Go Ask Dad: A new ABC to teach what we value
Sure, A is for apple, B is for ball and C is for cat. But I’ve been musing about a few other words from the perspective of things I’d like to teach my kids and also what I’ve learned from them.
A is for Applause: the sound of two hands clapping in recognition and praise, generally after a performance.
The word dates back to the Romans, although the gesture is far older, perhaps timeless. Witness a baby. Once one figures out that those fleshy appendages orbiting one’s own line of vision are actually within one’s control, clapping soon ensues, perhaps accidentally at first. But the delight evoked from one’s audience, whether parents or strangers in a grocery store checkout line, quickly teaches a child that clapping begets more clapping. When we think about how hard it can be to bring people together, this oft-impromptu applause is indeed a performance worth praising.
B is for Blessed: a religious or spiritual term and, as such, a word that attempts to describe the indescribable.
Gratitude is given for health, happiness and success, yet the key point I wish to make is that blessed is in the passive voice, meaning it is not the result of one’s own actions but rather from what we might call a higher power. Name that power whatever you will: Jesus, Allah, fate, luck, Taylor Swift. To be blessed is not about reward or gain as much as an awareness of forces beyond your ken and the privilege of witnessing those forces acting upon others.
C is for Compassion: which is like a hand-carved wooden bowl – a work of art, yet small and light enough to fit in one’s hands.
As such, we give out of our compassion, sharing what we have with someone else. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen some people carry around a compassion so deep that it inspires me, even when I feel empty.
