She shares much about her father, and one of these stories struck me as a challenge to the 21st Century and our Western culture. The story goes that Corrie was travelling with her father on the train, when she remembers a poem read by her teacher at school which referred to an old-fashioned term which included reference to sex. She had asked her mother what it meant, but she had simply blushed and ignored her. So on this journey she decided to consult her dad. When she asks him, he too, simply ignores her. Then as they are due to get off the train, he asks Corrie to carry his case. She attempts to lift it:
“It’s too heavy” she said.
And he replies, “yes, and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his daughter to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.”
I found this insight itself quite profound, but later it was juxtapositioned with another encounter Corrie has, shared in the same chapter. Here, Corrie and her sister accompany their mother to visit a family whose baby has just died. Upon arriving, their mother goes in to see the family, Corrie and her sister notice the baby, still in its crib. They are both intrigued and shocked, and end up reaching in and gently feeling the baby lying there. Experiencing the cold chill of death. The encounter, clearly overwhelming, finally gets to Corrie as she goes to bed that night, leading to another moment of comfort and wisdom with her father.
I found it interesting that here is a culture that was prudish about sex, yet when it came to death, even the most extreme of death’s, they did not shelter their children in the same way. I would never want anyone, let alone a child, to see a dead infant, yet the horrid reality of life is that people die. Reading this chapter did leave me with the thought/challenge of whether we have, in our day and age, got this balance round the wrong way. We are willing to open children up to the reality of sex (slowly getting younger), and yet protect them as best we can from pain and death.
I know that neither Corrie’s nor our time are as black and white with either area, but I certainly think the wisdom that her father shares is something we should heed today. Some knowledge is too big a burden for children to bear, and they need people they can trust to carry it for them.
In a day where films carry a 12a certificate because film companies don’t want to limit who can see their films (in reality for monetary motivation) and so leave it to ‘parent’s discretion’, we need parents who will not simply give their children what they want, but instead what they need, understanding that some knowledge is too heavy a burden for children to bear. Not ever, just for now.
Maybe a massive part of the crisis in our younger generations, including the current problems of knife crime, is that not enough adults have been willing to carry the load, and have protected children from the wrong things (like discipline) meaning they face some issues too soon and others too late, leading to teens staring death in the face, before they fully know the cost and the toll it takes.
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