nature and nurture

Well, the snow has melted, and spring seems to be back! The boys have been out all day in the sunshine, riding their bikes, and I am about to go out with the others and the dog. As I was enjoying the incense in church the other day, I contemplated nature and nurture for the effects they have on us. God forbid that the children ever leave God or the Church, even briefly, but if they do, I know that the incense, the icons, the chants are imprinted upon their minds and in their hearts - and will be a part of who they are. They are knitted into the fabric of their beings, and just like certain smells or songs can bring back memories from childhood, will be able to hold that memory of God in them. This, then, is nature - and nurture is the opportunity to take Holy Communion regularly and to be in a family of love: not only immediate family, but collective family of the universal Church.