Thinking about a statement by Florence King that I recently read :
"Let’s bring back grandmothers! A real family consists of three generations. It’s time Americans stopped worrying about interference and being a burden on the children and regrouped under one roof."It's been around for awhile, but where did the idea come from, anyway, that most of us are an interference and a burden to others of us?! I have a hunch that it came from the Enemy of all things good. America does need to stop thinking like that.
I have a friend who says she could easily live like the Waltons. I think that many of us might enjoy at least the thought of it. But I think there's probably a lot of truth in Florence's statement.
It relates somewhat to what our daughter was saying recently about her generation, how they're trying to connect more relationally, especially in the context of church life. My thought is that America's families have become so scattered across the continent that we've lost important, natural relationships. The illusion of intimacy in social media is slowly being recognized for what it is. It simply cannot replace the touch of the hand, the smile on the face, the knowing that there's someone who really cares and is at your side, no matter what. No amount of "likes" can replace that.
As Louisa May Alcott would say, "A house needs a grandma in it."
Maybe not everyday, but in the everydayness of life.
Painting ~ Grandma and Football, Russell Sambrook
