justice

In this post, Mandy Neff, author of the newly published children’s RE curriculum, With Justice and Compassion,  shares  some of the background story behind the curriculum.- Ed.

My mother escaped as a teen during the Hungarian Revolution.  I grew up hearing her stories of running from soldiers, a long wait eating thin soup in a refugee camp, and finally several demanding years of learning English with the family that adopted her here in the US before she was naturalized.   I knew her immigration was no small thing.  But despite the difficulties, she was welcomed into a new culture when she arrived.  She was one of the lucky ones – and I have benefited from that.

After several years of Buddhist studies, I have learned the power of the Metta, or lovingkindness, meditation for myself.  Through its repetition of the same words for yourself, then a loved one, in ever-widening circles until you reach someone you consider an enemy and have to send them lovingkindness, it is a profound tool.  As a Religious Educator, I am always searching for ways to teach compassion and respect to our children and youth.  This was an ideal tool to give them. (more…)