The theme of the school year next door is Choosing Love, Hope, and Compassion for our world… I was invited to speak to the Junior Primaries thru Grade 2s about this theme at the opening of their school year, which happened today. Thought I’d share it here…

(Side note…Yes, that picture is of a blankie…specifically, a fifty-five year old blankie…that I brought as a prop…Please read on…)

…CHOOSING LOVE, COMPASSION, AND HOPE FOR OUR WORLD…

It might sound like kind of a sad way to begin this…but you know how sometimes you can Just Tell that your friend is having an Off day?  Maybe you can tell by the expression on their face or the way they hold their body… Maybe you can tell because they don’t laugh like they usually do when you tell them a joke or make a funny face.

Our world is a little bit like that friend right now…Kind of Off, not having such a good stretch of days.  The world!  Not everyone…and not everywhere…but a lot of people in a lot of places are like that sad friend.

And you might wonder—What difference can I make??  What difference can I make from right here, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the Sacred Heart School?

A whole lot of difference, THAT’S what a difference you can make!  By the choices you make about how you speak, and how you act, and by what you notice.

You can choose words of love… I hope you feel better.  How can I help?  I’m sorry. Wanna share?

You can be compassionate… Let your friend go first; Do something helpful before anyone asks you to—like helping to put away the dishes or making your bed; Remember to breathe before you speak if someone makes you mad.

And you can look for reasons to hope.  Notice the beautiful flower; watch the ant crawl on the windowsill; notice the colours in the sky when the sun comes up and when it dances with the moon at the end of the day.  Notice when your classmates do something kind and say thank you. Tell people about your hope!  Show them what makes you hopeful…

You know what this reminds me of? It has me think that if we choose Love, Compassion, and Hope for our World, it’s like offering the world a blankie.  It doesn’t solve the sadness or take away all of the hurt, but it sure does help.

It’s a way of being that is soft, and strong.  It’s gentle and comforting and warm.  It’s a way of being that others around us can see and touch and feel and that might bring another smile or two to faces that have forgotten what that feels like.

And THAT makes a whole lot of difference in this world of ours.