It's located in a very lively neighborhood within the city where I live. There are tons of kids on the street where Peace House sits. Many of them come from fragile homes experiencing difficulty in getting along with every-day life.
Two weeks ago, I was helping to supervise the Gaga ball area in the backyard. Here's what it looks like. (A disclaimer, the photo below isn't the Gaga ball pit at Peace House, but I wanted to give you an idea of it).
As you can imagine, the game is fast and furious. (Think dodgeball played within in a small area).
At several points in the game one of the kids playing called another of the kids "out" meaning the ball had hit them, or their pass of the ball had been caught in the air.
Needless to say, kids being kids, most of them denied being called out, and looked to me to decide the play. 99% of the time, the action of the game was so fast I didn't actually see the play, and I couldn't call it. So I told the kids to start a new game.
This didn't set well. During the course of the afternoon, four of the kids who were called out left the Gaga pit and walked away. When I ran after them and asked, "Tell me what's going on?" Without exception, each of them looked at me and said, "Get out of my face! I'm leaving!"
Kids being kids, every one of them eventually returned to play again.
On the way home that evening, I initially thought, "The kids were sort of rude. I was only asking them to explain what caused them to walk away from the game."
Then, it gradually dawned on me, that one possible reason why those four kids responded to my invitation to a conversation by saying, "Get out of my face!" was because they lived in a neighborhood that didn't encourage such openness. Their homes most likely weren't ones in which they experienced much compassion. And probably, what they said to me ("Get out of my face!") was exactly what they were told to do at home.
No opportunity to talk it through. No discussion. Only a truncated experience of frustrated communication, with very little chance of love to show through.
This all got me to thinking about Jeremy Courtney and his Preemptive Love Coalition.
I wrote about Jeremy and this group a few weeks ago Preemptive Love. Basically, what Courtney is doing is offering us an opportunity to "love first, and ask questions later."
The world that Preemptive Love Coalition and Peace House and groups like them are building is the exact opposite of what the kids in that Gaga pit are currently experiencing.
At the end of his TED talk, Courtney presents an interesting challenge. He asks: "What's your dream? What act of preemptive love can you do this week? An act of extending trust to another, who perhaps hasn't earned it yet? An act of suspending fear in your life?"
I think it's a powerful question, so I'm also asking: What would our workplace, our families, our neighborhoods, our churches look like if we assumed positive intent? If we extended grace? If we made a choice to love, without counting the cost?
As you think about the answer to this question, please consider that, as far as most faith traditions go, we already have been given that same chance, that same love. What would the world look like if we simply passed that love on to others, no questions asked?
You can view Jeremy Courtney's TED talk here.
Photo Credit: www.camporkila.blogspot.com
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