In studying for my lesson on gentleness, I listened to a lecture on how all violence stems from immaturity, brutishness, crudeness, and childishness. I never quite thought about that before, but it makes sense.

When emotionally immature parents strike their children, those children learn subconsciously that violence is both acceptable and necessary to prove one’s strength and authority. When these children grow into emotionally immature adults, they enforce control through perpetuating the cycle of violence.

Gentle parenting has sprung up to counter this idea, but I think at first, we didn’t really know how to do gentle parenting without being a bunch of pushovers 😅 now that we’ve continued to develop these skills and methods, we have become better at holding other people (including, but not limited to, our own kids) accountable without attempting to control them through brute force. Gentle parenting hinges around the idea of encountering a child’s immature, crude, and violent tendencies with empathy but also firm correction, role modeling, and training.

Gentleness is not softness. Meekness is not weakness. It’s not passivity. It’s not submission.

It’s knowing when to YIELD… knowing how to hold back your own strength and force… understanding how to be careful with others.

This applies both to the micro and the macro…

#thursdaythoughts #zapathon #spirituality #wellness #gentleparenting #gentleness #gardenvarietychurch #gardenvarietyjess