Guy Emanuele Campo
It might be true that people of so many faiths/cultures reflect on conceiving & raising children as a way of giving back to God. It seemed that my Grandmother[born Mary Alex Klubniken(spelling?)] and my Grandfather desired to have children in that vein, though they honored their(children’s) free will by, among other things, not demanding their belief in God. They seemed to encourage the belief(in God) by example more than instruction. My own Mother was allowed to marry outside the Molokan faith, though she was later given refuge by my Grandmother & Grandfather from my father’s bitter physical/mental abuse. My Grandmother had carried some racial-discrimination. Between that, and her hatred of my father (for his terrible abuse), she allowed herself to associate at least some of my character with that of my father’s, and at times verbally recognized this association intentionally in my presence, which I later came to understand as a kind of hypocrisy, since her(my Grandmother’s) own father had abused her mother. Even though she seemed to appreciate/recognize my own goodness, she never fully separated her reflections on myself and my father. I hope that I no longer have to prove myself with/to her. My relationship with her was bitter-sweet. She could be extremely gentle and generous(She watched me and my sister daily, for what seemed years, to help my Mom -following her divorce from my father. She gave tremendously of her time/resources and encouraged my Grandfather to effectively do the same.), but then also vicious, as if to take out her hatred for her own father, on me for mine (They were both abusive alcoholics.). To this day, I’ve tried to avoid substance abuse, be faithful in marriage, work hard to make an honest living, and be supportive of family -so much, all of which, I attribute, in part, to my Grandmother’s influence. The desire to give back to God by conceiving children has encouraged an acceptable absence of moderation in population. The first will be last, and the last first. All children are precious and perhaps our most precious resource. In that vein, conception should be moderated in an effort to improve a global quality of life under God … and, though that may not have been my Grandmother’s common contention, it is something she and my Grandfather have helped pass down to me by example. -Guy E Campo