BECOMING THE RIGHT PERSON
Mark 12: 30-31: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. There is no commandment greater than these.”
When we spoke last week about that “hell no” moment that each one should have and where we defend our school and what we stand for with tooth and nail…it is relatively easy to apply that with great conviction and motivation, with ferocious intensity on the sports field…and WOW! have I seen lots of that this past Saturday…Thank you for that.
Daai is vir my mooi skoon gedifineërde lyne wat getrek word, en jy weet presies wat van jou verwag word en hoe jy vir die man of vrou langs jou speel en alles moontlik op die spel sit. Mens kan daai prentjie sien, visualiseer en dan tot aksie oorgaan en dit doen…MAAR ek het vandag vir julle ‘n nuwe uitdaging in the quest of “BECOMING THE RIGHT PERSON”. One where the lines are NOT so well-defined and it is definitely NOT coming so easily or naturally…and that is to love your neighbour as yourself…which is placed in the same bracket as to “Love your Lord your God”! Now I think it is much easier to love the Lord your God…who is powerful, all-mighty, who is the Lord and God of the universe…than to love your imperfect, full-of-flaws-and- mistakes neighbour. The boy or girl who is also attending this great school (Hermanus High School) must surely qualify as your neighbour. Do you treat them with the same respect, give them the same “benefit of the doubt” and kindness that you would give yourself?
Een van my skoolhoofde waaronder ek gewerk het by my vorige skool, het eendag so ‘n waar ding gesê wat ek nooit sal vergeet nie…ten opsigte van hoe ons teenoor mekaar optree. He has taken the saying: “Treating others the way you would like to be treated” to another level. He said: “No, that’s the wrong way to look at it. Don’t treat other people, the way YOU would like to be treated, but treat them the way THEY would like to be treated.”
…and that has changed my mind completely in terms of what we should be “looking for” when we are dealing with others, especially in a challenging situation. We must not just “Tollerate” others but learn to “accept” them. That is a huge shift in how we look and treat other people.
Nou dit beteken VIR SEKER NIE dat ons onaanvaarbare gedrag of optrede moet aanvaar nie…dit help ons net dat ons met die regte gesindheid en stemtoon die onaanvaarbare gedrag aanspreek. Maar SPREEK DIT AAN! Asb…as daai ‘Hell no” oomblik homself voor jou uitspeel…stand up and be counted! Just know that we don’t have to break people down, swear at them or even start telling them what you think of their family…
There is another saying that says: “Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes…although, the suggestion is actually not to walk a mile in their SHOES but in their muddy boots which suggests you should accompany them and relive their moments when things are NOT going so well.
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you once again for this wonderful opportunity to be at this amazing school. Help us to represent YOU and the school well, every day of the week. Help us to consider each and everyone in our school when we interact with them and to treat them the way they would like te be treated
AMEN
Mr MJ Smuts
PRINCIPAL