Love’s Dynamic

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From a biological process lasting a few seconds a baby is born; a few pounds of flesh and blood whose primary needs are to eat and sleep… and be loved. What kind of human adult the baby becomes depends on many factors including personality, but the single, greatest influence is the parenting the child receives.

For at least the first six years of a child’s life its parents (or parent) have the status of a god that is all-knowing, all-seeing; perfect in every way. In those first years a child’s foundation is formed with the attitudes of the parent(s) on virtually everything, including culture, race, and economic status. Most importantly, what a child knows about love is based, almost exclusively, on the words and actions of the parental figure. Consequently, a child grows up with a particular vision of love. That view will be a version of what love should be or it will be distorted, blurry, even warped.

It is an awesome responsibility; a responsibility so great that the future of the world hangs in the balance. An exaggeration?  Not really. In generation after generation each child becomes an adult and makes decisions based, to a large degree, on childhood influences. A child taught to love through word and example is far more likely to make decisions as an adult that are based in love.  Were that same child to be taught that life is cruel and hard, that you take what you can get, then it is likely the decisions made as an adult will reflect that attitude at both the micro and macro level.

A Parent’s Love