teach and instruct one another with all the wisdom it gives you. With psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, sing from the heart in gratitude to God. Let every word and action, everything you do, be in the name of the Lord Jesus, and give thanks through him to God the Father.

-- Colossians 3.12-16 (REB)

CHILDREN IN OUR FAMILIES AND MEETINGS

People were bringing little children to him, for him to touch them. The disciples turned them away, but when Jesus saw this he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me, do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Then he put his arms round them, laid his hands on them, and gave them his blessing.

-- Mark 10.13-16 (JB)

Children remind us of the miracle of life and of the continuing opportunity for renewal. We recognize that children have that of God in them as do adults. We are called, therefore, to treat them with respect and dignity and to stay in dialogue with them. While their abilities and 'weightiness' vary according to their experience and clarity, we cherish the contributions that they make to family, meeting, and social life.

Our children are given to us for a time to cherish, to protect, to nurture, and then to salute as they go their separate ways. They too have the light of God within, and a family should be a learning community in which children not only learn skills and values from parents, but in which adults learn new ways of experiencing things and seeing things through young eyes. From their birth on, let us cultivate the habit of dialogue and receptive listening. We should respect their right to grow into their own wholeness, not just the wholeness we may wish for them.

-- Elizabeth Watson, 1980

We recognize that Friends' families come in many patterns, each one with its own gifts, abilities, and challenges. Friends try to harmonize daily life with spiritual belief and seek to meet the challenges and opportunities of a changing world. We note also the pressures that children and young people feel from the surrounding culture and especially from their peers. Even such positive changes as increased freedom and equality for women may cause new tensions as working parents seek to provide for children the caring atmosphere that was once the primary responsibility of an at-home parent and the extended family.