Be Careful Little Eyes

Last night as I was handing out candy to children in our neighbourhood, a terrified and shaking four-year-old girl came to my door. She never even had her arms outstretched for me to put candies into her Halloween bag. Instead she cowered and whimpered. Her frightened eyes would dart back and forth between me and my neighbour standing outside of his driveway in a ghoul costume. This little girl desired no candy, only protection.

I asked where her mother was and she pointed up the street. I looked in the direction of her finger and saw a woman standing on the sidewalk. To my dismay, the mother was not paying any attention. She was in another world. She was busy texting on her cell phone.

I glanced at my neighbour, hoping he would be understanding of the situation. I was glad he took the hint and disappeared.

I turned back to the little girl and told her to go to her mother and stay with her. I tried to soothe her by saying, "Your mother will protect you."

However, the little girl was frozen with fear. She couldn't move. I continued to watch her eyes, wondering what to do or say next. I looked to her mother again, but she was still unmindful of her daughter.

Finally, the litte girl turned around and ran as fast as she could in her mother's direction, screaming and crying.

Do parents realize that the fear instilled in a young child's mind remains with them for life? Halloween might be scary fun to parents, but it is not to sensitive young children.

The Bible says that we need to think about things that are positive, things that do not have a negative effect on our minds, hearts, and souls.

"Finally, brothers and sisters,

whatever is true,

whatever is noble,

whatever is right,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable —

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy —

think about such things."

Philippians 4:8

Halloween ghouls, horror movies, sexually explicit images, and violent computer games all have negative effects on the minds of people, young or old. The images we allow ourselves to dwell on will be forever stored in the memory of our brains.

The words of a childhood song that I was taught in Sunday School come to mind:

Oh, be careful little eyes what you see

Oh, be careful little eyes what you see

There's a Father up above

Looking down in tender love

So be careful little eyes what you see

Be careful little ears what you hear . . .

Be careful little mouth what you say . . .

Be careful little hands, what you touch . . .

Be careful little feet, where you go . . .

We all need to pay attention to these simple lyrics for they have profound meaning.