I got a new t-shirt.
It says ‘be kind’ on the front of it.
That’s one of the themes every year in my teaching at school.
It’s one of the themes in my writing, too.
What does it mean to be kind?
What is kindness?
I saw it this morning in my classroom.
One of my students trudged into the room with the hood of his hoodie covering his head. There were tear stains on his cheeks.
Usually, he greets me at the door with a fist bump, a hug, a smile and a, “What’s up Mr. B.”
Today, not so much.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “Do you need to talk? Is there anything I can do to help you?”
He shook his head and sat down to his morning work in quiet solitude and sad silence.
Many things can lay heavy on the heart of a child. (I would learn later ithat he broke his glasses before school.)
One of my favorite novels is The Power of One by a South African writer named Bryce Courtenay.
(The movie based on the book is good, too. Morgan Freeman stars in it. Robin and I saw it on our first movie date. It helped us learn that both of us wanted to live in Africa.)
The main character is P.K. and the story follows his life as a person who believes in racial equality in Apartheid era South Africa.
Because of this belief, there are many tough times for P.K.
The metaphor he uses for those tough times is a loneliness bird and giant stone eggs.
“The loneliness birds came and laid giant stone eggs in my heart,” he’ll say, and readers can feel them as if they’re their own.
My student had those giant stone eggs from the loneliness birds in his heart.
As I pondered these things, I noticed that students were walking over to the table of their friend and patting him on the shoulder and wrapping him in hugs.
“What’s the matter?” they asked over and over again.
What they were saying was, “I’m here for you.”
They were being kind.
They were living kindness.
That kind of kindness is gentle enough to wipe away the tears of the heart and strong enough to move the giant stone eggs of the loneliness birds.
All in a day in public school.
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