I’ll never forget a story that was told to me by a social worker, who helped young mums at risk of having their babies taken away from them. One of the things she had to teach these young women was to look at their babies. I was shocked.
I hadn’t realised that the simple act of looking into your child’s eyes was a learned behaviour—and if you haven’t had the gift of attachment to your own parents, you will not have those skills to pass on to your children.
So much of what many of us take for granted is actually passed down to us from previous generations. Like the act of cooking homemade meals, or sitting around the table to eat dinner. Even using a knife and fork is something that we have to learn.
But it’s so easy for us to judge others without knowing their story. We don’t know whether that person that gets takeaways every night has ever been taught to cook. We don’t know whether that ‘bad’ mother has ever been mothered herself.
And it’s a reminder for those of us who have been given much, that our job is to share what we have. That’s why I was inspired by talking to ‘super home cook’ Megan Dangen this week about her work at Royal Oak Community Ministries, where among their many activities, they are teaching cooking skills to clients. These seemingly simple skills we take for granted can be a life-changer for someone else.
It reminds me of that quote from Martin Luther: ‘God does not need your good works, but your neighbour does.’
Ingrid Barratt
Isaiah 26:3 (The Message)
People with their minds set on you, you keep completely whole, steady on their feet because they keep at it and don’t quit.
Ihāia 26:3
Māu e pupuri i runga i te rangimārie rawa te tangata e ū ana te whakaaro ki a koe; nāna hoki
i whakawhirinaki ki a koe.