Stepping Out Tonight

Trey Smith

Stepping out of the Tao Bible series this evening, I have more of an observation than a question. I'm struggling to get through the Book of Ezekiel because, well, it is doggone boring. "God" is having one of his many tizzy fits and Chapter 16 is filled with an unending string of castigations and admonishments.

He hurls invective after invective until we get to Verse 60. It is at this juncture he mutters something that I find quite remarkable.

Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.

It strikes that he is a poor parent! After reading the kids the riot act for what seems like forever, he turns around to say, "Don't worry. I'm going to let you off the hook again."

As a former social worker, I hated working with parents who used this tack. They would threaten their kids up one side and down the other, but, at the end of the day, the threats dissolved to nothing. And these parents couldn't fathom WHY their children continued to misbehave!

I would point out that threats are meaningless unless you back them up with something. A threat that a child knows will never come to fruition isn't actually a threat at all! The child has no genuine incentive to change his/her negative behavior because they KNOW it won't lead to an actual punishment.

This is not to suggest that threats are a good way to help mold children into caring adults. There often are more constructive ways to deal with situations. That said, if a parent issues a threat, then the parent should be prepared AND willing to carry it out.

"God" isn't providing a very good example of this here.