Formal Education

The first years of life are ones of rapid growth. They also represent a unique time for learning. Young children can learn to do things that adults never can do, such as instant math and perfect pitch. The mother can help the child learn these special abilities even though she can never attain them herself. Fathers gradually gain in importance to the young child and can assist in the learning process, but the emphasis should not be on the actual learning. This will occur quite naturally. The focus must be on enjoying the baby. This is showing love for the baby, and it is richly rewarded later in life.

Parents often try to teach a child by pointing out faults. This might be out of ego needs instead of love and a sincere interest in addressing the needs of the child. We can never improve on a person by tearing the person down. Children are very sensitive, and they cannot grow under such circumstances. While they need correcting, the emphasis must be on encouraging them, rewarding their love, and supporting their growth. Parents, because of their emotional ties with the children, are in a unique position to give the most valuable and enduring gift they can provide: love energy.

When we plant a flower, we make sure it gets the right amount of sunshine, the right amount of water. We might till the soil and add fertilizer, and then we clear weeds from around it. We might also prune it and direct the way it grows. Luther Burbank, the great botanist, also spoke loving words to his plants and asked them to do what he wished. Cleve Baxter, the polygraph expert, conducted remarkable studies of telepathy with plants and showed how they responded immediately to our thoughts. Plants do respond favorably to kind, loving words, and experiments repeatedly have demonstrated their dramatic response to prayer.

Certainly the child has as much sensitivity as a plant and can be nurtured in a similar way. Never underestimate the telepathic ability in a child. Try a guessing game with an eight-year-old, and see for yourself. They can read your thoughts.I was aware of this and had trained both our children in telepathy. They could tell what I was thinking, but I couldn’t tell what they were thinking. This proved to be fortuitous one time. My wife had lost a removable gemstone setting from her ring, and we searched all over for it for at least six hours. Finally our elder daughter who was four said, “I don’t know why you are looking in the house. It is in the leaves next to the curb.” We quickly drove to the nightclub where we dined the night before; and there where we had parked the car, in the leaves next to the curb, was the gemstone sparkling in the sun.

Still we could have done more. Early childhood is an ideal time to focus on spiritual growth and development, but I was unaware of spirituality myself. Children have unique abilities in this area, and these can be nurtured. I think of my new friends, Martha and Bob, who had their first spiritual encounters by age five and then grew to spiritual giants. I learned too late for my children to benefit from guidance in the area of spiritual experience. Like many parents, I too look back to reflect on what more I could have done.

In addition to accessing spiritual growth and development, perhaps the best guidance for child rearing is already written. If the child learns to live by the principles taught in scripture and does so because of inspiration from spiritual experiences, the child will have optimal preparation for life. Psalm 1 states clearly, “Blessed is he who delights in the laws of the Lord. He is like a tree planted next to rivers of water. He bears much fruit, does not wither, and prospers in all he does.”

To successfully convey this to children, to instruct them to follow the path of love, and to teach them to recognize and tune into that which already is within, provides an opportunity for them to reach their full potential. This might be the greatest gift you can give your child. Love them, nurture them, guide them through example, and let them grow.