A great lesson found in the traditional Chinese four-character idiom 孟母三遷 (맹모삼천) which refers to the legend that Mencius’ mother moved their home three times for her son. She moved to three locations finding those locations to be suitable for his upbringing. First she moved to near mortuary and there the young Mencius learn to imitated undertaker. When they moved to the second place by marketplace, he learned to imitated a shopkeeper. Finally when they moved by a school, he imitated studying like a student.
Why did this mother moved by mortuary and marketplace when she could have moved by school in first place? The explanation is that first she wanted to teach her son about reality of life and death. Then, to teach him the reality of what work is, she moved to a marketplace. Finally, she moved by school to teach true education that comes from someone who understood the reality of life, work and death.
We live in generation where so many young parents are quick to move to a good school district hoping our children will get a good education. Nothing wrong with that but perhaps, we ought to think about Mencius’ mother’s approach in rearing children. I believe teaching our children about the life in Christ and His Word, the brevity of life, appreciating hard work, integrity, character, and positive attitude toward life before academic education would properly educate our children. Proverb 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
God bless and have a wonderful week!