"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be
undertaken with painstaking excellence."
-Martin Luther King Jr
And my current labor is to love the little ones that are in my life. And I have been amply blessed with little ones to love. My days are filled with finding "Quack" the duck pacifier in order to ensure nap time. Filled with the sound of singing songs from Frozen, although I am entirely sure that I would be doing that even if there were no little ones around. I have become an expert on Angelina Ballerina. I have discovered that tea parties are only really a tea party is Bears have bow ties. I have learned that cooking Gluten Free for an adult is difficult. Whereas cooking Gluten Free for a four year old is inexplicably harder. I discovered that carrot stains are harder to wash out than pea stains.
Yet in all my discoveries, the greatest has been this. That the labor uplifts humanity. I have made children laugh. I have spent hours holding them as they cry. I have wiped their snot and bandaged their wounds. I have held them when they bit their lips from taking their tentative steps. I have not just sought to fill their needs, but to ensure they know how deeply valuable they are. How important intelligent their wave hello is. I want them to know the impact their hello can have on the world. For perhaps in treating them with dignity now, they will believe in their dignity as they grow.
I know that these are jobs. That I am working with these children. But it's more than a job, it is an honor. How could I work with anything but painstaking excellence when I am interacting with growing souls?
Yet in all my discoveries, the greatest has been this. That the labor uplifts humanity. I have made children laugh. I have spent hours holding them as they cry. I have wiped their snot and bandaged their wounds. I have held them when they bit their lips from taking their tentative steps. I have not just sought to fill their needs, but to ensure they know how deeply valuable they are. How important intelligent their wave hello is. I want them to know the impact their hello can have on the world. For perhaps in treating them with dignity now, they will believe in their dignity as they grow.
I know that these are jobs. That I am working with these children. But it's more than a job, it is an honor. How could I work with anything but painstaking excellence when I am interacting with growing souls?
No comments:
Post a Comment