What have we taught our children?

Batas Mauricio .

THERE was an elephant in the room in the just-concluded drama of 12 very young school children and their coach who were trapped in a cave below a Thai mountain range.

The “elephant” involving the children who had faced the dim prospects of being drowned by rising waters brought by the incoming rainy season in that country was the clear failure of parents to teach their kids on the way and instruction of the Lord, and of good manners and right conduct.

I do not wish to add to the anxiety that the children’s parents experienced but it is true: those kids dared to venture into the mountain caves because they didn’t know any better.

Certainly, the trip to those caves happened because the children lacked the appropriate appreciation of what they were doing. I can say here, with very little fear of contradiction, that the trip to the caves was either kept a secret from the children’s parents, or was resorted to because of silly juvenile dares.

The school children’s descent into those dangerous caves was merely a part of an initiation process for some weird organization of Thai children.

If only the children were taught to value spiritual rules, such as honoring their fathers and mothers in every aspect of their lives, they could have been minded to secure the parents’ permission first.

Had they done that–securing their parents’ permission first before going into those treacherous caves, something that children with discernment and with good manners and right conduct could have done–that drama would not even have bothered them and the world.

But this is now mere hindsight, which, nonetheless, gives an important life’s lesson from which every children in every part of the world can benefit: it is very important for parents to teach their children the way and instruction of the Lord, and they will never depart from it if they grow old.

To the parents who are reading this column now, are you teaching your children the way and the instruction of the Lord? Some may ask: what is the way and the instruction of the Lord? It is teaching our children that there is a powerful God who created the heavens and the earth, whom we must love with all our minds, hearts, souls, and strength, if we desire successful and prosperous life here on earth, and a life in Paradise in the life hereafter.

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The recent brawl between the players of the Philippines and Australian teams during their game at the Philippine Arena is a big proof which shows that sports competitions, whether of the amateur or professional kind anywhere in the world nowadays, have become gravely misdirected, losing the very rationale or justification why such competitions are held in the first place.

Sports competitions are meant, first and foremost, to develop goodwill towards others, promote humility towards the lesser-endowed among humans, and recognize God’s kindness and generosity for blessing mankind with strength, stamina, physical prowess, and with His love and power over all human beings.

Unfortunately, as man strayed away from God by no longer wanting to listen to His Word and no longer desiring to obey His commands, he forgot that he is supposed to be humble before God (who alone gave him the best that is in him, in the first place) and to be humble before other men (who, despite their deficiencies and imperfections, are God’s beloved creations anyway, worthy likewise of respect and love).

As man forgot that there is nothing in him which came from his own power–and that whatever he has actually came from God–he started believing that his physical superiority over others was of his own making, making himself believe that it is by the power of his own hands that he has become physically superior and better than others.

This is the reason why we see athletes and sports buffs exerting all they can–muscles and brawn together, even employing coarse and ungodly and devil-may-care attitude–just to subdue the competition, and win any contest at all cost.

Victory has become the “end all” and the “be all” of these athletes. Winning has become the end of all sports endeavors. What has become important is the recognition that the athlete is the best in the field of sports he has chosen. There is no more room for any defeat, and anyone who exhibits a more superior performance is treated as an enemy who must be eliminated or sidelined at all cost.

This is the reason why when victory is attained, the usual first reaction nowadays is for the winning athletes to raise both their arms, with fists clenched, lustingly shouting “yes,” in the process forgetting to thank and recognize God for the victory that had been given them.

This prideful and unabashed display of self-glorification can now be seen among all athletes, whether Filipinos or foreigners, young and old alike. The truth is that, this kind of self-seeking behavior is also very much evident in young students who have been given the opportunity to play for the teams of their colleges or universities—proving beyond the shadow of doubt the desecration of good manners amoung the Filipino youth.

This must be stopped real soon, for it has given rise to a culture of shameless godlessness worldwide, an international culture that destines all of the world to destruction and ultimate death. Let us endeavor to return sports competitions as tools for the glory of God!

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com