Bird Droppings August 9, 2012

What if we had a child’s view of life?

 

            Seldom do I miss getting a Bird Dropping out each morning some weekends I will take a day off and occasionally a storm will knock out internet. Most folks never realize a day missing here and there for it seems after twelve years of this on certain days certain people will read and man times even days later. Some will say what was written was just for them and others never miss a lick. Our county email has changed and no longer is I as reliant on that server just in case it crashes which handles my email account. Amazing how we are so tied into technology. I started posting through Facebook and now am only limited by internet service. I spent a large portion of the day talking with other teachers yesterday. I have been trying to catch up on considerable reading did not get a chance to write.

It seems funny to some and especially to students as I forced them to write five sentences in their journal and seldom to I get asked can you give me something more challenging than writing in a journal. It hit me yesterday as I was talking with teachers as I literally went what seemed a hundred miles per hour and never could stop to sit and write that it bothered me not too. Five sentences can be challenging if you truly write and enter into your inner self. A few sentences can reveal so much. A few sentences can be powerful and soul searching. A few sentences can change the world especially from a child’s view of life.

 

“With wisdom and uncomplicated vision, Mattie reminds us how easy it is to forgive others, to find something amazing even in the most trivial things, and to celebrate the little gifts of life each day.” Jimmy Carter, Former president U.S.

 

It has been a few years since I first saw Mattie Stepanek on the Oprah Winfrey show. Actually back in the day I sort of followed Oprah or I should say my mother would call me when there was something she thought would be of interest to me.  A small child huddled in his electric wheel chair he was a victim of muscular dystrophy. Mattie Stepanek passed away June 22, 2004 a week from his fourteenth birthday. I was going through my books when several of my collection of Mattie’s poetry books were uncovered as I was putting my books back on my shelves and sorting the hundreds of books I moved out of my old room.

It is interesting to read what a child sees and feels and poem by poem Mattie Stepanek shows his view of life and touches our souls.

 

“My kids amaze me, but none more than Mattie Stepanek, whose poetry reflects a heart and mind that soar beyond his years. If he can give us the wisdom and inspiration of his book now, what riches of the human spirit can his future hold? We must do all we can to discover that.” Jerry Lewis, National Chairman MD Association

 

I pulled up Mattie’s website and a tear came to my eye reading bits and pieces of his very brief life. In a few years he touched and continues to touch so many other people’s lives. I wonder what if he was never allowed to write, to pen the poetry that he has. Several book companies turned him down as he started and now each of his books has been a best seller. What if like so many children we as adults never listened to them or let them simply not write as some do. In Mattie’s case the quiet voice of one small wheel chair bound child would have never produced such heart felt lines.

 

 

For our world

 

We need to stop.
Just stop.
Stop for a moment…
Before anybody
Says or does anything
That may hurt anyone else.
We need to be silent.
Just silent.
Silent for a moment…
Before we forever lose
The blessing of songs
That grow in our hearts.
We need to notice.
Just notice.
Notice for a moment…
Before the future slips away
Into ashes and dust of humility.
Stop, be silent, and notice…
In so many ways, we are the same.
Our differences are unique treasures.
We have, we are, a mosaic of gifts
To nurture, to offer, to accept.
We need to be.
Just be.
Be for a moment…
Kind and gentle, innocent and trusting,
Like children and lambs,
Never judging or vengeful
Like the judging and vengeful.
And now, let us pray,
Differently, yet together,
Before there is no earth, no life,
No chance for peace.

September 12, 2001
© Matthew Joseph Thaddeus Stepanek

 

I wonder as I reread this verse, from the back cover of Hope through Heart songs and looked at news articles this morning of wars, economic crisis, greed, fears, disease, missiles and more missiles. I keep coming back to the last line or two “Before there is no earth, no chance for peace.” And it hits me what are we waiting for? I feel sometimes maybe we exhaust all other options before we try peace. Sitting here with my computer it is so easy to say. One little child sitting at his desk writing poems perhaps saw and felt things we may never.

 

“In the past, most of us were born limited to the perceptions of the five senses. From this perspective, the entire universe consists of what we can see, smell, hear, taste, and touch. Each of us is a body and a mind, but no more. A few of us are born being able to see beyond the five senses. …..the five senses do not disappear, but another sensory capability is active. That is the perception of the soul.” Gary Zukav, Forward, Hope through Heart songs

 

So often we limit ourselves by saying this is stupid or that is dumb as my students often do and many of their parents as well. I have been working on an idea and eventually a paper on reviewing the testing of children. My goal is in some way trying to find validation within all of the testing jargon and material we throw at kids. A long range goal is trying to see if certain assessments can predict and or show improvement in children who have emotional problems. I was working on a folder of a child who has been diagnosed and poked and prodded since her early days in school. There are many guesses as to what is going on with her but no real solid understanding.

I recall a professor a few years ago making a comment about how a few years back every child was ADHD and a many really were probably something else. So on line or if you by chance as I do have a copy look at definitions, I pull out the trusted DMS IV TR, the official book of definitions of The American Psychological Association. It is interesting how a child who doesn’t pay attention is automatically ADHD and yet child hood depression is so similar and so far apart. When you seriously look however the child shows no interest rather than is not paying attention.

So in this case for six years the child’s goals are to stay on task and complete homework. Never once did the fact that the child has been sad and or reads a lot and has very high achievement scores and any other test scores given come out in the records. However does not do tedious work was never mentioned. Strange how we see what we want, a teacher see academics, no homework was completed, the child was spaced out in class is always a good observation. As I read this morning I kept seeing in Mattie’s writing references to seeing more than what is there or more than others see. I will share another poem in closing.

 

The Eye of the beholder

 

Dandelions are NOT weeds!

See?

They are beautiful

Yellow flowers on them

They have lovely

Green stems.

Mommy puts them

In a jar of water

In the kitchen –

They are flowers

See?

They are round.

They are round and yellow.

Oh, mommy

Please tell him

He’s making a big mistake!

Poor little dandelions…..

He’s pulling them all up

And calling them “weeds.”

Oh, this is

So horrible, so sad!

What would God say if?

He saw you sending all of these

Poor little round yellow

Dandelion – flowers

Back to the Lord

 

                                           Mattie Stepanek, Heartsongs, 2001       

 

Sometimes it takes children’s eyes to see. It takes a child’s view to truly see the world we so often forget is even there. Perhaps one day we too can see all about us this way and maybe Mattie’s dream of peace will be a reality. Please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts and always give thanks namste.

Wa de (Skee)

bird