The Journey 271
Read: Luke 2:41-52
Justin Bieber: The famous pop star Justin Bieber is a household name. But what are the values that this pop star upholds and how was he nurtured in life and what does it take to raise to raise Justin Bieber?. The answers to all these questions has been answered by the mother of Justin Bieber, Pattie Mallette. She recently released a book titled “Nowhere But Up” where she recalls the trauma that she went through her life and the bitter but wise lessons that she learnt in life and how she consciously raised and nurtured Justin Bieber in true Christian faith. Pattie recounts in her book horrors of how she was repeatedly abused as a child and later in life and finally comes to a stage where she felt that abuse was normal. That is when addiction takes over and she resorts to petty crime to sustain her. At the age of 17, she becomes a mental wreck. Later as she starts dating Justin Bieber’s dad, and she is slowly brought back to normalcy by her friends and the community. That is when she turns to Christian faith and experiences the joy of salvation. At this stage she realizes that she is pregnant with Justin Bieber. Life circumstances was tough for her and though she had thoughts of aborting the child, she decided against it and takes steps to raise the child, truly faithful to the Lord. She gets kicked out of her home and she is forced to live in a home for pregnant woman. But Pattie kept her promise to the Lord that she would nurture Justin in Christian faith and values. One of the things that Pattie did for Justin was to have a pastor who would always travel with him, to have Christian tutor and finally organized a management team who had faith based backgrounds. Moreover she says that what was important also was the necessity to keep Justin surrounded by good people, not necessarily “the yes saying friends” but on the contrary who will also convict him what is right and wrong. According to Pattie, God has given Justin gifts and talents for a reason and to seek what that reason is– is the goal of his life. Everyone knows Justin Bieber but I am sure no one knows that this was the kind of nurturing that his mother gave him. In a world of today I believe some of the steps like appointing a travelling pastor, a Christian tutor and also seeing that friends and community needs to become correcting force Justin Bieber life is something that stands out, as we examine the nurturing patterns that the mother did for Justin Bieber. God has given us the duty to nurture our next generation and what are the steps that we take to nurture is what we need to seriously think about.
The theme for our meditation is Transformed Living and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is very familiar portion found in Luke 2: 41-52. It is in this biblical portion that we find as to how Jesus Christ was nurtured in his family. One of the beautiful aspects that I find in the life of Jesus Christ is the way he nurtured himself in the company of teachers and the community in the temple. When Joseph and Mary finds that Jesus is not with them in their return journey, they rush back to Jerusalem and there they find Jesus sitting in the midst of teacher sitting, talking and listening to them and raising questions [Lk 2: 46]. Here is Jesus Christ submitting and allowing himself to be nurtured in the company of teachers and the community in the temple. The family has a role in raising and nurturing their children but giving them avenues and experiences where they encounter older members who are mature in faith, teachers who can nurture them in Christian faith, and a community that can also help them in their growth in Christian faith and values is what is needed today. Today many parents do not allow Sunday school teachers, community of believers in the parish or even older members in the family or church to correct their children when they do something wrong. As a result even when children do mistakes the community keeps quiet, and instead of correcting the kid, gossips. Justin Bieber mother made a conscious effort to see that her son is surrounded by a community who will correct Justin and also impart to him certain values. Jesus also made himself available to the teachers of the law so that he could learn about doing God’s will in His life. Can we also follow these nurturing patterns?
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla
Justin Bieber: The famous pop star Justin Bieber is a household name. But what are the values that this pop star upholds and how was he nurtured in life and what does it take to raise to raise Justin Bieber?. The answers to all these questions has been answered by the mother of Justin Bieber, Pattie Mallette. She recently released a book titled “Nowhere But Up” where she recalls the trauma that she went through her life and the bitter but wise lessons that she learnt in life and how she consciously raised and nurtured Justin Bieber in true Christian faith. Pattie recounts in her book horrors of how she was repeatedly abused as a child and later in life and finally comes to a stage where she felt that abuse was normal. That is when addiction takes over and she resorts to petty crime to sustain her. At the age of 17, she becomes a mental wreck. Later as she starts dating Justin Bieber’s dad, and she is slowly brought back to normalcy by her friends and the community. That is when she turns to Christian faith and experiences the joy of salvation. At this stage she realizes that she is pregnant with Justin Bieber. Life circumstances was tough for her and though she had thoughts of aborting the child, she decided against it and takes steps to raise the child, truly faithful to the Lord. She gets kicked out of her home and she is forced to live in a home for pregnant woman. But Pattie kept her promise to the Lord that she would nurture Justin in Christian faith and values. One of the things that Pattie did for Justin was to have a pastor who would always travel with him, to have Christian tutor and finally organized a management team who had faith based backgrounds. Moreover she says that what was important also was the necessity to keep Justin surrounded by good people, not necessarily “the yes saying friends” but on the contrary who will also convict him what is right and wrong. According to Pattie, God has given Justin gifts and talents for a reason and to seek what that reason is– is the goal of his life. Everyone knows Justin Bieber but I am sure no one knows that this was the kind of nurturing that his mother gave him. In a world of today I believe some of the steps like appointing a travelling pastor, a Christian tutor and also seeing that friends and community needs to become correcting force Justin Bieber life is something that stands out, as we examine the nurturing patterns that the mother did for Justin Bieber. God has given us the duty to nurture our next generation and what are the steps that we take to nurture is what we need to seriously think about.
The theme for our meditation is Transformed Living and the portion that we shall use for our meditation is very familiar portion found in Luke 2: 41-52. It is in this biblical portion that we find as to how Jesus Christ was nurtured in his family. One of the beautiful aspects that I find in the life of Jesus Christ is the way he nurtured himself in the company of teachers and the community in the temple. When Joseph and Mary finds that Jesus is not with them in their return journey, they rush back to Jerusalem and there they find Jesus sitting in the midst of teacher sitting, talking and listening to them and raising questions [Lk 2: 46]. Here is Jesus Christ submitting and allowing himself to be nurtured in the company of teachers and the community in the temple. The family has a role in raising and nurturing their children but giving them avenues and experiences where they encounter older members who are mature in faith, teachers who can nurture them in Christian faith, and a community that can also help them in their growth in Christian faith and values is what is needed today. Today many parents do not allow Sunday school teachers, community of believers in the parish or even older members in the family or church to correct their children when they do something wrong. As a result even when children do mistakes the community keeps quiet, and instead of correcting the kid, gossips. Justin Bieber mother made a conscious effort to see that her son is surrounded by a community who will correct Justin and also impart to him certain values. Jesus also made himself available to the teachers of the law so that he could learn about doing God’s will in His life. Can we also follow these nurturing patterns?
Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla