The Birth of Hate.

My son was bullied this past week.  I mean real, true, bullying.  The kind that After-School-Specials are made of.  It had been building.  There had been small signs and passing comments that my son made.  I should have known.  That's not true. I DID know.  I ignored it because I couldn't face the truth that my sweet son, having arrived at a new school 5 months ago, was not welcomed with open arms.  It was just too painful.

But, there he was. Standing in the rain after school with the principal, under her umbrella. There was no where for me to hide so I had to listen. 

3 boys came up with the plan and got the rest of the class to go along.  My son had already been told by these boys that he was "stupid" and that "no one in the class likes you". So, already feeling vunerable, my son walked into the cafeteria and sat in the middle of the long, rectangle table, at the seat that had been "saved" for him.  As soon as he sat down,  all the other kids scrunched their noses and moved away from him, leaving him sitting all by himself, bewildered momentarily before the hurt hit and settled in.

And he cried.

Of course he did.

And then the students broke the awkward silence, pointing, laughing and mocking each tear.  Mercifully, a teacher came and took my son out of the cafeteria, to the principal.  In her office, every pervasive insult and  eyeroll was spilled out.

Many public leaders mock the way our society has turned soft. How everyone gets a trophy and everyone gets to be a cheerleader.  Why competition has been replaced with fairness.  My son, as he grows and remembers this day, will have some choices.  He can choose to be angry and vengeful or he can forgive.  He can hurt those who hurt him or he can work towards fairplay, compassion and kindess. He can punch back or turn his cheek, sacrificing his own dignity so he can be an example of humility. 

As a mother, I want those kids to hurt.  As a Christian, I want those kids in Heaven.  I hope my son chooses to forgive. 

"Humility is learned by experiencing humilation with dignity"  Mother Theresa

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