The Moral Compass

I love watching each child develop. I find it fascinating to see each persons' personality come into its own. And I love watching them "get" that conscience. It really hits that this is not just a person, this is a soul I am raising.

With Brennan, his conscientious awareness seemed to grow day by day. He always had a special sense of empathy for those around him, and the sphere just kept getting bigger as to what he understood.

Then my dear Nicholas. The one who I from time to time wonder if he will ever "get it". The one who I lock into what seems a daily battle to pull him out of that egocentric world of the baby and into reality with the rest of us. Yet I have seen him grow by leaps and bounds in just the last few weeks. Each time an altercation occurs, he has been connecting the "good choices/bad choices" thing with something tangible to him - the Star Wars universe.

He summed it up perfectly in a conversation this morning. "Anakin was a good boy, but made bad choices and became Darth Vader. But then he changed and helped Luke Skywalker. That was a good choice. I need to make good choices like he did when he helped Luke. And if I make a bad choice, I can still change and make a good choice."

He may not be using the vernacular of "do what Jesus did", but he's got the general gist. It's a start. And a huge leap from where this guy was just a few months ago.

And who knew Star Wars could be so "Catholic" with this idea of one person's moral journey taking place over an entire lifetime? I never had thought about that before!