Forgive them - they know not what they do.

Forgive them they truly do not know what they do.

I am a high school teacher in a suburban/urban school district.  I experience many different personalities and faces.  This year I have many young at heart boys who are learning many life lessons.

Today I was thrilled!


We were discussing the many different things silence could mean:  the silent treatment, silence is golden (my personal favorite) and suffering in silence.

And AHA! A raw moment where suffering in silence taught two of my students a very valuable life lesson.

Allow me to explain, the majority of my students have been peers for the majority of their academic careers.  One of the loveliest young ladies I have ever taught recalled a moment where she suffered in silence at the cost the boy sitting directly in front of her.  She explained that when they were in elementary school, she just moved to the area from the Dominican Republic.  She spoke little to no English, and she had little to no friends.  The boy in front of her made fun of her speech and asked her if she owned a mirror - insinuating that she was ugly.  The boy was mortified. Shame filled his eyes.  In one breath she told him she cried at the bus stop and how it took her a long time to recover.  In the next breath, she told him she already forgave him for what he did.  That it was long ago, he was little and new no better. He apologized profusely embarrassed by these actions.

I was so touched by the sincerity of this young gentlemen - which his actions earned him this title at this time in his life.  It is amazing how children grow and learn in just a few years.  This did not occur that long ago in their short lives, and something that was very easy for him to do then, was something that completely embarrassed him today.

Along comes the literary connection by the wonderful Emily Dickenson:

A word is dead when it is said  some say
I say that word begins to live that day.
Spot on!