How does it feel when our kids fight? We raise them; we give them everything we’ve got. We give them our sleep, our food, our best decades. We give them our money and our time and our brain cells and our non-gray hair.
And they fight.
They fight for the dumbest reasons. They fight out of boredom, for attention, or for competition. They fight out of anger, jealousy, and for no reason whatsoever. They fight because they feel that it is safe to fight with one another, as opposed to outsiders. They fight because they don’t dream that they are wrong.
And so, they fight.
And when they fight, we crumple.
Us adults, with our psycho-savvy, and with our dual degrees, and with various self-help books memorized in part, crumple. Admit it, parents: it brings you to your knees.
Nothing feels worse than our children, flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood, carrying our very DNA, not to mention each other’s, turning against one another.
Well, well.
If God is our Father, and we are His children, why, oh why, do we do it… to each other?
When will the madness end?
Related posts:
1. If “Orthodox” is Offensive, What About “Non-Orthodox”?
2. Hypocrites
3. Newsflash: We are more alike than different
4. Judgmental is Not a Religion, It’s a Personality Defect
5. The “O” Word
*sigh* SUCH a good question. the fighting has been going on since the second temple. a loooong history of sibling rivaly. we can only work on our little piece of the world and hope that our children and community continue the work.
Leah, you are a very good example of this _ working on your corner of the world. And actually the first siblings ever fought – it didn't end well, as you know…
Well, yeah I forgot about good ol'Cain and Abel. OY.
U2 btw all the hard work you and Rabbi do – between the two of us we should at least be able to conquer the 216 . . . maybe even the 440 🙂