Choosing Love

As I was watching NFL playoff games today, I noticed the words on the backs of helmets Choose Love or Be Love.

Turns out they’ve been there awhile but I must have been looking at my knitting.

Being curious I googled to ask why the football players were sporting these words. Started as a response to a shooting in Buffalo, classified a hate crime.

Then I learned that there was backlash from some fans about this simple message being displayed. “Choose Love” was controversial?

According to the NFL, the meaning behind the slogans are straightforward. “Be Love” is a reference to the Dr Martin Luther King Jr Center’s Be Love campaign. According to the King Center, Be Love is a movement “born amid the immense uncertainty and global tension of the past year.”

Here’s an article from The Football Educator “The Power of “Choose Love” in the NFL”

“Choose Love” has become more than just a slogan within the NFL; it’s a unifying force that transcends the boundaries of the game. NFL players wield considerable influence both on and off the field, and through the “Choose Love” movement, they’re using their platforms to promote positive social change. This initiative encourages individuals to look beyond competition and rivalry, focusing on compassion, empathy, and community. (Click for original article )

Compassion, empathy and community?

“ I choose love.”

Art Room Hands I photographed years ago which my friend Joanne had saved in a folder on her computer and sent me today.
Thank you

This School Dictionary Lacks Empathy

Last week I had told an 8th grade student how I appreciated her showing empathy to me.

She smiled.

But then I asked her, do you know what empathy means?

She said she didn’t think she did.  Not sympathy. So I wrote it on a piece of paper for her to look up in a dictionary later on as we were downstairs.

Later she brought me this dictionary.  She told me empathy wasn’t in it. What?  Let me see that.

I took it from her and looked and stared.

She was absolutely right!

It has emotion, but not empathy.

I think empathy is an important quality to possess and needs to be taught as well.

 

I couldn't believe it either.