Nurturing

The role of parents is to nurture their children. The Korean term for nurturing children is yang-yuk (養育), which is made up of two characters, 養 (yang) and 育 (yuk). “Yang” means to nurture children by giving them food, clothing, and shelter. By doing parental duty, namely giving food, clothing, and shelter, parents love their children fervently. “Yuk” means to teach: parents teach their children family traditions, manners, ethics, morals, and any necessary knowledge with a deep and fervent heart.

Parenting is about teaching children to love their school, community, and country. Parents need to pass on to their children everything that touches the realm of the heart. They must lay the foundation of the heart for their children by teaching them to follow their example in family, community, and country.

We must give back the love that our parents gave us. In raising and nurturing their children, parents forget that they themselves are hungry. The nature of love is such that children will return the same love to their parents. When parents go all the way to love, children will do the same to help them.

In terms of parenting, our goal in life is to point the right way for our sons and daughters and to create the foundation for their happiness and the well-being of our country and its people.

Love in the family is a miniature embodiment of love of country and of the world. Parents should not raise their children to love only them. Family nurturing determines a country’s destiny and its ability to prosper. The more families observe society’s laws, the more confident the country will prosper. The more families pursue personal interests, the faster the country will perish.