Last week during a 1st grade class,
A student got poked in the eye.
He cried.
The boys around him,
Including the boy who did the accidental poking,
Felt terrible for him.
They both tried talking to the boy.
When that didn’t stop his crying,
They both came to my desk to tell me that the boy was hurt.
When that didn’t stop the crying,
They both broke chair protocol,
Scooted their chairs closer to the boy,
Rested their hands on his back,
And gently patted his back until he stopped crying and
returned to class.
Their act of kindness was so genuine that it touched me.
When I look around,
I see people hurting.
The pandemic is hard.
Holidays are hard.
Life is hard.
And when I listen,
I hear non-stop words—
But too often those words are
Powerless and empty.
So may we be a people who break protocol if we must,
Scoot our chairs closer to those around us,
Place our hands on backs,
And sit with one another through the
Sadness, loneliness, heartache, loss, transition, grief, or
pain.
Sometimes there are no words.
Sometimes, it really is presence that matters.
May we be present today
And every day.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment