned: Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life. Learn and think and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day. Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands and stick together.”
Think of what a better world it would be if we all—in Cornwall and SDG–had cookies and milk about 3 o’clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our community to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, when you’re going home, it is best to “hold hands and stick together.”
These words can have a familiar ring because they reflect a ‘common sense’ wisdom we hopefully learned in childhood. The Bible writer of Deuteronomy realizes this in chapter 6:5-7 “5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Two important things this text teaches: 1. Loving God does not come naturally; it must be taught. 2. The family is the ideal place to teach the love of God. ‘Loving God’ (verse 5) is essential; it’s our foundation for enduring moral principle. Surely a love for the Lord and what he says is ‘right’ is the most important heritage we can pass along to our children. Communicating essential values begins with a parent’s own heart and love for God. It’s a love with ‘all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.’ You can then open up a part of yourself as there is moral principle evident in your life. This reality is then transmitted and impressed on your child’s heart. Parents: statistically, you will always have the most influence with your children. Truth and beliefs need to begin at home.
Pastor Jim
