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thank you for such loving and thoughtfilled comments. I really appreciate
what you have all had to say. bless you, all my dear friends.
posted by
Kabu
on April 19, 2011 at 9:20 AM
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it is fascinating what effects a child isn't it? I hadn't really thought about the whole point of Good Friday too much, but now we have cleaned up fairy tales so that they are no longer dark or frightening our kids are not being de-sensitised any more...
posted by
lionreign
on April 19, 2011 at 7:37 AM
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Kabu
As I began reading this, I had an echo of a familiar sensation - the horror I experienced as a child when exposed to that whole crucifiction event, and I knew right away that your niece's problems stemmed from that.
In my case it didn't have any effect on my behavior - I always behaved badly, LOL.
And while it may have been possible in the past to protect children to a certain degree, today it is absolutely impossible to protect them from anything, unfortunately...
posted by
Nautikos
on April 19, 2011 at 7:19 AM
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There is really no way of protecting a child from these images darling especially since they are ingrained in their faith. It is something that has to be explained from young and I think it will grow in them as they age. The most important thing is that our belief that he died a horrific death for our sins but was risen from the dead. While reading this, this verse of song came to my mind Kabu "he touched me, yes he touched me and made me whole".
posted by
shobana
on April 19, 2011 at 12:57 AM
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Kabuiepie-;)
Good post lover.It' s just too much grief and misery to dwell on for me too actually. He rose up and that is all one with troubles should dwell on.
posted by
WileyJohn
on April 18, 2011 at 8:18 PM
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I had the same reactions while growing up as well. My favorite sister who I thought as a second mother to me. She was very nurturing and gentle. In as far as how Easter represented for her. She simply told me that Jesus went to be with God the Father. And it was so gentle in the focus on the love God has for his children. One needs to feel the heart of a child, and maybe go back to a childlike form to understand what to say and what not to say. Bless her heart!
posted by
Inspired7211
on April 18, 2011 at 6:20 PM
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someone must of scared her something to do with Easter, I never heard of that before
posted by
Lanetay
on April 18, 2011 at 4:19 PM
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Ahh - maybe that's why my grandmother put so much emphasis on the Easter Rabbit on Good Friday, and the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Although she was a faithful believer, she was not religious. She told us the story every year, of course, but I can't remember her going into gory details. Poor niece - what a thing to live with for so many years. Lucky for her you were there with a kind and open ear, Kabu!
posted by
adnohr
on April 18, 2011 at 3:35 PM
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I think the little children around Jesus himself would have felt the sadness and pain and not understood how people could be so cruel as to do this to Him Kabu. Today children are either sheltered up to a certain age from the gruesomeness of it ,and then come to understand the reality. Others already play games with violence in them or secretly watch horror movies, and it is hard for them to relate to it as being real. It is something the parents and child always need to work through. It is a horrible thing, but God went through it so we might be saved. Adults often shy away from the true horror of the goriness of what happened, and for a child to go into detail about that horror when very young is surprising. Children often are unable to understand the reality of death itself. I hope it did not turn the poor girl away from God; but that through her understanding so early in life, she learnt to love Him more.
posted by
Cheerygirl
on April 18, 2011 at 3:19 PM
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Kabu
This is an awesome post. You are so right. We expect children not to notice, not to care and yet we are angry with them when we have put things before them. It is so great of you to say to her what she needed to hear. It is stupid to overlook that someone is behaving in a manner that stops joy for all around and we just hug them and go on. You allowed her to prob and hopefully heal a lot. You are such a blessing to so many. Be blessed of the Lord.
posted by
Justi
on April 18, 2011 at 2:22 PM
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WOW!! It's amazing that few people have put this together because EVEN @ 61 I STILL can't bear to watch that gruesome horrible event..................
posted by
luweegie
on April 18, 2011 at 1:40 PM
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Oh, Grandmummy...I truly feel for your niece. Very young children should NOT be forced into such situations. I myself know the true meaning of the holiday, but for me, Easter is the time when life begins anew...when creation is made beautiful again.
There are many holidays that I actually hate, for various reasons, but Easter is not one of them. I feel so sad and heart broken that your niece was never able to expirience the joy of this special day.
I pray that somewhere in time she has been able to see the gift that Easter was meant to be.
posted by
lovelyladymonk
on April 18, 2011 at 1:34 PM
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I always wondered as a child why they called it..
"GOOD Friday"...I couldn't understand at that point anything good at all about the crucifiction...I think we have to be very careful how Easter Weekend is presented to young minds...the emphasis should definitely be on Christ's resurrection, but the cucifiction can't be ignored..Sunday School Teachers, parents, should just tread very carefully when doing so..
...
posted by
Rumor
on April 18, 2011 at 1:12 PM
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No wonder so many people focus on chocolate eggs and bunnies,
I don't think that's what Jesus meant when he said "suffer the little children to come unto me."
posted by
Pat_B
on April 18, 2011 at 1:12 PM
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i used to wet my bed... maybe w/o the association there was something similar going on... we'll probably never know... i just know i felt jesus to be my best friend all my life... that would be torture for a child to see him going thru what he did.
I do remember how soberly we walked out of our Lutheran Good Friday services... no one dared speak one word!
posted by
poet_prophetess
on April 18, 2011 at 12:21 PM
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this explains to me now why all thru the viewing of mel gibsons the passion of the Christ my sister kept flashing her watch light on and on and on... poor dear, i think she was tortured to see her Lord like that... though I said nothing to her later, I "blamed" her in my mind that she was too distracted about going home to do her laundry or something... this makes me cry... your poor niece... it's so unfortunate that the mystery was not solved as it occurred.
wow... I'm still crying... will keep her in my prayers... very sensitive soul indeed.
posted by
poet_prophetess
on April 18, 2011 at 12:15 PM
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A great question that is to ponder, especially in light of the Easter example provided. It's so tough to figure it out because each kid is different.
posted by
FormerStudentIntern
on April 18, 2011 at 12:05 PM
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Exposed only to love and warned in a careful way that mythology is not meant to hurt people. Sadly those to be aware of are much closer to home.
posted by
C_C_T
on April 18, 2011 at 11:00 AM
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i guess the framers of the holiday wanted to really impress medieval
folk, whose lives were already full of harsh realities, with the torture of Jesus, thereby, the quality of the sacrifice.
posted by
Ciel
on April 18, 2011 at 10:55 AM
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I did really guess what the problem was before I read on because I have wondered why Easter focuses on such gruesome scenes rather than the Resurrection of Jesus after his torture ordeal with the Romans. I wondered more as an adult and I guess, ignored it as a child. It is sort of disgusting to me to see it on Easter, maybe the Sunday before or two before and not subject the children to the rough details would be best.
posted by
mariss9
on April 18, 2011 at 10:14 AM
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