Kindergarten Reminders

Most of us have heard the poem, "All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" by Robert Fulgham. This extremely popular poem tells us everything that we ever need to know about “how to live, and what to do, and how to be.” Here are a few of his lessons:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life.
Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Some of these are easy to remember and easy to do. Most of us can remember to flush when we are finished. We know that it is not okay to hit people. We know that warm cookies and milk are good for us, and we know that we should return things to their proper places when are finished using them. Look back up at the list. Do you see any of Fulgham’s lessons that aren’t so easy to remember or to do? Generally speaking, do you think that most people are willing to share everything, play fair, or say that they are sorry when they hurt someone?

The author’s last lesson is “When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.” Is this possible if we don’t follow the earlier lessons? After all, who wants to hold hands, and stick together with someone who refuses to say they are sorry, or is selfish or unfair?

God wants us to do everything in love, even to those who refuse to adhere to basic common courtesies. Yes, that is right; God calls us to love the person who refuses to say, “I am sorry.” He calls us to love the person who hits, steals, and refuses to flush!” I find some of the above “offenses” harder to forgive than others. (But I am working on it…………STILL!)

I just try to keep reminding myself that I don’t always carry out all of these lessons either. I need God’s grace, and I need to extend grace to others. What about you? How do you focus on the love of Christ instead of focusing on who isn’t cleaning up their own mess?