Llewellyn Anthony believes some of the hardest questions in adulthood begin in childhood. Why do certain family patterns repeat themselves? Why can rejection leave such a lasting mark? And how can parents prevent their own painful experiences from becoming part of their children’s lives?
These are among the questions behind Planting Invisible Seeds, his first book. A preacher, writer and speaker from the Cape Flats, Llewellyn hopes to help readers understand themselves and the experiences that influenced their lives, with faith in Jesus Christ at the heart of his message.
Raised by a single mother in Westlake, Llewellyn grew up without knowing his father or having a relationship with his father’s family. He had no grandparents, aunts or uncles around him, yet the community around him welcomed his family warmly. At home, his mother taught him lessons about humility, generosity and faith, even when the family had little to spare.
Looking back, he recognises how much a child’s surroundings can influence their understanding of themselves and the world.
“Today, living in Grassy Park, I can look back at where I came from with a greater understanding of how our childhood environments, relationships and experiences can influence the adults we become,” he explains.
Llewellyn has had to examine his own decisions, including leaving school at an early age after following the influence of his peers. At the time, he lacked the knowledge to understand the long-term consequences of his choices. Adulthood brought a different perspective on those years and the opportunities he had missed.
“I’ve made many bad decisions in my life decisions that caused delays in my life because I didn’t have the knowledge or the tools,” he says.
His experience raises an important question about how young people make decisions when they lack guidance, support or an understanding of the consequences. A young person may understand what their peers are doing before they can judge how those choices could affect their future. Later, the consequences may appear to be entirely personal, even when the circumstances surrounding those early decisions deserve examination too.
Fatherhood brought another dimension to Llewellyn’s reflections. He became a father without having experienced a relationship with his own father, leaving him to navigate parenthood without that personal example.
Llewellyn began to recognise how easily the experiences of one generation can influence the next. A parent may pass on beliefs, reactions and behaviours without intending to do so. Children then grow up with those influences as part of their everyday lives, often without knowing where they began.
“We often look at someone’s behaviour and judge what we see without asking what may have contributed to it,” he says.
This is a central theme in Planting Invisible Seeds: the difficulties people encounter as adults can have histories that stretch back much further than they realise.
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The book follows a person’s development from the mother’s womb into adulthood. It explores the possible influence of childhood wounds, rejection, family environments, culture and relationships on identity and behaviour. Its Christian perspective also directs readers towards Jesus Christ as the source of healing and transformation.
Llewellyn’s interest in these subjects extends beyond his own upbringing. Through his observations of people and Christian communities, he became increasingly interested in the gap between what people profess and what they have worked through internally.
He grew up attending church because faith was important to his mother. Over time, however, his understanding moved beyond familiarity with Christian teachings.
He came to recognise that a person can speak about forgiveness while struggling with unresolved hurt, or speak about love without fully understanding how past experiences affect their relationships. Religious knowledge and personal transformation are different things, and Llewellyn believes faith must reach beyond words into the way people understand themselves and treat others.
Most battles people fight in adulthood did not begin in adulthood. Some were planted long before they had the words to explain their pain, watered through childhood, and carried into the lives they live today. But what has shaped you does not have to control your future. When the invisible becomes visible, you can begin to confront what has influenced your life and bring it before Jesus Christ, the One who can lead you towards true healing and transformation.”
Excerpt from Planting Invisible Seeds
Llewellyn hopes this message reaches young adults, parents, single parents, fathers and married couples. Each group may approach the book from a different place, but all have a stake in how family experiences influence the next generation.
Planting Invisible Seeds is available directly from Llewellyn Anthony for R200, with shipping throughout South Africa. Readers can visit www.llewellynanthony.co.za to order the book, find out about his work or enquire about speaking engagements.
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