Hi Friend,

The aeronautical instructors at Florida Institute of Technology used to pepper us with stories of death and destruction.  Every session, whether ground school or flight training, had stories of what could happen if you did not do something the right way.  Sometimes we would leave the classroom thinking “why do I want to flirt with death? Is flying that important to me?”  There were times when I was plagued with the feeling that there was just too much to learn.  Nature can be a powerful foe—weather patterns are changeable and instrumentation can be complicated especially in critical situations.

One of the best flight instructors I ever had made a profound observation about life while he was teaching me to fly.  We were doing “turns about a point” and “figure eights” when he noticed my frustration.  He stopped and made a simple observation that cut through all the peripherals. He said that every technique used in flying can be learned in the landing pattern. “All the techniques you will ever use in flying can be developed by doing touch-and-go landings,” he said.  He was right. Ascending, descending, maintaining straight and level flight, turning and banking, bleeding off speed; every basic technique of flying is learned right there in this simple procedure.

How does that apply to life?  In what classroom can a person learn all of the techniques for successful living? The most natural of all learning environments God provided for man is called “family” and every skill necessary for dealing with people can be learned in this classroom. Respect, value of life, a hard work ethic, sacrifice, governing the tongue, government, justice, mercy, patience, discernment—all the basic skills of life are learned there.

Before studying Theology at Ambassador College, I taught Junior High School in a large Midwestern city. Because my previous degree was in Psychology I was offered a job teaching in an “impacted school” which is a euphemistic way of saying the school was in the middle of a crime filled neighborhood. I was teaching in a “special unit”. A special unit means they were the worst kids in the school. In fact, these were the worst students in the worst school in the city.

One of the earliest and most overwhelming realizations I had was that these students did not have families. Out of the 60 students in our project, 59 lived in houses where most of the residents were of minimal blood relation and no father figure was present. They lived off welfare checks received each month from the government. The federal government had replaced the father.

Nearly all of the sixty students in my classes had criminal records—or were destined for one.  Stealing was an accepted way of life, as was lying, cheating, selling drugs, prostitution and almost any other vice you might imagine.  They were in and out of detention centers on a regular basis.  It was simply the way life was.

Maybe the most shocking factor is that this was a junior high school.  The oldest student in our section was 14 years-of-age.

How did they get this way?  The federal government decided that money was the solution to all problems and the government had plenty of money to give away.  There were only two conditions for a woman to receive this money—she had to have a baby, and she could not marry the father.

However noble the intentions of those who began the system, the clear evidence is that the destruction of the traditional family has been disastrous for America.

There is no earthly system that will ever replace the one God gave us at creation. God made us “male and female” and he placed us in families.  Every human characteristic that is good can be learned in the family.  It just may be the best classroom ever designed.

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien