The Fifth Commandment

Hola Robin

Has anyone already told you what the Ten Commandments are? I guess not.

To make a long story short, they are 10 basic life rules, given by God to His people, that some man called Moses brought down from some mountain a few thousands of years ago, chiseled into two stone tablets. According to the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, this is what that scene must have looked like.




Today I just want to give you five good reasons why the fifth out of those ten commandments makes excellent sense.

The fifth commandment is: 'Honor your father and your mother.'

This makes good sense for - among others - the following five reasons:

1. You are 50% your mom and 50% your dad. And since you are pretty amazing, they must be twice as amazing, each one of them. That's pure mathematic logic. So being amazing people, they fully deserve to be honoured, right?
   
2. Your mother is awesome: She carried you inside her body and under her heart for 9 months, she feeds you, she clothes you, she nurses you when you are sick, she comforts you when you are afraid, she consoles you when you are sad. And all of that without ever asking something in return other than the occasional kiss or hug. And given that she is in any case a very good looking lady, that shouldn't be too much of a sacrifice, right?
   
3. Your father is pretty cool too: He decorated the room in which you sleep, he makes sure that you can't stick metal hairpins in electric sockets or fall of the stairs, he teaches you how to use the TV remote control, he carries you around on his neck so you can look out over the crowd and he even lets you punch him in the nuts without getting mad or getting even.
   
4. Your mother will make sure that you will grow up to be a good boy, who knows right from wrong; she will instill in you respect and appreciation for people (and especially for girls), animals, plants and all other things living, big or small. She will be the source of most of your wisdom.
5. Your father will make sure that you are well protected and that you can protect yourself; he will teach you all those important practical skill sets such as using a computer, playing football, riding a bicycle, driving a car etc. He will be the source of most of your skills.

So there you have it, Robin. Just five simple reasons why the Fifth Commandment makes sense. Of course there should have also been an Eleventh Commandment: 'Honour your grandfather and grandmother'. But they forgot to put that in. Well, I guess you won't need any Commandment to do that anyway, will you?

See you tomorow, kiddo!

Granddad Faraway