At morning prayer, we play “guess the virtue.” It is a game that lasts several days. The students are given a lot of information, facts, stories, quotes and teachings before they are able to guess which virtue we are talking about. It is a teaching style called mimetic. Students are given hints and examples along with a chance to participate and try something as it is being revealed to them. Give it a try:
Hint #1 A story goes about a donkey which fell on a very deep dry well, so deep the owner gave up trying to rescue the poor animal. In desperation, the farmer shoveled dirt in to bury the donkey and so fill in the risky hole, thus avoiding similar incidents in the future. Initially, the donkey protested and brayed loudly, dodging the dirt that fell on its back. The farmer kept shoveling but the donkey persistently shook the dirt off, increasing the mound and enabling it to stand higher and higher. The farmer realized how the donkey makes its way up, so he shoveled more dirt into the well, until at last the poor animal escaped from the terrible pit. The farmer hugged his poor animal with newfound admiration on how it found a way out of its poor condition through (fill in the virtue)!
Hint #2 Jalen Hurts said, after winning the Super Bowl, "You know, …. God is good. He's greater than all the highs and the lows. And I think,… I've just been able to use every experience and learn from it.”
Hint #3 I asked the children to think of times when they had a difficult task. For example, recently Casey was assigned to read the first reading at Mass during Catholic Schools Week. It is by all accounts a VERY long reading. And yet, she did very well. How? I asked her. “I practiced.” How about doing well on a Spelling Test, I ask the students? “I practiced.” How are you preparing Science Olympiad? “We are practicing.”
Hint #4 But what about the first time you rode a bike? Was that easy? “No” Or what about tying your shoe? Or hitting a baseball. How often do you strike out? “A lot,” they tell me.
What about the times when you go fishing and your brother catches three fish and you catch none? Or the times you get fourth or fifth place and have to watch someone else win? What about the times when someone says something that hurts your feels, but you decide to be nice anyway?
“whatever you do, work at it with your whole heart, as though you were working for God rather than for men (Col. 3:23), knowing that in the Lord, our labor is not in vain (1Cor. 15:58).”
Does God care if you take 2nd place? Does God care if you strike out every time? Does God care if you win the Super Bowl? No, He just wants to be with you. He wants you to try to be good. He wants you to learn from it all. He sees you and He loves you! When you are with Him, you win!
Did you guess the virtue? Diligence
God Bless,
Anne Atkin, principal
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