Are you alive? Then welcome to the School of Life! Each day is a new curriculum created for us and shaped entirely by what we need to learn each day.“Wait,” we might say, “I didn’t sign up for learning about compassion or being judgmental!”
In the School of Life the coursework is tailored to help us grow in love, for our God, for ourselves and for others. For example, if we have avoided apologizing to someone we’ve hurt, Life may bring us an opportunity to experience what it’s like to be on the other side of the hurt. Voila, we’ve been accepted into the Class of Compassion. Experiencing that hurt is an invitation to learn, to observe, to graduate to a new level of compassion for others. Out of that may come the grace of a sincere apology for hurting another. Or not.
We have choices. If, however, we are enrolled in the School of Life, we will be invited to repeat the coursework that helps us grow in the three Departments of Love mentioned above.
Am I irritated by occasions of being unfairly judged by others? Do I find myself doing this too? Better sign up for the Course in Acceptance and Gratitude. Even if I cannot change the world, I can change my world. Life will help me by offering me specific coursework in exactly what I need to learn in order to love more freely, wholly and kindly.
Difficult times are not a punishment; they are homework assignments. Like mathematics classes, first there’s basic math, then algebra, geometry, calculus and beyond. If it seems we’re repeating a love lesson, we can realize that perhaps we have moved on to the advanced class.
If at the end of life we have learned to love a little bit better than when we started, then… Congratulations, Graduate!
Life is a School; Love is the Lesson