Self Help for Forming a Philosophy of Parenting, Using The Urantia Book as a Guide
As we are not alone in the universe, neither we are not alone in our parenting. God has provided parents with every possible guide, but sometimes we feel alone, even if we are parenting with our spouse, and we have the support of extended and chose family and community.
There are times in the every day nitty gritty of work, school, eating, diapers, and the traumas and crisis of parenthood when we do not FEEL that we are being very spiritual in our parenting, nor do we even FEEL the Spirit is with us. We shout, get impatient, blame, shake the finger, bribe and allow TV just to keep them out of the way and quiet. Where is the spirit in this?
What is spiritual parenting and how is it different from just "parenting"?
The difference is one of perspective and goals, values and meanings. The "techniques" of discipline that parents use could well be the same as they deal with their kids bursting through the limits, wanting their own pleasures, whining when things don't go their way, fighting with their siblings, etc. As is obvious to most parents children are capable of learning manifold techniques of their own, albeit it unconsciously, to manipulate their world to satisfy their momentary pleasures.
Spiritual Parenting indicates several crucial assumptions of parenting:
- We believe we are parenting children of God who have the potential to live forever;
- We have faith that the "spirit" can work with us, guide us, strengthen us, comfort us, and give us the bigger picture as we work with our children.
Kahlil Gibran states these two premises of Spiritual Parenting poetically in The Prophet :
"You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable."
The most empowering TRUTH of The Urantia Book is the FACT that we mortals have been created by our spiritual parent who loves us with an infinite love, and whom we can love in return. Because we can experience this quality of relationship in our individual personal private life, we can know the reality of the experience of the highest LOVE relationship in the universe. This personal experience gives us a foundational pattern with which to parent our children.
Another aspect of The Urantia Book is that it provides us with answers to questions which have been asked for eons and eons. Answers that we could have had, should have had from at least the days of Adam and Eve, if not earlier. We were supposed to have two planetary headquarters established on our planet. It would be considered "normal" to tell our children there IS a God, a loving God; it IS a friendly universe; they can decide to live forever; God lives in them and in everyone else, making all brothers and sisters and the most profound truth of all: God is our loving spiritual parent - each of our children has a perfect loving spiritual parent. These simple basic truths parents are struggling with daily as their children ask universal questions about the macro and micro universes - "Who made the stars?" "Where did grandpa go when he died?" "Why does God allow such bad things to happen to my friend?" As we help our children explore the answers to these questions we are helping them form a philosophy of living. We no longer have to spend precious time and energy figuring our IF we should tell our children there is a God, IF we should give them hope of eternal life, IF we should lead them to believe it is a friendly universe, FOR WE KNOW THESE ARE TRUTHS. We need to figure out in our own styles and ways how best to guide and ground our children in these truths, to encourage them to discover others truths and to release their personality potential, expanding the possibilities of their life through the adventures of self discovery and joys of service.
On this site we will uncover and share ways of putting into practice principals of spiritual parenting, discovering how we can work with the Spirit in our parenting practices. We will use not only The Urantia Book, which may be a foundational book for some, but also weave the tapestry with some of the more clearly written and respected literature of the day from professionals in the realms of sociology, psychology, neurosciences, recreation, art, education and child development.
There are several foundational quotes from The Urantia Book upon which we can build A Philosophy of Parenting:
"It is to the mind of perfect poise, housed in a body of clean habits, stabilized neural energies, and balanced chemical function - when the physical, mental and spiritual powers are in triune harmony of development - that a maximum of light and truth can be imparted ...." The Urantia Book, (110:6.4)
"Children are permanently impressed only by the loyalties of their adult associates; percept or even example is not lastingly influential." The Urantia Book, (100:1.4)
