“When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, to be forgiving (all these are attributes of God), to be generous, to love their fellow men, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them. This, then, is our task: to educate both ourselves and our children in godliness.”
How often we parents concern ourselves with the worldly success of our children. What sorts of schools they will attend, what colleges they might go to, and what careers they will pursue frequently consume us to the point of anxiety, fear, and, dare I say, madness. Of course, every parent wants their children to be successful in every way. But all too often we give priority to success in the world at the expense of the cultivation of holiness. It is no secret that money, fame, and general success in this world do not amount to joy, peace, serenity, and grace. On the contrary, they often prevent us from these God-like qualities.
It is not uncommon that we find ourselves dismayed at the state of the world. The corruption, the violence, the arrogance, the sheer madness that swarms about us is deeply troubling. Somehow we feel like an investment in careers of the world will make it better. Not true. So many of us do not seem to realize — or perhaps in more honest terms, we suppress — the fact that if we pursue holiness and attain godliness the world will change for the better. There is no magic here. When I work, for example, to cultivate humility in myself and in my children a few more humble people are added to the world.
All Christians are called to a life of holiness, and the sooner that cultivation begins the better. Indeed, as St. John Chrysostom so wisely states, the time is now that we “educate both ourselves and our children in godliness.” For the very purpose of the human being is to attain the heights of that very image and that very likeness of God in which we have been created. As St. Basil the Great so poignantly put it: “The human being is an animal who has received the vocation to become God.”