Rules for families

We RTs are one big family. So long as we are aware of the virtues of the family and follow the rules set forth for us for families, we should all get along just great.

Rules for families are not simply things that are made up on a whim. Well over 5,000 years ago men and women realized that we cannot all get along without a firm set of rules.

For simplicity sakes, I'm going to quote the Bible. Sorry if you don't believe in the Bible, yet the point is the same whether you believe or not.

I wrote before that the original nuclear family was that of Jesus and Mary and Joseph, and they all had challenges quite similar to the challenges families face today. I wrote that all families, no matter how large or small, face challenges.

Yet there are rules for families that, if followed, make life easier for every single member of that particular family. We respiratory therapists are one big family, and therefore we should all follow these same rules.

Forgive me for quoting the Bible, yet that was one of the first places rules for families were written.

The rules are simple and go as such:

1. Respect your father and your mother so that all may go well with you and so that you may live a long time in the land (Deuteronomy 5:16)

2. Wives, submit yourself to your husbands

3. Husbands: Love your wives and do not be harsh with them

4. Children: it is your duty to obey your parents

5. Parents: Do not irritate your children, or they will become discouragedd

6. Respiratory Therapists Slaves: Obey your RT bosses, not only when they are watching you, but always. You will want to gain their approval, but do it with a sincere heart because of your reverence for the Lord and not for men. Remember that the Lord will give you as a reward what he has kept for his people. For Christ is the real master you serve. And every wrongdoer will be repaid for the wrong things he does, because God judges every one by the same standard.

7. RT Bosses: Be fair and just in the way you treat your RT Slaves. Remember that you too have a Master in heaaven

Obviously I replaced slave with respiratory therapist slave and slave master with RT bosses, yet I think the same applies.

Note that 2 through 7 above come from Colossians 3 (18-25). When our priest read those aloud in class I looked at my wife when he was reading about what the wife should do, and then when he read about what the dad should do my wife and kids looked at me.

Then when he read about what kids should do my wife and I looked at the kids. We were all finger pointing in that way. Yet the true meaning of these passages in the Bible go deeper than that.

These passages are telling us that for the family to work as a unit we must all follow the rules of the family. It was well over 5,000 years ago that man learned that society cannot exists without rules.

Now allow for me to shift your attention to back to the Old Testament (Sirach 3 (7-9)

8. Children: Obey your parents as if you were their slave

9. Children: Honor your father in everything you do so you may receive his blessing

10. Blessings: When parents give their blessings they give strength to their children's homes

11. Curse: But when parents curse theier children, they destroy the very foundations

12. Never: seek honor for yourself at your father's expense, it is not to your credit if he is dishonored

13. Your own honor: It comes from the respect tht you show to your father

14. Children: Honor your mother. If you do not do so it will be to your own disgrace

15. Son: Take care of your father when he grows old. Give him no cause for worry as long as he lives. Be sympathetic even if his mind fails him; don't look down on him just because you are strong and healthy. Kindness in this way will help you make up for your sins.

16. Trouble: When you are in trouble the Lord will remember your kindness and will help you

17. Abandons: Whomever abandons his parentsw or gives them cause for anger may as well be cursing the Lord; he is already under the Lord's curse

If you are a boss you can replace parent and slave master with your name. If you are an RT you can replace children or son with your name. Still the point is the same: if you follow these rules, you will be a well respected member of YOUR family.

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