by
Susan
Kramer
Living
in a family
is like
being one of the spokes of a wheel
We are
all busily immersed
in our
various activities during the day
but
at day's end our consciousness
once
again returns to the hub
the
hub of family life
to complete
the whole
In healthy family life, each member gives (babies give us laughs) and takes. In this way each has the opportunity to give and receive, everyone receiving the benefits of both. Family provides a strong support unit in times of stress and illness. Family support helps us work through life's ups and downs.
As parents, our children's dependency ties us to responsibilities, giving us the opportunity to grow out of our self-serving ways. Children have us as a role model to emulate and as someone to guide and support them till independence day. And when our parents become children again through old age or illness, we have the responsibility to care for them.
On the
world scale
all
the peoples of earth
are
our extended family
Our
individual family
The
example of this on a small scale
Spare time can be spent improving the environment for all and serving those where their needs may lie. We need to feel and show the same concern for others that we feel for ourselves and our families by attitude and by action, to the extent our responsibilities allow.
Families give us a chance to grow in consciousness as individuals, by broadening our concept of what it means to be part of the world family.
When
we feel at One with all
we begin
to realize
the
same oneness in all
The
One Spirit that powers
and
guides
everyone
and everything
Nurturing: Nesting Family to World Family
Mother
first holds her infant
aligned
heart to heart
Father
and siblings
aligned
heart to heart
Heart
to heart contact
is an
essential part
in human
development
A baby, cuddled in the heart to heart position regains the feelings of security and protection lost, when suddenly free of the womb. With repeated hugs and cuddling, baby, mother, all of baby's family develops a mutual relationship of ever increasing love.
The human
infant needs
loving
care and devotion
from
an adult
to be
protected from dangers
and
have his needs met
On the larger scale of human development and evolution, the devotion developed in nurturing our family expands gradually to include others in our loving care. We grow from self-centeredness, feeling a limited amount of love, to the experience of expanded never-ending loving energy reaching out to all.
Extended Family
While growing up we observe what is entailed in being a father, mother, brother, sister. If each of these basic roles were not in our own family, we saw them in families around us. As adults, many of us extend into the parenting role with our own children or with the children of relatives and friends.
The family we grew up in is our nesting family. After we fly from the nest as young adults, we begin to relate in ways that form additional family groups. If we marry, we then gain an ever larger family of in-laws.
While
we are single adults
we form
a circle of friends
for
mutual support and nurturing
Whatever
role we are in at the moment
we have
work and community groups
with
which to interact
and
acquaintances sharing common interests
As citizens,
we have national and international ties
In varying
degrees of involvement and commitment
we function
as parts
of the
whole world family
Back to the Nest
As children, we practice relating with those older, younger, and similar in age. With relatives, we have a common tie, but varying interests, abilities, and goals. We get practice in fulfilling our own desires while learning to get along harmoniously with others in the nest.
As adults,
our growth continues
in learning
to relate harmoniously
We form
bonds of friendship
that
deepen into caringness
No matter what individual differences we have, we all have basic similarities, just as children of the same set of parents have similarities and differences. We each have a body, discriminative mind, emotions, soul, and were born of the union of two parents forming one whole new person. We begin to feel the underlying harmonious force of love weaving its way through our lives, enriching us with the realization that we are not in solitude on the planet, but interrelated in our worldwide extended family.
We came
from
the cooperation and connection of two
not
from the self-centeredness of one
To understand our inborn harmonious union with others we need to practice giving and receiving, relaxing and enjoying our interrelatedness.
By sharing and caring with others we experience a feeling of fullness and connectedness. By nurturing these feelings of connection and satisfaction daily, our capacity grows to include more people in our loving circle, eventually realizing and feeling our oneness with our entire planetary family.
Feeling
connections
Expanding
from
our nesting family
to our
planetary family
by daily
acts
of sharing
and caring