Bless the children for they are the light
They are the truth of spirit in flight

–From Celine Dion’s song Prayer

These sentiments (a staple, it seems for songwriters and poets) always made me uncomfortable as a child. I felt alternately empowered and intimidated.

Intimidated, because how on God’s green earth was I (I took many things very personally as a child) going to fix all the things that needed fixing in this world. Especially if the (as I saw them) all-powerful grown-ups hadn’t been able to do it, how could I?

Who needs that much pressure?

Later, as an adolescent, then even more so as a young adult, the way certain people would talk actually made me feel “past my prime.” At age 18, I was distinctly aware I was no longer in the group of children-with-unlimited-potential. I was just another person. For a (very short) while I even felt sad that I’d somehow “missed my chance.”

I’ve come to see this view of children as flawed in several ways

1. It is vaguely heretical (“They are the light/ They are the truth…”)
2. It illogically expects a new product from the same assembly line
3. It creates the feeling (conscious or not) that we adults are better than any previous generation because we will finally create the perfect environment to raise up these little messiahs.

After all, what happened to our shot as saving the world? Why haven’t generations of children before us done all that needs to be done?

The answer: “We/They weren’t allowed/empowered/equipped enough to do it,” reveals our formerly unadvertised sense of superiority. “They will succeed,” the voices say, “Because we are different. We won’t trample their divine spark, but fan it into flame.” Continue reading »