To My Students: Humanity is Hopeful, Because Humanity Is You and Me

Dear Cherished Students,

I want to tell you that your future will be beautiful.  I'm telling you this because I think it's very possible that the media, or the Mayans, or a collage of irresponsible public posts of opinions and attack ads may have made you feel threatened and fearful.  I think it's possible that you have been exposed to pictures that are too graphic, and news stories that are too sorrowful, and headlines that are too shocking to ignore.  I think it's possible that you're on a steady diet of opinions passed off as truth, or misunderstandings turned into outrage, or loneliness converted to violence.  I can imagine that you might feel that the world is easily illustrated by all of the words and images from TV, social networks, and the media that sting your eyes. 

We can't allow headlines and posts on social media to force us to question all that we know to be true about the goodness of people.  If we took a snapshot of every single moment we've experienced in our entire lives and lined them up one right after another, we'd see that a relatively small percentage of those moments were devastating, and virtually none of them weren't followed up sometime down the line with some other act of love, no matter how small.  We'd see that people are good, love is powerful, and there is no shortage of goodness and love in this world.  We'd see that even those acts of the most heinous kind generally go against what we've known to be true since the day we were born.  That's why we mourn so fiercely; tragedy is an exception to our daily understanding of the world, not the norm.  Though it's hard to see when we're hurting and confused, humanity is love and growth despite, and sometimes because of, struggles.  Try not to think of a single event, or even twenty events, to be a crystal ball for the future.  Think of it as an opportunity to look for the love and goodness that will inevitably show up.

I want you to know that you have a responsibility here.  Just as our view of the world can be skewed by negative events and the chatter surrounding it, our worldview can also be skewed (or corrected) by reports and acts of love.  Shouldn't we take control of how we all look at the world?  Further, shouldn't we take control of how many snapshots of our daily life show love and goodness, rather than hurt?  It's an easy thing to do, really.  What would happen if in one day, or even one moment, everyone logged in to their social network profile and posted something beautiful about their daily existence?  What if every person then went to another person's post and re-posted it?  What would happen if what was viral was someone's posting of their baby sister's first laugh, or someone giving free hugs in the hallway?  I can tell you that what's trending is loud, but we can be louder in about one minute.

What about this?  How can we show the truth, which is that the world is filled with kindness and love?  How can we remind ourselves, and our neighbors, that our futures are beautiful?  Why not start on December 21st?  It's a day of "rebirth," anyway.  Don't be fearful.  There is love here, and we all know it.

Love,
Your Teacher, Partner in Peace