It’s time we all went back to the school of kindness
Back to school.
It’s that time of year again.
Time to dust the locker room and prepare the classroom. Time to lay out the backpacks and gather the necessary supplies. Yet this year the school season looks very different. The usual air of excitement has been replaced by a thick smog of anxiety. The usual delight that comes with new learning opportunities has been superseded by the unease of virtual and hybrid learning, the threat of sickness, the risk of social proximity for those gathering in person, and the fear of missing out.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
And to top it all off, there seems to be layer upon layer of needless and superfluous judgment. Parents of homeschooled and virtual-learning students are all too quickly criticizing parents who can and choose to send their children back for in-person learning. In-person learning parents scoff at those who can and choose to keep their kids at home. Teachers are denouncing administrators. Administrators are blaming school board members. Politicians are condemning administrators and school boards, and for things that are far too often beyond any of our control.
Perhaps it’s time we all went back to school.
Perhaps this season we might embrace the great opportunity we have to relish in this spirit of learning by choosing to learn ourselves — to remind ourselves to measure out, each one of us, heaping doses of biblical kindness instead of judgment, negativity, and despair.
It’s the medicine we need, after all. Every person has been affected in some way by this pandemic. Some have gotten sick. Some have lost jobs. Others have struggled mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and in other ways. Some have died. We need more than ever an attitude of mercy. We need to walk softly and embrace a Godly perspective that is “slow to anger.” We need to fill our conversations, our sermons, our social media posts with words that offer compassion and grace. We need an ongoing, open dialogue that abounds “in love” rather than harangues or terse interjections teeming with harshness and unnecessary disdain (Psalm 103:8 NIV).
Because our children are watching.
Our Children Are Watching
Our children see what we do and how we treat each another. They notice the ways we respond and the sentiments behind what we convey. And when they see us and hear us, they question if the Golden Rule still applies to them. They wonder if “do unto others” is still a biblical mandate or if we all get a pass when we don’t like what others are doing “unto” us.
Do we lash out? Do we seek God? Do we pray for those who differ from us? They are watching. Do we tear others down? Do we build others up? Are we kind? They are watching.
It’s not easy to manage the stress and uncertainty that many parents, teachers, administrators, and even politicians are carrying in these days. Many are battle-worn, tired, drained, and no one has maneuvered through these past few months perfectly. Yet one thing is certain. We all want the best for our children. We are all trying to do the absolute best we can for this next generation, to raise them with character, to educate them with profundity, to protect them, and for Christians, to guide them to know the Lord and exemplify the Godly responsibility and moral values we hold dear.
So, let’s give each other a break.
Back to the School of Kindness
Let’s take a step back from our heel-dug positions of defense and offense and choose instead the (more and more) countercultural stance of kindness. Let’s model biblical kindness even when our opinions differ and our decisions vary. Let’s live mercifully, be grace-filled, listen well and speak beneficially to one another, even when it may be hard to do.
And let’s be willing to be schooled ourselves.
To be humble enough to learn and grow when we need to do so, so that our children will learn and grow to become life-long learners no matter what careers or callings they choose to pursue. We all need kindness. We all need mercy. And we all need to be reminded every now and again that our individual display of both kindness and mercy really does matter. It matters for us as adults. It matters for our children.
And more than anything, it matters to God.
Ginger McPherson is a writer, pastor’s wife, Bible teacher, and speaker based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. She earned a Ph.D. in English from Baylor University and is mother to three. To read more of her writing, visit her website at www.glmcpherson.com..
