Saturday, 26 September 2009

• A forgiving heart

  Sometimes we all need to be reminded of what we preach so we can practice it more affectively. I am continually reminded by my Asperger’s son of the need to have a forgiving heart…

  It’s the third week of school and we’ve already had our first visit to the Vice Principal’s office. The worst part of this unnecessary event was that the Vice Principal proceeded to reprimand and punish my son unaware of his IEP and his diagnosis. My son was catatonic by the time I was called and rushed to pick him up at school. He was not given an advocate; he was not given tolerance; he was not given basic respect.

  However, once I got to the bottom of the situation and calmer minds prevailed HE EXPLAINED TO ME that “there are no bad people, just people we don’t know and therefore don’t understand”. 
  

  He has since seen this Vice Principal in the corridors each and every day and this child who is challenged to look people in the eye and challenged to use an appropriate greeting manages to muster up the gumption to say hello each and every day.

  Wow…what a powerful reminder of how we all need to be forgiving and to show tolerance. We all need to remember that everyone has “baggage” and a context of which we are unaware. You don’t know what they are thinking as you walk past in a hurry but I can guarantee a smile and a gentle hello is always the best response.
  

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  Do you find it difficult to have a forgiving heart?
  

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