Encouragement for the Journey

Greetings fellow Traveller,

Today we celebrate National Children’s Day. The theme for this year’s celebration is:

‘TREASURE OUR CHILDREN’

This is a most welcome call to us all, considering New Zealand has the highest rate of child abuse in the Western World. According to the Paediatric Society NZ ‘On average, one child in New Zealand is killed each month by their parents and notifications of suspected abuse to Child Youth and Family (CYFS) are increasing by 2,000 a year.’

It is true that we measure a society, by how it treats its most vulnerable and weakest citizens. Here at St Aidans, we seek through a Kids Friendly approach to honour and treasure the children who come through our doors. Let us continue to do so, in ways that are respectful and creative. The following quotes may offer you food for thought:

‘Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members. ’ Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), My Several Worlds [1954].

‘The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.’ ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

‘A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.’ ~Samuel Johnson, Boswell: Life of Johnson

“…the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. “  ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey

“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi

“Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members — the last, the least, the littlest.” Cardinal Roger Mahony, in a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life

“A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying,” ~Pope John Paul II

Meanwhile Peace in the Dignity of Difference

Alf