understanding (n.)

... and all of the detainees had come out of their cells and were waiting by their doors for rec to begin, i looked around in the early morning stillness and saw each of them for their vulnerability and their potential.   all of the past offenses (the whining, the misbehaving, the arguing) melted away and it was a sacred time of being able to see their genuine selves.  i wondered if they knew how beautiful they were.

then rec started and the whining resumed.

they were still beautiful,

this week i started leading my first parent group and it was a big group  - 16 parents in all.   their backgrounds were remarkably different, their goals were different, their perspectives were different.  some parents had elected to be there; some had been ordered by child welfare to be there.  in those two hours of group, however, they were vulnerable and scared and optimistic and looking for things to change.  it was a sacred time of being able to see their genuine selves.

i wondered if they knew how beautiful they were.

3 comments

1. Anonymous on January 15, 2012 at 8:21 AM

   Sometimes...they don't know unless they are told.

    
2. Lisa on January 15, 2012 at 9:36 AM

   @NellieVaughn - most heartedly agreed.

    
3. Anonymous on January 20, 2012 at 2:09 PM

   I wonder if you know how beautiful YOU are.