Friday, February 03, 2012
Thursday, February 02, 2012
MY MOTHER DIED TODAY 1992
It is also my Mother's birthday on the 16th of this month.
I feel good about her.
I know that some people have lingering 'not OK' feelings
about the loss of their parents - for many-many reasons.
I delight in her/memories of her.
So I post a few Pipturesques on my blog
and these words who I wrote some time ago::
************************
All four sons were with my Mother when she died in hospital.
I held her hand until she stopped breathing.
It was a special time.
It was beautiful in so many ways.
Sad and distressing - yes
but a privilege.
Before she died .........
I was working in the East End of London.
Working gangs of kids giving my all.
Beyond breaking point.
Demanding it was.
Giving it was.
While all at the same time...
my mother was about to enter hospital
to have her legs amputated.
Here I was in East London
in the most deprived community in the nation
working with beautiful humans
some who were deep into crime
and enjoying violence,
while my mother was due to enter hospital
over 200 miles away.
I was sat near the snooker table in the club.
Back to the wall.
I always sit with my back to the wall.
The young humans I work with
had heard about my mother's situation,
and of what was about to happen.
I was subdued that evening,
not my usual bustling,
bouncy and verbal self.
As I sat with my back to the wall
near to the snooker table,
one of the toughest of the gang members
slowly walked around the table
a few of times passing me each time.
Walking ever so slow -
walking ever so close -
but not stopping.
Then, as he walked past me again,
he just gently stroked my hair away from my forehead
and walked on.
Then, at that point, is when the sobs rose from my chest
and exploded in my head.
I felt it... that one act of beautiful tenderness.
As I click these keys now, tears again fill my eyes.
I choked because I was at a depth of vulnerability.
I felt it deeply and personally I connected with my deepest feelings.
Also it was because I was the silent partner
in an act of non-verbal sensitivity.
Gentleness and kindness pouring out of an inarticulate frame,
of a tough and violent young man in his early twenties.
I remembered it now and it moves my soul.
I learned a lot from that incident of care.
That incident was not a chosen moment of my vulnerability.
But I learned that it is a mistake to see vulnerability as a weakness.
Vulnerability is a strength not a weakness.
Tears come to my eyes
yet again
as I read my own words .......
......for so many reasons ..........
.
Here
from Shane Claiborne
some challenges
12. Do something really nice – that no one knows about.
11. Spend more money on other people than I spend on myself. Love my neighbor as I love myself. And love myself as I love my neighbor.
10. Laugh often… especially at advertisements that try to convince me that I must buy more stuff in order to be happy.
9. Learn a new life skill – like carpentry, pottery, or canning vegetables. Teach someone else I life skill I know how to do.
8. Love a few people well, remembering that what is important is not how much we do but how much love we put into doing it.
7. Write a letter to someone I need to say thank you to. Write another letter to someone I need to ask to forgive me.
6. Track down a critic or someone I disagree with and take them to lunch. Listen to them.
5. Compliment someone I have a hard time complimenting… and mean it.
4. Choose life. Do something regularly to interrupt the patterns of injustice – do something to end violence, bullying, war, capital punishment and other mean and ugly things.
3. Pause before every crisis and ask “will this matter in 5 years?”
2. Get outside often and marvel at things like fireflies and shooting stars. And regularly get my hands into the garden… so when I type on the computer I can see dirt under my fingernails.
1. Believe in miracles. And live in a way that might necessitate one.
Shane Claiborne
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Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Babies will be 'tiny teachers' to cut out classroom bullying
Learning to love: children and their baby 'teacher' in Canada during a Roots of Empathy lesson, soon to be run in London in an effort to cut classroom bullying
Babies will be 'tiny teachers' to cut out classroom bullying
Babies are being brought into classrooms to cut bullying and teach children empathy.
Primary schools in Lewisham and Croydon will be the first in England to use infants to educate children as young as four about emotional literacy.
Babies are being brought into classrooms to cut bullying and teach children empathy.
Primary schools in Lewisham and Croydon will be the first in England to use infants to educate children as young as four about emotional literacy.
Babies have been brought into lessons before to highlight the realities of teenage parenthood, but this is the first time they will have been used as so-called "tiny teachers" for such young children, showing them how to be kind and nurturing.
The Roots of Empathy scheme, aimed primarily at five- to 10-year-olds from problem homes, has reduced rates of bullying in schools in the US, Canada and New Zealand. The Big Lottery today announced two grants of £900,000 to fund the scheme in the south London boroughs.
Organisers are looking for 25 pregnant women to volunteer to take their babies into schools nine times during the school year. Trainers will also visit from Canada to educate local instructors in running the programme.
Children learn by interacting with the babies, observing how they grow and change, and the emotions they display.
An instructor visits the class before and after each baby visit to help the children think about what they have learned about caring, communicating and safety.
Val Pope, executive manager at the Lewisham Pre-School Learning Alliance, said: "Roots has an incredible impact on levels of aggression in children and on issues such as bullying and inclusion.
"It improves children's social and emotional competence - increased sharing, helping, caring and empathy. And research has shown that empathy is an antidote to violence.
"The instructors work alongside the teacher in the classroom to support the children's learning - but the real 'teacher' is the baby, who is placed on a green blanket in the middle of the room. The main aim is to encourage young children to understand what is involved in responsive, responsible and nurturing parenting. For some children, this may be the first time they have had access to such a loving parenting experience."
Experts say babies can "sense" if a child has emotional problems, such as feeling that they are an outsider, and will often crawl towards that child for a cuddle.
In one Canadian school, the tiny teacher chose to crawl towards the only child with hands in his pockets. The boy had been born with an abnormal thumb and was self-conscious about holding the baby.
His classmates all cheered when he eventually picked up the infant.
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"Who Do You Say That I Am?" – sexuality and faith workshop
Poet and speaker Pádraig Ó Tuama is leading a workshop for Leicester Cathedral in March entitled "Who Do You Say That I Am?: a queer conversation on identity and faith", which will explore the interface of sexuality and spirituality. Click here to download the workshop flyer Pádraig has worked in Belfast for the past eight years [...]
- Wendy Ingle Muscat hahaha bauldy , square , skunky , carnt think ofthe other name although i think thats willy church at the back ? x
- Wendy Ingle Muscat our old club some well good memories from here made some good friends and im still friends wiv them ,,, think we was all gutted when this building was taken down and the new 1 was built it just wasnt the same xx
- Beautiful Human Person When I first came E16 this front door was lined in steel and had big axe cuts all over it.
- Wendy Ingle Muscat i remember the big black metal doors waiting for them to open such great memories and its all thanks to you and everyone that worked in the mayflower xx
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