Readings:
Exodus 5:22 - 7:25
Matthew 18:21 - 19:12
Psalm 23: 1-6
Proverbs 5: 22-23
Psalms reading: I was listening to a debate on the radio the other day concerning corporal punishment in the home. Proponents of this form of punishment tend to quote "Spare the rod and spoil the child" from Proverbs, and also refer to "the rod of correction".
Now I must confess that when my son was smaller, I did smack him on occasion, but I think it was more the fright from the sound of flat hand on padded nappy that was the punishment, rather tan the physical pain. Call me narrow-minded, but when a two-year-old is throwing a wobbly, there's no such thing as reason and at this point their ears are attached to their backside and need to be helped back into the right place with a little percussion therapy. But I'm not convinved by the corporal punishment argument for older kids. Once they can reason and understand, I believe that there are more constructive methods of punishment than smacking.
Which leads me to these words of Psalm 23: "Your (God's) rod and your staff comfort me". A traditional shepherd would carry a rod, which would be used to beat off predators, and a staff, which was used to gently guide the sheep to where they need to go. A good shepherd will not use either implement to beat the sheep. If Jesus is our Good Shepherd, the staff is his gentle hand guiding us in the direction we must go, while the rod is his protection over us. And it is in this that we find comfort. Which leads me to believe that perhaps the "rod of correction" has less to do with corporal punishment than we believe, perhaps?
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