Earlier this morning, i had an experience that took me back to my childhood years.It almost appeared like a flashback from the past.I was at a cafe having a break from a study session at the local library.On the adjacent table were three young boys, seated next to their mom, having their breakfast.They must have noticed my momentary ogle at their table, perhaps wondering what about them fascinated me so much.At that very moment, i was in a trance.My mind flashed back to my childhood ; me and my two elder brothers; my mother.For one moment, i hoped that these three boys had a brighter, more certain and stable future devoid of the vagaries of an incomplete and therefore unstable family.I hoped for one moment that the father to these three boys was somewhere at work, eking out a living and would return home in the evening to participate in raising the children.This thought was perhaps prompted by his absence at the cafeteria and by the boys' mom's frantic telephone calls about an impending restructuring at her place work.I remembered how promising we were as a cohesive family at the very beginning:A father with a good education and promising job; A wife (and later, mother) who was loving and submissive; and three sons, at the time, a sure measure of future glory and success in a family. Then, gradually, cracks began to emerge...like a tiny fissure along an airplane's fuselage, left unchecked and unattended, the strains and stresses of daily flight can stretch it until it gradually grows to a point where it can cause the plane to rip apart, causing complete structural failure and even a crash.The daily arguments and fights got to a point where separation was inexorable.What followed later on is now history which, sadly, renders context irrelevant.My prayer this evening will be not much different from my prayer last night or the night before.I will however remember the three boys i met at the restaurant earlier today.I will ask God to secure their future, give them supervision and protection in their lives.It is this supervision and direction from a father, earthly or divine, that all our boys will need if our society is to remain sane.
