Friday, November 19, 2010

Be A Child Advocate

"I said, 'Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest -- I would flee far away and stay in the desert; I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.'" -- Psalm 55:6-8

The other night I watched a television progran where a child was kidnapped. I knew it was fiction. Hey, it's on TV! But it was so realistic. I suppose I will always relate to a suffering child. It breaks my heart when innocent children are left alone to face monsters. It's even worse when those monsters are people who should be protecting the children.

We've come a long way when it comes to child abuse and neglect. Once upon a time, law enforcement assumed that children from "good" families weren't abused. Yeah. Unbelievable, isn't it? It's difficult now to imagine that someone would associate bank balances and street address with whether that person could or would abuse a child. Or a spouse.

Now we know that abuse happens anywhere. I'm still not sure we're good at facing it when the abuser is someone "like" us. Our friends, our co-workers, the couple at little league, the family on the next pew at church -- it couldn't be any of them. Could it? Are we as aware as we should be? Are we open to what children tell us? Do we see and respond or do we look away because we'd prefer it be someone else's problem?

Children are the most vulnerable of all of us. They don't have a great many options. They are easily frightened and, thus, manipulated. That's one reason I love these verses from Psalm 55. When you're a kid who is suffering, all you really want is to be somewhere else. It seems impossible so you cry out to a God you may not know but toward a security you yearn for. And that's where God is.

I urge everyone to reach out to the children around you. Listen to them. Help them when you can. Believe them should the need arise. Don't stand on the sidelines and wait for someone else to call the police or child welfare. Help a child who needs an advocate. Let God use you to show a child that someone cares.