Wisdom from 4th Grade

You'd be amazed at what's possible when you take a group of 4th graders to our beautiful outdoor sanctuary for morning T'filah, ask them to bring a clipboard, paper, and pencil, and then invite them to write poems and prayers on spiritually resonant topics like, "Love" and "Listen." Here are two examples that, if you truly read them, will warm your heart and inspire your soul. Both are reproduced here with parental permission. 

Love

by Nolan Tuck

Love is the world

Love is everything

Love spreads

Love is what makes us alive

Love is spreading and it won't stop

We create love

Love is what makes the whole world

beautiful 

Though Nolan's words speak for themselves, I can't resist sharing why his words speak to me. As U see it, in the piece he presents two complimentary ideas. First, "Love is what makes us alive." Then, "We create love." What Nolan seems to be expressing is the idea that love creates us (makes us alive) and that we create love (that love only exists in the world because human beings manifest it). 

 Listen/Shema

by Sydney Gold

Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu

Oh God listen to my prayers

I will sing you a song Adonai

Shema- Listen

Yisrael- Israel

Adonai- our God- Eloheinu

Listen to all my prayers

I say them for a reason

Listen to my prayers

for my cousin who has a disability

Listen to my prayers that everyone will be healthy and happy

Listen to the fire trucks and police cars at work

Listen to the guitar strum a tune

Listen to the birds chirping a message

Listen to the fighting people working to keep us safe

Listen to my pencil writing

Listen to my words

Listen to Shabbat coming

Listen to me walk

Listen to the music

Listen to everyone's thoughts and ideas

Sydney's concern for others, her appreciation for those that help and those that need help, and her caring and concern really shine through. The way that she uses the traditional words of the Shema to frame her remarks gives her writing a timeless quality.