Sharing time, treasure, and talent-- caritas and school kids

We had a guest inspirational speaker yesterday at school, and to my very-pleasant surprise, he was wonderful. His origin story was similar to others I've heard about essentially "thrown away" children, often Brown children, often children in Texas and other places in the South. He came at our invitation to bring a message of never giving up, to always ask for help, and help will be there, somehow. 

What I took away from this presentation was the level of empathy so many of my students have. We are a majority-white school in northern NH, very small numbers, very working-class. There's a deep streak of "conservative" belief in our area, one that runs toxic at times. But this man was so vulnerable, so open, and so honest about his experiences, and about the love he holds for all people, his story and his message crossed the divide. 

I talked with my students in an equally honest, heart-open way afterwards, about how this one man's experience is played out over and over again all across our country, and how we need to be able to see other people's lived experiences and help when we can. I firmly believe that our caritas, as human beings, should be rooted in sharing our time, treasure, and talent. We are one of the wealthiest nations on the planet, in both material wealth and opportunity, but we often hoard those things and intentionally or unintentionally deny other people the means to achieve their goals and dreams as well. Now, before people start wailing on about "socialism" and so on, I just want to make myself clear. If I have enough and a little extra, and you have a need I can fill, I should. And I will. I just think more folks ought to feel the same.

Have a good day. Hug your kids and family and friends. Pull up a chair for someone in need.

C