Yesterday while at her Thursday neighborhood "Breakfast Club" gathering, Flannista learned that several high school kids had been consistently mugged and robbed as they crossed a bridge that connected their nearby school with SassistaLand East.
Ellen, a long-time member of the Breakfast Club, shared that she and several members of her church (literally two-tenths of a mile from Flann's home) decided to become "peacemakers". Once a week, between 3 and 4 in the afternoon, they stand in the area where most of the robberies have occurred and offer passing students cookies or candy. (Next week it will be popsicles!)
Flann witnessed the peacemaking for a while yesterday and was touched that passing kids were offered not only cookies, but also a friendly, "Hi! How are you? Did you have a good day at school?" Half of the kids passed by without saying a word, lost in whatever music was blasting through their headphones. Some stopped, however, to grab a cookie and to pet the very friendly dog you see pictured here.
Flann was struck by how seemingly simple it is to be a peacemaker. The hard work comes over the long haul, to be sure, but as Aesop once said, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."
Flann was also reminded of a story PEACEsista shared about her son and his small peacemaking gesture when he served our country in Iraq. He would save his breakfast muffins and when he passed hungry children in his tank, "chuck" them a muffin for peace. Flann loved the story so much, she made it into a t-shirt with the image of PEACE and noway's son as a kid.
Muffins, cookies, candy, popsicles -- let's all chuck what we can for peace!
I was really touched by the simplicity of this "stand" for peace and saw for myself the rippling effect. After being with these peacemakers for a while, I walked downtown to pick up our CSA vegetables, and one of the students who had stopped for a cookie, came up to me and told me how nice it was that these folks were doing this.
Made me want to go out and do something nice, too.
Posted by: Flannista | June 01, 2012 at 05:29 AM
"Now is the time for simplicity. Now is the time for... dare I say it... kindness."
Yes.
Posted by: treesta | June 01, 2012 at 05:43 AM
That line from the play/movie, "Wit" really got to you, didn't it, treesta?
Posted by: Flannista | June 01, 2012 at 05:58 AM
Yeah, can you tell?
Your neighbors in the Breakfast Club really lived it, too.
Posted by: treesta | June 01, 2012 at 06:01 AM
For 22 years, I've walked by this church and always thought it was filled with conservative people. Then two summers ago, I saw members erected a "peace pole" in one corner of the church yard. And now this.
Once again, I'm convicted by how easily I misjudge people.
Posted by: Flannista | June 01, 2012 at 06:10 AM
They could be conservative AND peace-loving. It's always good to question our assumptions about people.
I'm off this morning to take a bunch of kids to the Air & Space Museum. At least we get to go in a coach bus and not a school bus. Hopefully, the thunderstorms will hold off until we get back.
Posted by: treesta | June 01, 2012 at 06:17 AM
There I go judging again, treesta! Thanks for calling me on it.
Matissta and I are headed to Bnbsista's until late Sunday morning when I have to hurry back and catch a plane to MouseLand. Have a good time on the Mall.
Posted by: Flannista | June 01, 2012 at 06:23 AM
You & Matiss enjoy your time together in beautiful, West-by-God Virginia. Catch in later.
We all judge and draw conclusions that are often inaccurate. Name of the game. The good thing is you are aware, you question yourself, and you change your perceptions as you go. Can't ask for more than that.
Posted by: treesta | June 01, 2012 at 06:35 AM
Flann, thanks for remembering my Army son and his efforts to give food and water to hungry children when he was gunner on an armored truck in Iraq. He did not dub it as an action for peace. I did that in an article I wrote about it later. But, like your church friends, he saw a need and responded to it. I remember him telling me about a 120 degree day when he threw an ice cold bottle of water to a kid, saying the he couldn't help but think that to a kid who had no water on a day like that, getting an ice-cold bottle would seem like a miracle. We think of peacemaking as hard and certainly it can be, but I think the roots of peace grow from the soil of simple acts of kindness.
Have a wonderful time with Matiss this weekend at Bnb's place!
Posted by: PEACEsista | June 01, 2012 at 09:44 AM
This is a great little story. I didn't remember the story about your son, PEACE. The smallest thing can change people's perceptions (and yes can form the beginning of peace). Imagine how those kids feel knowing they don't have to face the robbers in the afternoon.
Judging: my essay ended up being about authenticism: judging the authenticity of a writer by comparing the work to some cultural standard-how that closes us off and is another form of prejudice. We'll see how the academics respond. (I shouldn't have said in my cover letter that "I have read an ungodly amount of academic blathering about authenticity" should I?)
Posted by: Justista | June 01, 2012 at 04:56 PM
Good morning, everyone. My little family spent the night last night. My granddaughter, as usual, is up with the sun. So we're watching her favorite movie while her Mom & Dad get a little bit more sleep. So she and I are sitting here watching Dumbo together. She is just mesmerized.
A wonderful way to start the day.
Posted by: treesta | June 02, 2012 at 06:19 AM
"Dumbo" is my absolute FAVORITE WALT DISNEY MOVIE AND CHARACTER, treesta! It IS a wonderful way to start the day.
Posted by: Flannista | June 02, 2012 at 06:26 AM
Justista -- yes, you should absolutely say in your cover letter that you "have read an ungodly amount of academic blathering about authenticity" -- and you should say it precisely like that . . . with authenticity, of course.
Posted by: Flannista | June 02, 2012 at 06:28 AM