Demise of the Family

In my home town there is a local church that puts on a Easter Pageant. Today I saw an article about this special event stating that the pageant was starting to die. Due to the economy money was not being donated and the event could not find volunteers willing to act in the play. This got my wheels turning and I realized how little importance people place on events requiring us to gather as a family. We choose to chase the moment and refuse to stop and take pause and acknowledge from where we originated.

Even if you are not a Christian, Easter still held a small amount of importance to the family unit. The fact of the matter is we have become completely self absorbed to the point that we have allowed the very concept of family to fall by the wayside. No matter how you slice it, we have forgotten the simple concept of family and have chosen to turn away and become self reliant. Family once held a special place in our hearts and we were not bothered to take time off to remember this fact.

The truth of the matter is that the whole concept of family has been marred by convenience. A great example of this is the TV dinner. With the invention of this meal, family no longer was required to sit at the dinner table to share their meal, instead we chose to drift in the direction of the television, speaking to each other only when required. Eventually the invention of pizza and fast food no longer required us to even be in the same household to obtain our meals. Now it is extraordinary to find a family that sits at the dinning room table. During family meals at the holidays we become frustrated with those around us and become annoyed with the very idea of spending time together.

Divorce is another common factor in the demise of the family unit. Children are forced to choose between sides of the family and the courts delegate where they must spend their time. I honestly believe that because we spend little time together as a family, thus not connecting on a personal level with our spouse, we forget the importance of the family unit. Parents become focused on the children and not on their spouse, when in fact the husband and the wife are what created the family in the first place. With out quality time, a husband and a wife will drift apart, creating complications in the marriage. I can guarantee you the couples who have strong marriages take pause to share time alone reconnecting. Its vital to a marriage and vital to the family unit.

Family units also are falling apart due to a lack of respect for one another. There was a time not so long ago that children respected their parents, making certain to listen to them when instructed to do so. Children acknowledged the authority their parents held over them and honored the wishes of their parents. Somewhere along the lines children began to become more independent and believed they were entitled to make their own decisions, going against everything their parents taught them. I myself was guilty of this attitude, believing I was above the instruction of my mother and father! With this attitude comes stress for a mother and father that can do irreparable damage to a marriage and a family. Lines of communication break down and children go undisciplined.