It always feels a little risky to talk about love in the public domain. I mean, we’re already advocating for recess, how far are we going to take things? But inevitably, if I’m talking with people about what we do and why it matters, love seems to pop up. I can dodge and weave, referring to empathy or open-heartedness, but ultimately it all comes down to what Dr. King referred to as “projecting the ethic of love to the center of our lives.”
Martin Luther King, Jr’s December 1957 sermon is a mind-blowingly wonderful discussion of love in the public domain. His explanation of the three Greek words for love–eros, philia and agape–is almost inconceivable in this day and age and so not tweetable. But it is precisely his definition of agape–“understanding, creative, redeeming goodwill for all men”–that we are hoping for in teaching children to play well together.
I was pleased to see that the Fetzer Institute was celebrating love and forgiveness in it’s first annual celebration of love contest. Playworks has an entry, which reads: “Playworks believes that lessons learned on the playground are essential for our chance at a loving future. Every recess, we create peaceful leaders by imparting essential concepts such as teamwork, conflict resolution, and fair play. Our students move through life having learned early the positive effects of forgiveness and empathy.”
You can check out our video, the rest of our entry and vote for us on Fetzer Institute's What in the World Are You Doing? contest site.
