I was in music class with my funny and squirrely first graders yesterday afternoon… I had an age-appropriate mini-lesson planned about Mozart, being that he’s our “birthday boy” and composer of the month … but sometimes – *especially* with first graders – little hands pop up (or not!) and the question being asked has absolutely nothing to do with the lesson at hand – but it’s obviously something that REALLY needs to be brought up.
I like to think of these things as “Spirit Moments” or “Soul Lessons” … and the places these moments can take us may cause us to rely heavily on an innate trust that we will know what to say and how to say it for the highest good of all concerned…
As I have journeyed through many “trips around the sun”, I have become more confident in that level of trust in something greater than myself – a Divine presence and connection that always “has my back” – and that I will know how to best navigate the situation at hand, and always with the best of intentions…
Little “Hazel” raised her hand and she immediately started to talk about the recent flooding and thunderstorms and how these made her feel… and then with a very serious and concerned face she proceeded to talk about a local 2-year-old boy who was tragically killed when a large tree fell on his home – as her parents had shared with her.
I could see some of the other kids’ reactions at hearing this – as it was very likely “news” to them, and they had not yet heard about this tragedy. I could immediately sense the energy shift in the room and witnessed some looks of deep concern and questioning on these young 6-year-old faces. So, in my mind I was quickly debating on whether or not to allow “Hazel” to continue sharing her thoughts on this tragedy, or to somehow gently revert the conversation back to our music class.
I let her continue for a few more thoughts…
At the same I was trying to figure out a way to comfort the young and questioning minds of the others … and when “Hazel” was finished sharing her concerns, I paused and then I immediately commented on how sad this is and how sad this little boy’s parents must be. And how sometimes these sad things happen, and we don’t know why they happen. So, I suggested to the children that perhaps we can put our hands on our hearts and stay quiet for a moment and send some love to this little boy’s soul and to his parents and grandparents and all those who know and love him.
And so, with hands on hearts, I had these little humans take slow quiet inhales while thinking of the little boy and his family. And then I had them exhale slowly while filling that breathy air with thoughts of love and peace for the little boy and his family. I think we repeated this 3x … then I asked them, “Do you think the little boy could feel your love?” … a confident and resounding “YES!” ensued and we were *almost* able to gently move forward into our lesson on Mozart…
But, not before another little boy “Jack” asked if we could send some love to his dog that died recently … So, I once again asked all the children to place their hands on their hearts and gently inhale while thinking of “Jack’s” dog – and anyone or anything else they wanted to send love to – and then we all exhaled more breathy love out into the universe! 
Mind you, I am currently working in a school where it’s okay to talk about and share thoughts of God, and many of these young people are familiar with that language … but I imagine that it would be equally powerful and completely okay, in other situations, to replace the word “God” with “LOVE” … equally profound, universally understood (whether or not it’s felt regularly by all of us is another conversation/post) … but, for me personally, GOD and LOVE are one in the SAME.