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By Kola Popson
You are probably wondering whose kindness I need to reciprocate. Well, while it is no doubt that you were created only by God; it is a known fact that God had chosen some special people through whom you came into this world. These people had a choice to terminate your existence at pregnancy stage, but they chose not to. Also they were in a best position to have got you killed, either at your birth or childhood period, but they did not. Alternatively, these people had ensured your proper upbringing to a certain point in life. Would I then be asking for too much if I purposely write to request that you reciprocate the kindness of your parents?
Whether you are already an elderly person or a youngster, it makes no difference. The fact remains that, you came into being through some people – your parents. The question of whether they are still alive or not is the only difference this might make. If you are lucky enough to have your parents alive as you read this, then you have every opportunity to repay their kindness to you. However, if the reverse is the case, there are still other means you can, to some extent, be kind to them. This shall be discussed later in this piece.
As long as your parents live, you will never reciprocate their kindness enough. Nothing good you do for them will be too much considering how they had treated you in the past. It must be noted that it is not only by rendering financial assistance to them that you can repay them; the means are numerous. Remember that when you were young, your parents had served as errand people to you. Now is the time for you also to serve them wholeheartedly, no matter how old you probably are.
Similarly, your parents had, in every situation, maintained a cordial relationship with you when you were a kid. You were rarely out of their sight; they were very close to you. Now is the right time for you to devote your time to them. You need to be very close to them, no matter how tight your business or any other schedule is. It would be totally wrong and unfair for you to conclude that you are too busy to visit your parents regularly. No excuse can justify this.
Moreover, on no account should you allow your spouse to influence you to misbehave to your parents or disrespect them, even when it is obvious to you that they are the ones at fault. Talk to them gently and apologise to them on behalf of your spouse. Then later, you talk to your spouse alone in a persuasive manner and apologise to her on behalf of your parents. The point here is that you should not make your parents feel that they are not as important as your spouse is to you.
If there had been any other god aside Him, your parents would have been your god. God Himself emphasizes how important our parents are to us. God commands that we talk to them gently always, and that we must never disrespect them in anyway. He also commands us to obey them in all aspects, except when they request that we should associate other gods with Him. This is the only time we are allowed to disobey them, and even we have to do this respectfully.
Furthermore, it is important to note that some parents are likely to misbehave at old age. It is not their fault. Age has taken them aback to that period when they could not differentiate the good from the bad, and the wrong from the right. Remember that you had also behaved in this manner when you were a kid. You could not differentiate the right from the wrong. However, your parents had endured your ignorance and explained things to you clearly. So you must not consider their ignorance at old age unacceptable to you. You must endure and tolerate them.
To my readers whose parents are no more, accept my sincere sympathy. Surely every living soul must have a taste of death. However, such a person can still be kind to his or her parents, even at death. This person does this by praying for them regularly and giving to the needy in his or her parents’ names. The person can also contribute either financially or morally towards the building and maintenance of places of worship in his or her parents’ names. By so doing, he or she is being kind to them.
Summing up, if you are lucky that your parents are still alive, now is the right time for you to give back to them. You do not have to wait until they are no more before you do. It is not how much one spends on his or her parents’ burial that counts, what matters is how well he or she has treated them when they were alive. For these reasons, reciprocate the kindness of your parents while they are still alive.
