Words Create

I’m a scratched-up record, Worn and old, Stuck on the same refrain: Words matter. Words have power. Words create. The middle of second grade, Teaching along, “I want to leave now,” I read. “I want to leave, too!” I read in response. Words hit like a punch in the gut, A direct hit to my always present insecurities. “Cool!” I read in response to the lesson. “This is neat!” I continue to read. “I’ve seen that before!” “WOW!” And yet… “I want to leave now,” is all I can hear. “They’re bored,” I think. “I’m not a good teacher,” I fear. “All I do is bore the children,” I worry. “They don’t want to be here,” I conclude. Damn those words. They mattered. And not in a good way. I’m a scratched-up record, Worn and old, Stuck on the same refrain: Words matter. Words have power. Words create. May we use our words to Create things for good. Please. I implore you. Because Words matter. Words have power. Words create…

Our Response Matters

I introduced “Dem Bones” to my 3rd graders today. Most of the recordings have skeletons attached to them because, well, the song is about bones. One of my students shared in the chat box that she is afraid of skeletons. Another student tried to comfort her and encourage her not to be scared. Another student said, “Why are you so scared? You’re literally in the 3rd grade.” At that point, the original student, who had bravely faced her fear of skeletons for the entire lesson, left the Meet… When someone expresses a thought or opinion—especially a thought or opinion that leaves him/her vulnerable—we have a choice as to how we respond. We can not respond—just take in the information and listen—because sometimes people just need to speak and be heard. We can try to comfort and encourage—with distractions or advice—because sometimes people need an outside voice to help push them through. Or we can be totally insensitive and say exactly what we’re feeling—because we have that “right”—yet almost at no time does anyone desire to speak and be disregarded as dumb… In a follow-up e-mail with the student who is afraid of skeletons, I read as she confessed that she didn’t like the person who told her she shouldn’t be scared because she was in the 3rd grade. I don’t blame her. I didn’t like that student so much in that moment either… In a time of heighted division and unrest, people sometimes need to express their thoughts and opinions. We sometimes need to work things out outside our heads. May we be persons who listen and respond with care, compassion, wisdom, and discernment…or may we not respond at all. Because we don’t need more people getting hurt and liking people less. There is already too much of that…

Joy

Maybe it exists through everything. Maybe it’s there Like the air we breathe, Unseen, But very real, Life-giving and life-sustaining, Waiting for us to recognize it and Give thanks. Maybe we don’t have to look so hard to find it. Maybe it’s right in front of us, Like the next second on the clock, Unnoticed, But very real, Life-supporting and life-expecting, Waiting for us to recognize it and Give thanks. Maybe we simply need to receive it Because maybe it’s been our gift Since the dawn of creation. And maybe we need also to join it Because maybe it’s best seen When we embody it with skin. So maybe it exists through everything. And maybe we don’t have to look so hard to find it. Because maybe God is Love and Maybe Love is Joy and Maybe both are eternal- -Ly waiting for us to Recognize them, Receive them, Join them, and Give thanks.

Everything

I’ve been singing it since the radio played it yesterday morning: “What's love got to do, got to do with it What's love but a second hand emotion What's love got to do, got to do with it Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken” And every time I’ve gotten to the end of the chorus, I’ve thought to myself: Everything. Love have everything to do with it. I know. Tina is trying to convince herself that what she’s feeling Isn’t love. After all, “Who needs a heart, When a heart can be broken?” Love is risky. It believes and hopes and tries and Hurts. But Love is also The driving force For all of the good in this world. Love IS risky. It believes and hopes and tries and Heals. So what’s Love got to do, got to do with it? Everything, friends. Everything.

Have A Great Day

At the beginning of August, one of my real-life friends from camp friended me on Facebook. Almost every day since we’ve reconnected, this friend has written to say, “Hope you have a great day.” I write her back and say, “You too.” Then she writes me back with a thumbs up. It’s only been six weeks, but it’s come to be a ritual that I look forward to each day. Here is this friend that I haven’t talked to in almost twenty years suddenly letting me know that she’s thinking of me and wishing me well! What’s more, she’s an assistant in the public schools who starts her days SUPER early and is very often overlooked and underappreciated for her work. It would be easy for her to go about her days and not write, yet she does. And I have a feeling I’m not the only person she writes. Friends: May we be a people of positive, encouraging structures and routines, And may we use our presence in each other’s lives to build up rather than destroy. I know I sound like a broken record, but I believe it so much: Words have power. Even simple words such as, “Hope you have a great day.” Thank you, Amanda, for inspiring me and making a simple yet profound difference in my life. The world needs more people like you.

And So I Wear The Earrings

A lot of my friends are carrying very heavy burdens right now. Sudden loss, Lingering grief, Anxious stress, Messy divorce, Unprecedented loneliness, Rapid change. In more cases than not, I don’t know what to do to help. In reality, There’s not much I CAN do to help. I cannot take away burdens, Nor is it my job. And so I listen when words start to flow, And I sit silently when they do not. I send thinking of you texts ever so often, And I offer prayers of light, love, and strength. And I wear the earrings that one of my friends gave me As a sign of solidarity. It doesn’t seem like much, But it’s what I can do. And it’s what you can do, too, friends. It’s one small thing at a time that changes a world…

Grapes from South America

He said: “As we sit down at the table, We have grapes from South America, And celery and carrots and cucumbers from some somewhere, And chicken that hatched from an egg that someone had to make sure hatched and grew to maturity, And potato salad from potatoes that had to be grown and harvested, And biscuits from wheat…” I thought: Grapes from South America? What in the world is he talking about? I thought he was going to say the blessing. He continued, as if reading my mind: “I just think it’s important that we don’t take for granted all of the work that had to occur to get our meal onto the table— All of the people who labored to make this possible— People we will never know and see.” I thought: Oh. Yes. Labor Day. It’s Labor Day Weekend. We should be grateful. He prayed: “Dear God, Thank you for this food. Amen.” I haven’t looked at anything since that prayer And not thought of all of the hands, Mostly unknown, Forever anonymous, That went into growing, harvesting, designing, making, and/or producing it. May we be a grateful people today, For all things great and small, For the hands and lives that make our lives possible, For the labors that keep the world turning, Today and every day. Amen.

Together

“…Because sometimes life is just a little less difficult when we know we’re not doing it alone.” I have two 4th students who like to stay after class. They don’t chat in the chat box. They don’t really talk. They just sit with each other, Cameras off, Doing their homework, Together. Sometimes, friends, we just need someone to sit with us. Not chatting in a chat box. Not using words at all. Just sitting with one another, Cameras off, phones down, Doing life, Together.