Wood You Like To Learn?
I walk through the house to the front porch holding a piece of wood that needs to be smoothed out and then installed in the kitchen drawer.
As I pass my 15-year-old daughter, I ask, “Do you want to learn how to sand?”
She does not.
And that’s fine.
Learning about methodically, in a circular motion, progressing from coarse to fine grits, to achieve a smooth, even finish isn’t of interest to her today.
She asks me when she wants help–like she asked for help when she and her friends were setting up a spreadsheet so they could keep tabs on their babysitting business.
She doesn’t need to learn about sanding right now. (Or ever, I guess.)
It’s amazing how adults mistakenly think they are, by virtue of their age, authorized to instruct those younger in a curriculum they deem important.
We need to be careful before we just assume everyone wants to learn what we want to teach.
That being said, I’ve got some wisdom about acceptance, forgiveness, and patience that I’m glad to share.
Rabbi Brian’s Highly Unorthodox Gospel (available now, exclusively on Kickstarter) is a great (and fun) place to learn about kindness, compassion, and love.
