I want to recognize my friend Liza Van Arsdale-Mitchell for her recent utilization of Facebook to promote goodness. She posted the following:

Special request to kids returning to school in the next few days: If you see someone who is struggling to make friends or being bullied because he/she doesn’t have many friends, because they are shy or not as pretty or not dressed in the most “in” clothes – PLEASE step up. Say hi or at least smile at them in the hallway. You never know what that person might be facing outside of school. Your kindness might just make a BIG difference in someone’s life!

While I am not so old that I do not recall the uncomfortable nature of adolescence and the strong desire to fit in, I also recall moments in which I decided to go against the grain and simply do something because it was good and right. But for the grace of (G)od my children or your children will find acceptance within a group that promotes success and unity.

As much as we want to blame the parents of a bad child or the system which facilitated the descent, we all have the opportunity to be a moment of change. A brief respite from that child’s hell which can be a glimpse into a world in which he\she can feel a sense of belonging. Not only does it start with asking more of our children but also in asking more of ourselves.

They hear you when you speak ill of your friends and enemies. They see the shows in which you invest your time. We are not good because of what we belong to, we are good because of how we represent the ideals which we claim to live.

Feeling alone as an adult sucks. Feeling alone as a child is darkness.

Why try
When everything I do feels half right?
I wander through my life
Everything I say seems half right

Sometimes I’m standing here
High on a riverbed
And light breaks through
And everything feels good for a while
High on a riverbed

Where am I
When everything I do feels half right?
How can I be satisfied
Writing words from someone else’s lies?

Sometimes I’m standing here
High on a riverbed
And light breaks through
And everything feels good for a while
High on a riverbed
Light breaks through

I see myself sometimes
Vision is a mystery half blind
I keep missing all the time
Seeing what I could be if I…
If I…

Sometimes I’m standing here
High on a riverbed
And light breaks through
And everything feels good for a while
High on a riverbed
Light breaks through
And everything feels good for a while
High on a riverbed
Light breaks through
And everything feels good for a while
High on a riverbed
Light breaks through
And everything feels good for a while

Toad the Wet Sprocket – High on a Riverbed

From the CD Pale