10. Happiness to eternity. A final teaching we turn to, relating to the
role that the Lord asks parents to fill, stands as a summary of all that we have
explored. It talks about the many ways parents care for their children, from
feeding and clothing, to helping them become good citizens, to “introducing
them to heaven through religious instruction.” It concludes, “In this way
they provide for their prosperity in time, and happiness to eternity.” (True
Christianity 305)
Gathering all these strands together, it is useful to see the value that the
Lord places on the family. In His vision, parents have an incredible role to
fill in the upbringing and launching of children into adult life. With humble
recognition that all of us are flawed and haltingly successful in rising to this
use, it is important for us to do our very best in this regard. Parents wear
many hats, including that of counselor, organizer, coach, arbiter and financial
advisor. It appears from these teachings that the Lord would add another hat
to the mix – New Church educator.
New Church teachers. Speaking of educators, we know that the General
Church has a rich heritage of day schools, with hundreds of people who have
dedicated their professional energies to this use. Is that use spoken of in the
Word?
The answer is yes. While the Heavenly Doctrines don’t mention religious
schools per se, they repeatedly use the phrase “parents and teachers” in the
context of religious instruction. Parents and teachers are to: “maintain children
in an affirmative attitude toward anything said or taught,” (Arcana Coelestia
2689); help in the formation of conscience by means of guidance, (Ibid. 2831);
inspire “love toward the neighbor and toward the Lord,” (Ibid. 3762); cultivate
what is “decent, public-spirited and honorable,” (Ibid. 5126); lead children to
“mend their habits,” (Conjugial Love 202); open the mind to “religi