Throwing Stones

The familiar phrase of casting the first stone echoes in the hollows of my memory.  It's really quite a powerful statement.  In fact, when the words were spoken, it stopped the show.  When I was a child, the words stopped me in my tracks when considering the matter.  The words still give me pause, but don't seem to hold me in check for very long.  These days, I give it a fleeting thought and then let the stones fly.

Why is this so?  Are the words any less profound today then when spoken so long ago?  The words from an old Hymn sum it up best..."prone to wonder, Lord I feel it".  By my actions, I can see how far I have wondered from the course I walked as a child.  The question is...where have I gone?

Injuries sustained by children

Nate, the 4yr old, injured himself today at Church.  He got his hand caught in the stall door in the bathroom and received quite a pinch.  When we picked him up after the service, he was quick to point out the band-aid on his had.  While he was visibly upset about it, there was another kid saying how it wasn't all that bad.  Even the teacher seemed to think that it wasn't too big of a deal, especially since he immediately stopped crying about it once the band-aid was applied. 
When we go home, I told Nate that I would like to see it...just to see if he really needed a band-aid.  He refused and told me that the band-aid wasn't done eating all the blood.  As much as he tried to baby his hand, the band-aid lost its stick and it was time to change it.  When I removed the band-aid, I saw that the pinch took away quite a bit of skin and left an inch long gash at the base of his index finger on the back side of his hand. 
I was a little alarmed by this.  Given the comments of the other kids and the teacher, I was lead to believe that maybe Nate was exaggerating a little.  Now, Nate has received minor injuries and he is a bit of a drama king.  I guess the lesson for me is to always listen to the boy, no matter how many times he may have cried wolf.  He's still 4 (turning 5 in March).  The world is still a pretty big and cruel place to him and that gash on his hand is probably one of the worst injuries he has sustained. 
There is so much to learn about the kids and myself.  I suppose 15 years as a parent has brought some kind of wisdom and experience.  I feel sorry for Luke for not getting the same kid of nurturing and benefit when he would hurt himself when he was younger. 

Death of a pet

     My daughter's hamster died yesterday.  She had it for a little more than a week, but she was very attached to it.  When she saw that it was dead, she cried about it with a force that I found odd...she only had it for a week after all.  I did try to comfort her, but was not too effective as I did not have the same attachment to the rodent that she had.  She carried on more than when Grandma Wright passed away.
     Gracie wanted a hamster as bad as any 10-11 year old could want something.  Her mom made the agreement that she could get one if she made the Battle of the Books team.  Gracie tried and worked very hard to make the team.  She was successful and my wife let her buy a hamster.  So, I can kind of understand the emotional attachment to this creature. 
     This incident challenged my perspective.  It made me reflect on pets that I had lost over the years.  I can recall only one where I was really upset about, but it was not due to my emotional attachment to the animal.  It was my wife's cat...I hated that cat, but I knew she loved it.  It died when she was away from home.  The guilt I felt about it was overwhelming.  But as far as being so sad to the point of uncontrollable grief...I just don't have it in me.
    Why should the death of a pet be so much less than the death of a loved one?  Maybe because it's an animal and not a loved one.  I have known a lot of people who have lost pets and were beside themselves with grief.  I feel bad for the person and the loss of their pet, I suppose, but I can never understand the amount of grief that is placed on the loss itself. 
     Maybe I'm just an insensitive guy.  Maybe I have never had a pet that I have had an emotional attachment too.  My view of pets are not from the emotional investment standpoint.  To me, pets are a financial loss.  The sooner they die off, the less I have to pay to support it.  Is that wrong?  
     With that attitude, I will be taking Gracie to get another hamster.  I'm not sure how I feel about it.  The new hamster will die...eventually.  Is she prepared for this?  Is this an exercise in grief management for her?  What lessons is she taking away from this, if any at all?  Only time will tell.