A Week of Bad Behavior

It was a week of bad behavior and I heard about it everywhere. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter. It seemed like the country's attention was on the famous ones and how they could not behave themselves: Kanye, Serena and Joe Wilson. It was a virtual whose who of personas with rock stars, sports figures and politicians reminding us how not to treat each other.

As our kids head out the door, I wonder, what is acceptable behavior? I was on a field trip with Grace this week. We went on a sailing trip around Angel Island with Call of the Sea. What was a pleasant and welcomed surprise, was how kind the students were to each other and how that kindness was contagious.

Watching Grace and her three friends eat lunch was a lesson in the benefits of kindness and sharing. Grace sat with three of her girlfriends. They all got their food out. The next thing I knew, Grace was eating sushi, noodle soup, a veggie sandwich and the other girls were picking through Grace's lunch that I had made her. This was such a beautiful thing to watch because there was not much discussion or classic trading, simply an unspoken understanding that if it was on the table, it was for everyone. The girls walked away with a much more balanced meal and a new experience since there was a Thai, Chinese, Cambodian and whatever Grace's J meal on the table.

I guess what I walked away with (besides a healthy dose of lunch envy) was a respect and a hope. I now respect these girls that they had gotten to this level of relational comfort around each other. I also have hope that their generation might actually learn to live a different type of life, a Kingdom of God life.

"'Lord when did I see you hungry?'

'I tell you when you did it to the least of these you did it to me.'"

-Jesus as reported in the book of Matthew