I learned a very important lesson from my 5-year-old daughter this morning as we waited for the bus. She handed me a string bracelet that she had made. It had one purple strand, one pink strand, and was held together by a single folded-up piece of clear tape (it even had a few dust-fuzzies stuck on the adhesive). The beads she had chosen for the special gift spelled out: “B” “O” “X”—except the “B” was going the wrong way…endearing kindergarten style. She smiled proudly when she handed it to me, and said, “Mommy, I made this for you!” “Oooh! It says, ‘box’… is this because of all of the unpacking we’ve been doing lately?” She paused, looked at me as though I was missing the point completely, and corrected me with, “No. That’s not what it means. It’s ‘be hugs and kisses’ because you always try to make people feel better.” [Thankfully, she hasn't witnessed the times when my words have been hurtful to others too... that's not to say they don't exist.] My eyes filled with tears as the bus drove away. It astounds me how children say fleetingly simple things with such an echoingly profound figurative truth… and they don’t even realize it. “Be hugs and kisses…” It’s easy to go through the day gathering grudges to hold onto indefinitely. With our words alone, we are often quick to be insult, to be scrutiny, to be reprimand, or to be bitterness. Society judges relentlessly already. We’re all fighting battles of varying degrees. Sometimes, even though it’s easier to get upset or to lash out—we could change someone else’s day just by offering kindness instead… a smile… some understanding… or patience… by letting the things we say ‘be hugs and kisses’ instead of cuts and bruises (myself included).
Kaleidoscopic Grace 