Romans 1:15-17 (NASB) 15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."
This week I will start a new series on Sunday mornings by the title above. In that series I want to raise the question "Was the Cleaver household a true representation of family life in America?" I also want to look at the likelihood of having such a family in today's culture. To that end, I was reading a really interesting piece of sarcasm written by a "politically incorrect CPA" in Michigan. In her article from 2001 she writes,
After all, the Cleaver family, in all its straight-laced purity, could not accurately describe the typical American family, even in the times in which the TV show was produced. The Cleavers certainly don’t illustrate the family I grew up in. I do not ever remember Ward Cleaver yelling at the kids (he always spoke calmly), while I ALWAYS got yelled at. Plus, I never thought that anyone could have two sons and keep the kitchen appliances and the carpeting THAT clean. Now I realize it was all pure deception, probably on the part of some 1950’s right-wing conspiracy.
For my part, I want to say that I grew up in the 60's and 70's and I lived in a "Cleaver" home. My dad went to work everyday while mom managed the home. My parents always spoke calmly and the kitchen appliances and the carpet were "that clean". But more importantly, I grew up with a set of values that were instilled in me by my parents, not society. My character was formed by people who were actively engaged in my life on a daily basis.
When my father was my age, I was 13 or 14 years old. I can remember that every day after work, he would come home and we would sit down together at 5:00 for supper and then go out and work in the garden. When the chores were done, we would grab a ball gloves and my dad would work with me till we were both tired on my baseball skills. He would catch hundreds of pitches a week. I'm certain all this undue attention totally messed up my life.
Today, if you go to mighty-mite football practice or games, you will see a huge number of moms there to support their kids. But where are the dads? Are we too busy making a living for our family to live with our family? Please don't misunderstand me, this isn't an indictment on mighty-mite football dads. My real intent is to engage the question, "Can we have a Cleaver home in a Rosie world?"
If you want to read the entire piece from the Michigan CPA, the link the page is http://www.lewrockwell.com/decoster/decoster29.html
As for me, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes and the righteous man shall live by faith.
1 comment:
Scott ... good blog with thoughts of how it should be in family life. Though I did not grow up in "Cleaver" housedhold ... more along the lines that the CPA speaks of [at least with my Dad] ... but that gives me no room to not be thankful for the home life I did have, as there were very good memories created.
I cannot live in the past, but only the future, so I must challenge myself to create a "Cleaver" homelilfe all the more since I do not want the "O'Donnell".
Good blog thoughts to encourage us ... so keep them coming!
Bob
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