Topic: Aliens
Sometimes discrimination just sticks out like a sore thumb.
Other times, we adults see differences and find ourselves feeling very awkward as we try to show sensitivity to someone who has an obvious burden or handicap.
Little children can be so good at accepting differences. I suppose it's because they haven't had a lot of time to practice rationalizations that allow them to feel separated from people with differences. In fact, they have a way of seeing "handicaps" in a different light altogether.
Like all of our grandchildren, 4-year-old Kellyn has never seen her grandfather walking without a serious limp, caused by a severe spinal injury 45 years ago. In fact, I suspect that one thing children adore most about him is that this limitation never allows him to get ahead of them.
Tonight as Kellyn and her sister made their way upstairs at bedtime, I didn't pay much attention to Kellyn's waddling side to side, until she proudly announced: "I'm trying to learn to walk like Papa!"
Oh, that we could have such a perspective about so many things that set others apart!
