M and I were talking about parents and how when parents were too nice to their children, they were taken advantage of and even bullied in their old age. For some reason, many parents seem to spoil their children to the point that these children grow up to be selfish, demanding adults who have zero concept of filial piety. They continue to take without giving, and expect their parents to take care of their needs and wants pretty much forever.
In that respect I am very blessed for my father was no fool or pushover. He had very clear ideas of how we, his four children, should behave as decent human beings and would tell us if we were not living up to his gold standards, especially of how children should be treating their parents.
He himself did his best to give back to his parents and he set a great example of how adult children should take care of their parents. He was not perfect. He failed miserably in some areas but he never stopped trying to be a filial son.
Nothing in life is perfect, and as M put it, we all, at some point, have wanted to murder our parents, but that does not discharge us of our duty to live with them and look after them as they looked after us when we were young.
Daddy was not an easy man to live with but I never thought of moving out for I knew he would be upset, being the traditional Chinese patriarch he was, and I loved, love, both him and my mother enough to want to make them both happy. So I stayed, because families stay together - under one roof. That is the Asian way, and I find great merit in it, being a single woman, for it keeps me from becoming self-centred and eccentric.
My father is no longer with us, it's just me and my mother, but his spirit lives on, guiding me through life. People often praise me for being a good daughter but I don't think I am doing anything special. I am only doing what I ought to, my duty, nothing more or less. In fact, I often fall short, but as Saint Paul told the Galatians in chapter 6, verse 9: And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
So what's the purpose of this blog entry? It is to remind parents to teach their children well: to teach them how to become loving, responsible, polite, considerate, giving and generous adults who seek justice not merely for themselves but for those who need it most.
It is about raising children with a clear sense of right and wrong; of what is just and fair for all; of what is done and not done based on human decency; and to always aspire toward the summum bonum, the highest good.
Fame, fortune, status, power and physical beauty, these are all temporal and immaterial in the kingdom of God and should be accorded the right scant respect. If you really love your children, teach them the right values as my father taught me every day he was alive. Do not give up the authority of being a good parent and give in to the moral laxity of relativism and an egocentric freedom.
For those of us without children, it is worth our while to be loving, responsible, polite, considerate, giving and generous people who seek justice not merely for ourselves but for those who need it most. Let us also not forget to be joyous, courageous, faithful, diligent, hopeful and persevering beings who give proper thanks for our daily blessings. And while you are at it, don't forget to respect and care for your father and mother.
Father's Day was last Sunday, and the best way I can honour my father is to continue to be like him and to seek to do God's will in life, and to desire only the goodness of God in my life. I will fail, but I will not give up, like Daddy.
In that respect I am very blessed for my father was no fool or pushover. He had very clear ideas of how we, his four children, should behave as decent human beings and would tell us if we were not living up to his gold standards, especially of how children should be treating their parents.
He himself did his best to give back to his parents and he set a great example of how adult children should take care of their parents. He was not perfect. He failed miserably in some areas but he never stopped trying to be a filial son.
Nothing in life is perfect, and as M put it, we all, at some point, have wanted to murder our parents, but that does not discharge us of our duty to live with them and look after them as they looked after us when we were young.
Daddy was not an easy man to live with but I never thought of moving out for I knew he would be upset, being the traditional Chinese patriarch he was, and I loved, love, both him and my mother enough to want to make them both happy. So I stayed, because families stay together - under one roof. That is the Asian way, and I find great merit in it, being a single woman, for it keeps me from becoming self-centred and eccentric.
My father is no longer with us, it's just me and my mother, but his spirit lives on, guiding me through life. People often praise me for being a good daughter but I don't think I am doing anything special. I am only doing what I ought to, my duty, nothing more or less. In fact, I often fall short, but as Saint Paul told the Galatians in chapter 6, verse 9: And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
So what's the purpose of this blog entry? It is to remind parents to teach their children well: to teach them how to become loving, responsible, polite, considerate, giving and generous adults who seek justice not merely for themselves but for those who need it most.
It is about raising children with a clear sense of right and wrong; of what is just and fair for all; of what is done and not done based on human decency; and to always aspire toward the summum bonum, the highest good.
Fame, fortune, status, power and physical beauty, these are all temporal and immaterial in the kingdom of God and should be accorded the right scant respect. If you really love your children, teach them the right values as my father taught me every day he was alive. Do not give up the authority of being a good parent and give in to the moral laxity of relativism and an egocentric freedom.
For those of us without children, it is worth our while to be loving, responsible, polite, considerate, giving and generous people who seek justice not merely for ourselves but for those who need it most. Let us also not forget to be joyous, courageous, faithful, diligent, hopeful and persevering beings who give proper thanks for our daily blessings. And while you are at it, don't forget to respect and care for your father and mother.
Father's Day was last Sunday, and the best way I can honour my father is to continue to be like him and to seek to do God's will in life, and to desire only the goodness of God in my life. I will fail, but I will not give up, like Daddy.
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