Parents and Children: Our Most Difficult Classroom [AUDIOSTR]

Kenneth Wapnick, Ph.D.

The focus of this download is on what it means to be a right-minded parent and a right-minded child. The former role involves being faithful to the changing function of parent, at the same time respecting the child’s mind to choose its life experiences, and whether to perceive them through the eyes of the ego or the Holy Spirit. The latter role expresses the meaning of Freud’s insightful statement:

The liberation of an individual, as he grows up, from the authority of his parents is one of the most necessary though one of the most painful results brought about by the course of his development. 

In other words, we know we have attained spiritual maturity when we no longer think of our parents or parental surrogates as authorities—on the level of content—but as brother and sister walking with us the path that leads us home. Thus, both forms of this primary relationship can, if we so choose, exemplify Jesus’ message of forgiveness: not seeing another’s interests as separate from our own.

After a commentary on a special message from Jesus to William Thetford, the discussion of these themes is conducted largely in the context of specific issues raised by students at various classes and workshops. These issues fall within four major categories: Parents Rearing Children; Parents and Adult Children; The Adult Child; Caring for Elderly Parents.