He found it at the bottom of his Christmas stocking. He couldn’t contain himself, “Look! Look! My very own peace rock!” It was just a smooth soapstone rock with the word peace carved onto the top of it. But to Liam, it was a treasure of untold value. At his Montessori school, one sat in a basket on a shelf. Students were encouraged to hold it and feel its smoothness to help calm down when they were upset or anxious. They were also urged to use it to talk to a friend if they had a disagreement. When someone gave you the peace rock, it meant they wanted to speak to you about something important. Whoever was holding the rock got to talk, then they would give it to the other person to let them respond. It was such a simple teaching that resonated with many of the students, especially Liam. This rock made him happier than his Spiderman costume, his own set of gardening tools, and even his new Ice Age movie. It didn’t outshine his new stuffed dinosaur “Rexy,” but it was a close second.
The rock became part of our “peace curriculum” at home too. We put it in a basket in their playroom, and I remember it being used off and on over the years. Eventually, when we no longer needed a playroom, the rock moved to a ceramic bowl in our entryway, where we have walked by it countless times without remembering where it came from or what it was for. I’ve started looking at it more intentionally in the past few days. It’s a good reminder that peace isn’t something that just happens. Peace is created, first within yourself and then with others. And while disagreements will always occur, you can heal those disputes if you are purposeful about creating peace. St. Paul knew this when he told the Ephesians to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” It’s part of what we are called to do as families, churches, communities, and world citizens.
Peace and unity are things you must work at. And, more importantly for parents, they are things that need to be taught by instruction, practice, and modeling. We have more tools available than just a peace rock. We have labyrinths, deep breathing, physical activity, singing, and a hundred other ways to help our children learn to create peace within. Most children respond to these with a joy and focus that is often missing in adult conversations about peace. I don’t think that St. Paul figured our children would be leading the way in his "unity in the bond of peace" instructions, but maybe he wasn’t listening to them. I am always in awe of what genuinely listening to our children reveals about them, myself, and the world. Even listening via home movies almost 20 years later, I am still learning from them. This week, why don’t you grab a rock and listen to children talk about their ideas for creating peace. You might be surprised.
Love to you all,
-Erin
