Julia Baird’s recent article about ‘grace’ reminds us all that in today’s world, where anger, division and conflict often dominate our lives, and social media and the internet encourage antisocial behaviours and extremist viewpoints, simple values need to remain core to the basis of our interactions. For the sake of future generations, we need to move to a better place where instead of hate, our world leaders model grace and humility and encourage others to become compassionate, empathetic and respectful individuals.

So what is grace? As the article states, grace is: “The unassuming, undemanding and often quiet insistence on seeing the humanity in other people, especially enemies, of giving people the benefit of the doubt, a second chance, a shot at redemption, even when it is undeserved.”

Grace, in its essence, is about showing kindness and understanding, even in challenging situations. In a time of harsh online interactions, when world leaders seem so lacking in the ability to value grace, to show empathy and to model respect and kindness, more of us need to stand up for these core values.

As the world watches the final months of the US election campaign, it will be interesting to see whether this higher moral ground at the Democratic Convention can be sustained and a calmer, more civil debate between the two major parties occurs. If they can achieve this, there will be reason to celebrate.

At this point in our history, we have created generations who are divided, who speak quickly of ‘hate’, slowly of ‘love’ and find confirmation of their biases in mainstream media and their internet feed. My hope is that the world becomes more united and future generations learn grace from our current generations, rather than harsh and unforgiving online interactions.

As parents and teachers, modelling grace and humility can help children and young people navigate the complexities of our time. We need to teach the value of compassion and the importance of understanding that we can disagree without becoming enemies and we can live lives of purpose, exhibiting humility and bridging divide. These traits foster an environment of continuous learning and growth, which is essential for personal development, and they encourage open communication and trust which are vital for positive relationships and a meaningful life.

Thank you to Julia Baird on such a beautifully constructed opinion piece — I wish there were more voices in this space.

Erica Thomas
Principal