Featured Author of the Antiochian Archdiocese: Kh. Maggie Hock
Khouria Maggie Hock is the Director of the Department of Marriage & Parish Family Ministries for the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. She is a fully licensed and credentialed psychotherapist and mediator and a marriage and parenting expert. She lives in Omaha, Nebraska, where her husband, Fr. Don, is the pastor of St. Mary Orthodox Church. She is the mother of five adult children and now has five grandsons.
Featured
Blessed Are the Pure in Heart, For They Shall See God
by Kh. Maggie Hock
WHEN PARENTS AT THE TIME OF CHRIST brought their children to Him for a blessing, the disciples rebuked them. However, our Lord commanded them, “‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ And He laid His hands on them” (Matthew 19:13–15). Christ did not dismiss the children because of their youth and inexperience; instead, He brought them close and honored them with His blessing.
Everything about a little child speaks of his innocence and trust. Their refreshingly innocent spirit inspires us as parents to live a life that honors their trust. Children love with their whole heart, a love that inspires us to see God’s unconditional love. And little children believe completely in their parents’ ability to protect them, which inspires us to live a life that provides the direction and security required for their healthy growth and maturity.
A child’s very nature provides a context in which parents are inspired to provide the best possible life experiences for them. A natural synergy develops in the parent-child relationship. As the parent loves and provides for the child, the child returns that love and motivates parents to do their best job in representing God’s love in the context of this intimate human experience.
Parents are for the child the first door to the Kingdom of God. By the way the parents live a godly life, they provide the first example of God’s love and care. Saint Theophan the Recluse (The Path to Salvation) advises that “the upbringing in the home is the root and foundation of everything that follows.” Setting a right foundation, then, is the first priority of the parent for the child. When an infant has such a beginning in life, there is little that can change his belief later as he matures. The foundation of belief becomes a part of the concrete, so to speak, that hardens and forms the person the child grows into.