Little Pitchers Have Big Ears

As Bud Millington recently said, "Things are going to get real ugly before we are out of here." Of course, that is no surprise to any Bible student that stays informed. And, of course, as long as it exists only in our understanding, and we are not yet living it, we believe with all faith that we can weather it when the time comes. The truth is, the grim reality will come some morning before we've had our coffee and chances are - we won't be ready...

These are the things the saints know but do not discuss in public. Indeed you had better know who you are talking with and what you are saying when you talk about it at all - and one must be very sure there are no children around when you do discuss it because, "little pitchers have big ears." But unlike the generation of this centuries-old cliche, today's generation of "little pitchers" also have big eyes and can read for themselves on the Internet.

We can fill the ears of our children with good things - assurances of our love and our committed protection, encouragement in studies and sports, the love of God and the manifold blessings He has poured out upon this nation and its people. We have to be honest too, and tell them the freedoms, the blessings and the Divine protection their ancestors enjoyed are at risk today because of national sin against God and man, and unprecedented corruption among our country's leaders. We owe it to the children to prepare them for the lies they will hear and the bad things they may see.

Children are never too young to hear the stories of their proud heritage or to face-off between right and wrong. They are never to young to learn that choosing wrong has its consequences and its punishment, whether that choice comes from a child, a mommie or daddy, a town or a nation of all kinds of people. Individually or collectively, choices are serious and can have a very heavy impact for a very long time.

In the generation I grew up in - many many years ago - parents and especially grandparents, believed in sheltering children if possible from adult gossip and any form of sadness, violence or bad news. I was in high school when I saw my first corpse and attended my first funeral.

It was during WW11 that Adolph Hitler formed the youth corps in Germany, brainwashing a nation's youth to hate, to report subversion in their own family, and to kill offenders and traitors without mercy. Boys in their mid-teens, with rifles in their hands, were sacrificed on the Russian front, mowed down like grass in the field, and children as young as eleven spied on their parents.

Such things are against the nature of children but Hitler managed to get through to them and many became hardened defenders of the third reich. Most of them had never had their first date, been to their first dance, or kissed their first girl. But they could choose to tell or not to tell, to kill or not to kill, and to betray their best friend or not to betray them.

In this country Christians have been labeled terrorists and Big Brother lurks among everyday folk. While in England, seven year olds are being recruited to spy out and report on their parents.

This is what Barack Obama wants to do with the children of America. He plans to form a militant youth corp with mandatory service. Surely Congress has raised children and are doting grandparents of tomorrows rising citizens. Surely Congress, and surely their spouses will not be blind-sided by this. Surely the moms and dads of America will stop the madness when the time comes.

Meanwhile, I don't think we should discuss it in front of the children. Children tell everything they know to anyone who will listen. There will be plenty of time to discuss it when the time comes and if they are targeted for such a thing. Americans love their children. Americans protect their children from predators as best they can, and yet, there are different kinds of predators. There is a predator that steals the innocence of a child, breaks the heart and hardens the mind against his own parents, teachers, brothers and sisters. It is Satan's pleasure, working through the predator, stealing the soul of a child...

We need to remember, these are the children of the future. What they learn today and experience every day will impact all of our tomorrows. Since little pitchers have big ears, and now we learn - even big eyes - we will not lie to them if they hear things or read things that involve the children of this land. But we must remember they are still children, vulnerable to teachings, to examples, to influences right or wrong, and to decisions and responsibilities that fit their ages.

It is instinct to want to shelter them. But we also owe them the truth when they ask questions. And we owe them our faith in their ability to make the right decision, based on what we have already taught them. If they choose to run with the rebels, we will deal with it. We're Americans, we're tough by history. We're used to dealing with the bullies down the block...

Joan Krempel
May 21, 2009
joan@joankrempelministries.com