Live your life as if you were in kindergarten . . .

Last evening I attended a Baccalaureate Mass for the seniors at St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago. The church was overflowing with the graduating seniors along with their family and friends. Fr. Paulson, who is a Jesuit priest, was the homilist. There were many words of wisdom in his talk but one reference gave me food for thought. His main theme was about truth and how all the graduates were "consecrated in truth". As young children in kindergarten we are taught all the basic truths we need for life such as : "Always tell the truth.", "Wash your hands before you eat.", "Be polite.", "Don't hurt anyone.", "Say please and thank you.", "Stand up straight.","Don't interrupt others.",  "Clean up your own mess.", "Stay with the group.", "Look both ways before you cross.", "If you do something wrong, say you are sorry.".  There were many more.  We all learned them as children, and as children we tried our best to do all these things because they were expected, and we wanted to please the adults in our lives.  It just made life easier. If these things were true for us in kindergarten, shouldn't they be true for us as adults?  Some of the truths are obviously for safety purposes, but some have a much deeper meaning. "Don't hurt anyone and if you do something wrong, say you are sorry."  A lot of people in our society seem to ignore these two.  Or they rationalize their reasons for hurting someone, breaking laws, or abusing moral codes. Every day we learn about some athlete or politician who tries to justify his/her mistakes.  But as many celebrities as there are in the news, ten times more ordinary people are in the same situation. The corollary to not hurting anyone is to be kind to everyone.  And along with saying you are sorry goes being able to forgive. We must not just be reactive; we must also be proactive.  It is not just a lesson in what we are not suppose to do, but also implied is what we are suppose to do.  We are called to love one another -- that's all.  If someone wrongs us, we must forgive. We knew this in kindergarten. We hugged each other, held hands, stayed together as a group, shared our food and toys.  If we upset another one of us, we said "sorry" and hugged.  The wronged one of us said "that's okay" and hugged back.  Why as adults do we find this so hard to do?  If only we could live our lives as we did as children, wouldn't this world be a much kinder and more joyful place?

Someone Else Got Me Thinking . . .

As my friends and family know, I watch (really just listen) to Good Morning America while getting ready for work.  Today George interviewed Fred Thompson, the senator and actor.  He has a new book out with a catchy title . . . something about teaching a pig to dance?  Anyway, something Fred said got me thinking.  He said (and I am paraphrasing) that the things that you take for granted each day are the things that shape your life.  So I thought about this.  What had I taken for granted growing up?  If growing up, you take for granted that you live with a mother and father, your family always eats dinner together, you are safe at night, your parents are kind to one another, your father goes to work every morning at 8 am and returns every night at 5 pm, you are hugged and tucked into bed at night, you are planning what college to attend -- then these things become what is most important for you to have in your adult life and you just assume these things will happen!  If growing up, you take for granted that you will never see your father (maybe you don't even know who he is), you are never hugged, you won't have dinner as a family, no one works, college is just something rich people do -- then these things are what you assume will happen for you.  To change your path will take a miracle  -- or someone who cares.  Who are those people who care? If we approach life each day thinking that even the smallest kindness we give to others will make a difference, then isn't that day worth living? We never know when some small deed will become the impetus for change.  For many years I taught students in the preteen and early teen years. I like to think that I had some small part in shaping their lives.  For the most part, teachers never know who was really touched by their efforts. We can only hope our actions and words, however small, will be remembered in a positive and loving way. Maybe these words will give you something to think about today. God Bless.

About this blog . . .

I am not quite sure yet just what the focus of this blog will be.  My talents and expertise lie in the fields of education, writing, and the Catholic faith.  However, I cannot guarantee that my thoughts will be confined to these areas . . . I may actually have ideas outside of my comfort zone.  So, please join me in the adventure of exploring the inside of my mind.  Just a warning though . . . it is dark and scary in there!

A Beginning . . .

This will be a new experience.