Children

The word "children" can mean three things: Physical children, new states within our internal qualities, and other people's/Nature's desires that we adopt as our own:

1. Physical Children:
• Physical children are children who are born of women in this world. Meaning, the physical children we see all around us.
2. Our Internal Qualities:
• When we give birth to a new state within our internal qualities, for example, when we change from selfishness (seeking to benefit ourselves) to bestowal (seeking to benefit others/Nature), a new state, a baby, is born within us. This new state can't be seen, it can only be sensed, and it has to be nurtured and raised in the right environment in order for it to grow and develop from childhood to adulthood.
• In Scripture, the stories of people who are born of women speak of states within our internal qualities. Meaning, people such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others (who are born of women) are actually states within our internal qualities.
3. Other People's/Nature's Desires:
• When we adopt other people's/Nature's desires as our own, and seek to benefit them instead of ourselves, they become to us as our own children. Meaning, we treat them as we would our own children, caring for them and taking care of them, making sure they have everything they need.

I get asked all the time whether or not I have children. While I don't have any physical children, I do have children within my internal qualities, as it is written, "... The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son ..." (Isaiah 7:14, NIV). Also, all the people in the world (and all of Nature) are my children.

The word  "children" can mean three things - physical children, new states within our internal qualities, and other people's/Nature's desires that we adopt as our own.

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others/Nature instead of ourselves.

Copyright © 2015, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

The Killing Of Children Has To Stop

The quality of selfishness (seeking to benefit ourselves) is responsible for the killing of children that we've seen recently:

1. Police & Militants Killing Children:
• On Dec 16, 2014 in Peshawar, Pakistan, Taliban militants killed 132 school children and 9 adults, 141 people in total. [1]
• On Nov 22, 2014 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, police officer Timothy Loehmann killed 12 year old Tamir Rice. [2]
• Rice was brandishing a toy gun in a park, and sadly, he probably learned his behaviour from watching adults on TV or elsewhere.
• On Aug 9, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, USA, police officer Darren Wilson killed 18 year old teenager Michael Brown. [3]
2. Children Killing Children:
• On Apr 20, 1999 in Colombine, Colorado, USA, senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students, 1 teacher, then killed themselves. [4]
• Children learn their behaviour from the violence they see on TV, in movies, in video games, in comic books etc. The violent content is generated by adults. We teach children how to be violent then we're shocked when they behave violently.
• We have to set positive and constructive examples for children so they don't learn negative and destructive behaviour.
• Here is a list of all the school shootings in the USA. [5] (Not all were perpetrated by children and the list includes colleges and universities.)
3. Parents Killing Children:
• On Jun 18, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Justin Ross Harris left his 22 month old son Cooper in a hot car all day. When he returned to his car, he found Cooper dead.
• Parents selfishly don't want to look after their own children. They don't want to be up all night, worried all day, dealing with exhaustion, lack of sleep etc. They see their own children as interfering with and/or interrupting their own lives. To eliminate 'the problem', they kill their own children.

Who suffers? The children!

We're surrounded by the quality of selfishness all the time - homelessness, poverty, the gap between the rich and the poor, crime, pollution, injustice etc. The killing of children is just another manifestation of that same quality of selfishness.

The quality of selfishness always has an excuse to justifying harming others - I was doing my job, it was revenge, I wanted more time to myself etc.

There are hundreds of millions of children living in slums, in deplorable conditions, exposed to disease, exploitation and even death. Yet we're not violently shocked by that. We've become numb to it, we don't even think about it.

A time will come when the deplorable state of the world will shock us and we'll weep for the world that we've created. 

We have to change from personal selfishness (seeking to benefit ourselves) to mutual bestowal (seeking to benefit others).

If we don't change, we'll see more examples of the quality of selfishness, and it will only get worse.

That said, remember that there is none else besides Him. God has a way of making everything right. Nothing bad has ever happened to us, others or all of Nature.

That doesn't mean that people have free license to do whatever they want. Not at all.

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

_________

References:

1. Pakistan Taliban: Peshawar school attack leaves 141 dead. www.bbc.com. Dec 16, 2014. Retrieved Dec 17, 2014.
2. Shooting of Tamir Rice. www.en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved Dec 17, 2014
3. Shooting of Michael Brown. www.en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved Dec 17, 2014
4. Colombine High School massacre. www.en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved Dec 17, 2014.
5. List of school shootings in the United States. www.en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved Dec 17, 2014.
6. Karimi, Faith, Michael Pearson (Jul 9, 2014). Georgia toddler death: Who is Justin Ross Harris. www.cnn.com. Retrieved Dec 17, 2014.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Great Children

Let's say a great man has children. How would you treat his children? Probably very well because they're the children of a great man.

We're all God's children, so how should we treat each other? If we treat others (and Nature) badly, how do you think that makes God feel?

We have to change from personal selfishness (seeking to benefit ourselves) to mutual bestowal (seeking to benefit others). 

From the love of friends, we come to the love of God.
In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Americans Have To Decide Between Guns And Children

Americans have to decide between guns and children.
You can either have:

1. Guns and NO children, or
2. Children and NO guns.

You can't have both guns and children. It's one or the other. You have to decide, it's up to you. What are your priorities? The world wants to know.

The cost of the American gun culture is dead children. Every year, nearly 10,000 American children are killed and injured by guns. That's a very high price to pay. Children pay with their lives so selfish American adults can enjoy their "rights".

The "rights" of American adults to have guns is more important than the rights of American children to live.

While some children are the perpetrators of gun violence, they learn their behaviour from their social environment, which adults control.

The question is this: Would you give up your gun to save a child's life?

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others (especially children) instead of ourselves.
______
References:

1. Kim, Clare (January 27, 2014). Nearly 10,000 American children are injured or killed by guns every year. www.msnbc.com. Retrieved Oct 29, 2014. 

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Orphans, Street Children, Child Trafficking & Child Soldiers

Around the world, children suffer cruelly in many ways, a result of the quality of selfishness because adults who are in a position to help, don't.

Here are some worldwide statistics on orphans, street children, child trafficking and child soldiers:

1. Orphans: According to UNICEF, there are 132 million orphans worldwide (defined as children who have lost one or both parents). Of these, 13 million have lost both parents. [1]
2. Street Children: According to UNESCO, there are up to 150 million street children in the world today. [2]
3. Child Trafficking. According to UNICEF, 1.2 million children are trafficked each year. [3]
4. Child Soldiers: There are an estimated 250,000 child soldiers in the world today. [4]

We're all one family and we have to start treating each other as one family. We have to change from personal selfishness to mutual bestowal and seek to benefit others (especially children) instead of ourselves.

Round tables need to be established to seek to benefit children in every way: To ensure that all children are raised in loving homes instead of in institutions and orphanages, to ensure that children aren't living on the streets, to stop child trafficking, to stop children from being used as soldiers, and to find new ways of improving the environments in which children grow up in so they're surrounded by love and support in every way.

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

_________

References:

1. Orphans. www.unicef.org. Retrieved Oct 24, 2014.
2. Street Children. www.unesco.org. Retrieved Oct 24, 2014.
3. Child trafficking. www.unicef.org. Retrieved Oct 24, 2014.
4. Child Soldiers. www.warchild.org.uk. Retrieved Oct 24, 2014.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

A Little Blonde Girl At A Daycare

One time I was at a daycare and this little blonde girl came up to me in tears. I knelt down beside her and asked her why she was crying. She was silent. She looked miserable. My heart just broke for her. Where were her parents?

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Educating Children

Children learn by seeing, mimicking and doing. We have to set positive and constructive examples for children to follow. One of the things that has a big impact on child development is communication, such as talking.

The smaller children are, the more you have to talk to them. For example, when you have breakfast, you could talk your way through your actions. You could say, "Now I'm taking the orange juice and pouring it into a cup, now I'm pouring the cereal into a bowl." Or when you're getting ready to go outside, you could say, "I'm putting on my jacket and shoes" etc.

This kind of explicit communication will help children (especially small children) connect their intellect and emotions with what they see, hear, smell, taste and touch. It would greatly contribute to their growth and development.

Of course as children get older, this kind of explicit communication wouldn't be as necessary.

In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

A Prayer For All The Children Of The World

Ein Sof,

I pray for all the children of the world, that they may not suffer neglect, abuse, exploitation, trafficking, abandonment or death at the hands of selfish parents and guardians who are seeking only to benefit themselves.

Please protect all the children of the world and give them a safe, comfortable, tender, gentle, attentive and loving environment to grow up in.

Amen.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

God's Plan Is A Goal Oriented Plan

Parents who want to raise their children to have a broad, thorough and complete education, subject them to a wide variety of challenges and experiences, some good and some bad. The purpose of which is to develop character and strength so children can grow up to be wise and independent and become people who can relate to others through shared experiences.

Children who experience unpleasant events may despise their parents, yet everything their parents do is out of love - and parents may even suffer more through it.

God is our parent and our teacher. He subjects us to a wide variety of experiences out of love. While we may not understand why we have to go through certain things, know that God's plan is a goal oriented plan.

Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.

Teach Your Children Constructive Behaviour

Teach your children how to behave constructively in society.

Teach them the basic principles of love, giving, being mindful of others, thinking about others, being considerate, caring, respectful, compassionate, tolerant and thoughtful.

Children learn from their parents and from their social environment. If children have negative influences, they learn negative behaviour. If children have positive influences, they learn positive behaviour.

Don't let your children raise themselves and don't let society raise them. Be active parents and instill positive, moral and ethical behaviour in your children.

Don't teach your children your negative traits. If you're a thief, don't teach your children how to steal. Want better for your children, raise them to be better than you are.

Parenting is one of the most important roles in society. Take it seriously, take full responsibility for your children and raise your children to be people who benefit society in a positive way.

Copyright © 2013, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.