This Little Light of Mine: Living the Beatitudes is written not only for use with children, but to help form the faith of the adults who work with them. Today’s excerpt, from Chapter 2: Blessed Are They Who Mourn (Suffering, Freedom, and Sin), comes from the section for children.
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God created each and every one of us as good people. But he also gave us free will. This means we always have a choice to do the right thing or the wrong thing. He did this because he wanted a family of people who would choose to love, just as he loves. This is what it means to be made “in God’s image”: not that we look like him, but that we can choose to act like him.
But of course, if we can choose to love, we can also choose not to love. It’s called original sin. And when we choose to sin, we cause suffering for others. The more we choose to sin, the more suffering we cause.
Just Live It:
Start a “gratitude journal.” … Encourage your children to be grateful for their favorite “special classes” at school or a sibling’s hug upon arriving home. But don’t stop there. …Look for the silver lining in your …daily frustrations and, if nothing else, thank God for the ways it could have been worse and wasn’t.
(from This Little Light of Mine, Chapter 2)
Kathleen M. Basi 