Teaching our children to choose love over hate, to be empathetic towards others, to be interested and not indifferent, to listen instead of turning away, to hope and not to despair, is a significant task for parents.

Since children learn by example, how we relate to others is very important.  The kindness and concern we show towards those around us is imitated by our children, as is the frustration and intolerance.

One way to help peel away the racism and hatred that exists is to teach our children to be interested in others, in their stories and in their lives.  We do this by cultivating this interest ourselves.  Sometimes this comes naturally (there are always individuals for whom we seem to have a special affinity), sometimes it is an interest we must cultivate consciously.  And interest and attention, seeing another person, is itself a form of love.

Parents know that we may teach our children a little about a little, but what they teach us is a lot about a lot.  This is true when thinking about love too.  Imagine the baby looking at it’s mother or father, gazing up with complete devotion and love.  Paying attention to our babies and the way they love is a good way to learn about love.  And then imagine spreading that kind of devotion and love to those beyond our family circle.  Almost hard to imagine, but something to strive for.

The Word ‘respect‘ comes from the Latin respectus, meaning ‘to look back at, regard, consider.’  In it’s origin, ‘respect‘  has a sense of looking and seeing another person.  It’s like love in that way, because love can also be thought of as the ability to really see another human being.

46 years ago Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech.  In it he describes his dream:  that through hope and faith, freedom will ring across the land.

And what happens at home really does provide the basis for this freedom, for it is at home that we and our children can learn to love and respect others.