When I was a
teacher, I taught Science for a couple of years. One of the labs I did with my students,
before we would get into the real heavy science labs was to fill a jar. Now you might be thinking what is so
scientific about that?
The first
thing I would do is fill the jar with stones.
I would get about 10-12 stones in a jar.
Then I would ask the students if the jar was full. Of course, since I could not put anymore
stones in the jar, the students would gladly say that it was full, and no
matter what I did, I could not get them off the idea that the jar was
full. Next, I would open my drawer and
pull out some pebbles and dump them into the jar. The students were amazed and maybe a little
embarrassed that they were so adamant, to find out they were wrong.
After the
jar was filled with pebbles, I would then again ask, is the jar full. By this time, some have caught on, others had
not. Now that the pebbles filled the
space between the rocks, I could usually convince the students the jar was
full. Next, I would open another drawer
and pull out a bag of sand, and proceed to add it to the jar. Of course, by now, the students are amazed
that something else could be added to the jar.
Finally, I
would ask one more time, is the jar full.
Now the students are absolutely positive that the jar is full. Then I would open my cabinet, get a bottle of
water, and dump some in the jar. By this
time, I have convinced the students that things are not always what they appear
to be. And in science, sometimes you have
to look for things that you would not normally expect to see.
Growing up,
in my household, there were a lot of jars to fill up. Some were positive jars, such as “did
something nice jar” or “random act of kindness jar.” Others were not so positive, such as a“swear
jar” or the “did something mean jar.”
Regardless of the jar, negative or positive, I am pretty sure I donated
to each of the jars, some more than others.
We have a
pretty hostile culture in today’s world.
Politicians are going back and forth on each and every issue. They are trying to “win” every conversation,
law, or battle. Just about anything one
says is likely to offend someone. Taking
a knee or standing for the National Anthem is overwhelmingly causing turmoil in
our society. Just about every topic on
the news is set up to put one side against another. How do we change this? What can we do to change the way we
think? Is boycotting the NFL, or a
certain actor/actress based on their beliefs the right thing to do? Or are we just falling into the hostile
traps?
In an effort
to change this, for myself, I have decided I have to change my way of thinking
about things. I have to fill up the
imaginary “good deeds jar” in my mind. I
have to seek first to understand, then to be understood. I have to come to the conclusion that not
everyone is going to agree in this world, and we have to search for ways that
we agree, and then use this information to come up with win/win solutions.
If you had
an imaginary “good deed jar” and looked for opportunities to put a rock or
pebble in this jar, how quickly would your jar fill up? Instead of getting angry at the crazy driver,
how about saying a prayer for them, that they reach their destination
safely? If you disagree with someone,
maybe you pray for God to soften their heart, or yours. If we focus on filling up each other’s jar,
maybe, after awhile, the positive jars would overflow. When goods deeds are given, maybe those
receiving the good deed will fill up someone else’s jar. Before you know it, maybe, just maybe, we can
start to understand each other and with understanding comes knowledge,
calmness, and a jar so full that it overflows.
