Family dynamics are not so hard to figure out, according to biblical wisdom: more love and respect make everyone better, inside the family and in the reverberations from family to community that are the primary motor of a flourishing society.
Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their parents. (Proverbs 17:6 NRSV)
The proverb concedes to grandparents the status of royalty. Their chief crown is the young ones, not seen as competition for resources but as the best thing in the life of the aged. The inter-generational dynamic pulses with the joy of interacting with those who will outlast us. We teach them, they entertain us. We tell them we love them, they give us their hugs. We patiently instruct them in the craft we know best, they make our vocation their hobby, then their work, then their specialty.
It does not of course always work out this way. But when the aged find their greatest satisfaction in those who’ve been around for less time than they, a community can begin to shape up its understanding of enduring blessing.
The dynamic is reciprocal. If children are the metaphorical crown of their grand-daddies and grand-mamas, then parents are the glory of their little ones.
A child who thinks his Daddy is the best father in the world makes his deductions from a small sample. But he’s a fortunate little human being.
Children secure in the embrace of a mother who loves them live a splendor known by too few of their peers.
Much fault can be found with any particular family. But when love and respect flow both up and down the genealogical tree, there is no better place to live.
Canter Bridge 
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