our view of the core family has always been represented by that poignant scene in the manger, with Joseph and Mary looking over their newly born son Jesus. to put it into an equation: Father + Mother = Child(ren).
a recent anecdote brought this concept to the fore and made me look at it really hard.
a young girl of 7 was asking her grandma where her father is. she was just told at school that a family MUST have a father, mother and child(ren). so she came home confused because she did have a mother, but no father. she however had her mommy lo and aunt and uncle growing up with her. isn’t that her family?
the story of where her father is, is not the point that bothered me.
i have had friends who had dysfunctional lives. Dealing with a broken family (whether physically broken or emotionally broken) must be on one of hell’s version here on earth.
to have it (painfully) underlined by a teacher will leave an indelible mark on the child as we very well know how teachers can become the earliest idols they will know. it will definitely take a very stable home environment to make that child feel she is not a misfit in society.
in the end, we really just have to be careful with what we say. especially if we are a person of authority. physical wounds heal but the wounds our tongue bring may not.
my take 