成人快手

From Rae Duke, Religion and Ethics teacher and broadcaster.听
My daughter鈥檚 got a pretty decent book collection. There are loads of fun quick reads: The Feminist Baby, She鈥檚 Not Good for a Girl, She鈥檚 Just Good (you can see a theme developing there), Rocket Science for Babies鈥� But the other night I picked out a lengthier, and as then unread, tale from Rory鈥檚 bookshelf that really left me 鈥� rather fittingly 鈥� pausing for thought! If you鈥檝e not read it, I promise I won鈥檛 ruin the ending - The Velveteen Rabbit tells the story of a stuffed rabbit who is pooh-poohed by the more modern, mechanical toys of the nursery; those that boast about being 鈥楻eal鈥�.听
Obviously the rabbit feels a little glum at this point but after a chat with the oldest toy on the block, he learns that 鈥楻eal鈥� isn鈥檛 how you鈥檙e made, but instead what you can become when you鈥檙e loved by others - and by yourself. Of course, over time our floppy eared pal does become 鈥楻eal鈥�, (and I鈥檒l stop there with the plot, as there鈥檚 still a twist to discover鈥�) It鈥檚 a fable that confronts the massive question; who am I? How do I 鈥榖ecome鈥� the full version of me? Now, it may take some patience as, according to this kid classic, and I quote; 鈥渋t doesn鈥檛 happen all at once鈥� It takes a long time.听
Generally, by the time you are 鈥楻eal鈥�, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out.鈥� (A bleak summary of the human ageing process right there!) I guess its trying to convey that there鈥檚 no point being concerned with staying protected and pristine, after all 鈥� and here鈥檚 a quote I love - 鈥渁 ship is safe in the harbour, but that鈥檚 not what a ship is for.鈥� Stanley Hauerwas, the Christian theologian and ethicist, has written lots about developing virtues like kindness, joy and constancy to become someone of good character. He鈥檚 concluded that those that succeed quotes 鈥渒now themselves鈥︹�� and have in fact become 鈥渨ho (they鈥檝e) been called to be.鈥澨�
So as my daughter grows and we re-read, (and re-read!), the Velveteen rabbit together, I鈥檒l be translating becoming 鈥楻eal鈥� to that all-important adventure of figuring out who we are and then embracing, and honing, what we find when we get there. And I guess I鈥檒l have to leave the eye-dropping-out and hair-loving-off references to Mother Nature 鈥� perhaps with a little help from an anti-wrinkle potion or two!