| Teaching our Children to Love:
The Foundation of our Future by Angie Bailey In The Quest for Wholeness, Robert Brumet writes, "Love is a divine idea. We cannot define it. We cannot capture its essence with words. We can only know it through experience." He goes on to write, "To love our enemy, we need to see that the real 'enemy' is our own false sense of self. We have then found the source of the enemy -- it is within our own minds." Wow -- a powerful Truth indeed. If love is the true reality, the divine idea that holds the key to world peace, isn't it more critical than ever to shine this light upon our children? Shouldn't this be our core curriculum at home and school? I believe love is the ultimate foundation on which all else is created. It all begins with self-love. It starts with the knowing that we are divine beings, already whole and complete. We are pure and perfect expressions of Spirit, and it is our natural state to radiate love to ourselves and to those around us. I read recently that when we react with anger, jealousy or any other fear-based emotion, we are doing so out of a lack of self-love. If we know we are perfect and divine, why would we become irritated if someone talks about us behind our back or "steals" our parking spot? We would love the person anyway for their divine perfection, and then choose our next step from a place of centeredness. Like kids in many families, ours recently made the trek back to school, ready for another year of fun, friends and learning. Now that my kindergartener rides the bus, our family also gets to experience the thrill of bright, colorful new words and sometimes, inappropriate jokes at the dinner table. We choose to look at these times as opportunities for talking about why certain words are disrespectful and why some people may be offended by particular jokes. Although I am sometimes a little stunned by my kids' interesting interjections, I am also grateful for the advantage to explore these unexpected lessons of love and to reflect on my own thoughts and experiences. A recent example is a joke that imitated an Asian individual. Due to the zeal with which it was presented, the kids obviously had no idea it would be offensive. I didn't laugh at the joke and instead asked them if they realized the joke made fun of the shape of Asian people's eyes, as well as their accent. They said no. I then asked how they would feel if they heard a joke that made fun of something about their body or the way they talked. They got it immediately -- they felt terribly. It was then a conversation about how we are all different and all reflect Spirit beautifully, no matter how we look or talk. When we treat others with love and respect, we are honoring the divine within them and us. This ongoing lesson with my kids gives me pause for reflection, as well. I look at the situations I laugh at or the people I do not honor as spiritual beings. I was recently sitting with friends and they were talking about an ad they saw. It was a photo of George W. Bush with his pants on fire. The message was "liar, liar...." Being quite liberal myself, my first thought was that the ad was funny. Then I stopped and played devil's advocate for a minute with my friends. I shared some of my experiences with my kids and teaching them that everyone has a spark of divinity within. Isn't that also true about people whose views and actions we don't always agree with? They countered that the ad was meant to bring attentions to the lies and that it would be more likely to draw people to the website than just a plain ad. Something inside me just felt like it was wrong to disrespect someone -- even if they lied. How can I, as a parent, talk about unconditional love and then laugh at a disrespectful photo "joke" of someone? I can still believe he lies and not agree with some of the things he does, and I can still take action -- but when I do it from a place of love and holding him in a place of his highest good, it feels so much more productive. So, back to Brumet's quote about your enemy being your own false sense of self: When we love ourselves and operate from our higher self, we cannot do anything but love. We can create change in situations for which we are dissatisfied, but there is nothing but love radiating from our hearts. This means looking at each being and situation with respect. It all begins with us -- being that example for the children in our lives. Demonstrating by your thoughts, words and actions. This means exposing them to diversity, talking about things you may not agree with but letting them see you handling it respectfully. It's showing the children that we don't always have to look, talk or even think the same, but we can all live peacefully. Preparing our children for the future has to begin by nurturing a strong foundation, centered in unconditional love. It has to begin somewhere -- why not in your home? Why not with you? Angie Bailey writes and speaks on a variety of life-inspiring topics, as well as produces and hosts a cable access show in the Chisago Lakes area, called "The Bright Side." She is also the volunteer coordinator at Unity in Golden Valley. Angie can be reached through her website www.positivelyangie.com or (612) 581-7664. Copyright © 2003 Angie Bailey |
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