“If no one has ever loved you, can you still be a great father?”
The answer is yes, and the question itself may be an example of what defines a moral soul
I recently discovered David Brooks after my friend, Floor, shared insights from his book, The Second Mountain: The Quest For A Moral Life.
Unbeknownst to me, this was the same David Brooks I stumbled upon during a YouTube rabbit hole on the moral formation of society.
In his 2019 TED Talk, he speaks of the response to being broken by life.
Some are made smaller by their brokenness. They become angry, bitter, resentful, and wish to inflict their misery on others.
Others, suffering the same fate, transmute the pain into something positive.
He tells the story of a boy named Darren living in foster care, held back in school, who had witnessed the murder of his mother.
When the organisation called Roots of Empathy brought a mother and infant to his eighth-grade class to ask the students to imagine what the baby was thinking and feeling, he asked if he could hold the baby.
The mother hesitated. He was larger than most boys his age. But she agreed, carefully placing her infant into his arms.
He held the child with tender love and care, and began asking questions about parenthood.
Saving his real question for last, he asked the mother,
If nobody has ever loved you, do you think you can be a good father?
To me, the question alone comes from a moral soul.
A moral soul is one that takes its suffering and transforms it.
One that ends the cycle.
One that chooses to be good.
In a world that uses its vast wealth, power, and technology to divide us, it reminds me of the great teaching from Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained.”
For me, this is what Letters For Little Heroes is all about.
To shine a light on moral examples, to form the character of children so more people choose the good.
And if they don’t, to keep that one small bridgehead just a little more alight, a little while longer, so it’s easier to find one’s way back.
About Letters For Little Heroes
Created by a mother and a father, a former teacher with a master’s degree in neuropsychology for childhood education, and a writer, Letters for Little Heroes helps parents raise children of good character through the timeless power of story.
Each month, families receive a beautifully illustrated letter telling the true story of a historical hero — and the virtue they embodied — so children can practise it at home.
Visit our website for more information. There you’ll find a free download of one of our past hero letters to try.
https://lettersforlittleheroes.com/
