Thoughts On Children

A Prayer for Children by Marian Wright Edelman

We pray for children
Who sneak popsicles before supper,
Who erase holes in math workbooks,
Who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those
Who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
Who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
Who never "counted potatoes,"
Who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead,
Who never go to the circus,
Who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for children
Who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
Who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.
And we pray for those
Who never get dessert,
Who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
Who watch their parents watch them die,
Who can't find any bread to steal,
Who don't have any rooms to clean up,
Whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
Whose monsters are real.

We pray for children
Who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
Who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
Who like ghost stories,
Who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub,
Who get visits from the tooth fairy,
Who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
Who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone,
Whose tears we sometimes laugh at and whose smiles can make us cry.

And we pray for those
Whose nightmares come in the daytime,
Who will eat anything,
Who have never seen a dentist,
Who aren't spoiled by anybody,
Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
Who live and move, but have no being.

We pray for children who want to be carried and for those who must,
For those we never give up on and for those who don't get a second chance.
For those we smother ... and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.

***

Over the past couple of months I have begun several part-timeish jobs here in Bentonville, all working with children but within different contexts. Subbing in public schools, assisting at our church's private preschool and providing childcare at a local children's shelter has put me in direct contact with children from very different backgrounds, and I have often found myself comparing them and asking why.

Not long ago I was helping well loved and cared for children pass out handmade Valentines to equally well loved and cared for little friends at an adorable table with stickers, balloons, and yummy treats. And yesterday I found myself rocking an emaciated little girl to sleep while she cried for the mother whose care she and her siblings have been removed from because of severe abuse and neglect. I'm so new to this world, and already it's impossible to process the brokenness and pain experienced by hundreds of thousands of children at the hands of the very ones who should be caring for them and the unavoidable further damage done by a system that seems to bounce them from place to place. It would be much easier not to think about it, and yet I cannot turn away.

Tonight I found these statistics on the Children's Defense Fund website. They are listed by state, and for Arkansas alone , I learned that there are 171,849 or 24.9% of the state's children living in poverty. 30,111 live with relatives who are not their parents. 3,616 are in foster care and will be for an average of 18.7 months. Most of these will eventually be reunited with their families (78.9%), but some will be adopted or cared for by a legal guardian. 936 await adoption. 936 with no homes and no families. Just waiting. This is for Arkansas alone, and personally, I find these numbers staggering.

There are absolutely no easy answers, but as a Christian, I know these issues must be engaged. As the Church we must find a way to be hands and feet to children and families in the midst of the impossible, we must give voice to those without one.