They Are All Our
Children
by Steve Goodier
There are few things in this life more difficult to experience than the loss
of one's child. Jim Wallis, in *Who Speaks For God?* (Delacorte Press, 1996)
tells about a sad and terrifying incident that occurred during the tragic war in
Sarajevo a few years ago. A reporter who was covering the violence in the middle
of the city saw a little girl fatally shot by a sniper.
The reporter threw down his pad and pencil and rushed to the aid of the man who
was now holding the child. He helped them both into his car and sped off to a
hospital.
"Hurry, my friend," the man urged, "my child is still alive." A moment or two
later he pleaded, "Hurry, my friend, my child is still breathing." In little
later he said, "Hurry, my friend, my child is still warm."
When they got to the hospital, the little girl was gone. "This is a terrible
task for me," the man said to the reporter. "I must go tell her father that his
child is dead. He will be heartbroken."
The reporter was amazed. He looked at the grieving man and said, "I thought she
was your child."
The man replied, "No, but aren't they all our children?"
Jim Wallis adds this: "Yes, they are all our children. They are also God's
children as well, and he has entrusted us with their care in Sarajevo, in
Somalia, in New York City, in Los Angeles, in my hometown of Perry, Georgia,
and...in Washington, D.C."
What a fascinating question: Aren't they all our children? Under our roof and
across the street? In the next town, the next state, the next country? In Europe
and North America? In Africa and Asia? In prosperous nations and developing
countries? In the jungles of South America and on sandy island coastlands?
Aren't they all our children? Ours to feed? Ours to clothe? Ours to educate?
Ours to keep safe? But mostly, ours to love?
"If we have no peace," said Mother Teresa, "it is because we have forgotten that
we belong to each other." If we belong to each other, they are indeed our
children. Ours to care for.
Is there a greater privilege?
Steve Goodier
Publisher@LifeSupportSystem.com is a professional speaker, consultant and
author of numerous books. Visit his site for more information, or to sign up for
his FREE newsletter of Life, Love and Laughter at
http://LifeSupportSystem.com.