The Color of Love

Some are black and some are white,
Some are wrong and some are right,

Some get rich and some stay poor,

Some make peace and some make war.

Some are yellow, some are brown,
Some are up and some are down,

Some go far, some fall behind,

Some are mean and some are kind.

Some are reds and some are greens,
Some stay quiet, some make scenes,

Some say yes and some say no,
Some will tell you where to go.

But underneath our different skin
The same heart beats, deep within.
For brothers, sisters all are we
Meant to live in harmony.

Find the Best in Others

What a wonderful world it would be if the only thing we saw when we looked at others was love—the color of love. – Michael Roy

I say that we should regard all men as our brothers. What? The Turk my brother? The Chinaman my brother? The Jew? The Siam? Yes, without doubt; are we not all children of the same father and creatures of the same God?—Voltaire

If you try to make your circle closed and exclusively yours, it never grows very much. Only a circle that has lots of room for anybody who needs it has enough spare space to hold any real magic.
—Zilpha Keatley Snyder

If you approach each new person you meet in a spirit of adventure, you will find yourself endlessly fascinated by the new channels of thought and experience and personality that you encounter. —Eleanor Roosevelt

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. —Mother Teresa

In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. —Jesus, Matthew 7:12

The Blind Men and the Elephant

There is an Indian fable about six blind men who encountered an elephant for the first time.

One man felt the elephant's leg and said, "An elephant is like a tree."

Another grasped his tail and said, "No, an elephant is like a rope."

The third bumped into the elephant's broad side and said, "I'm telling you, an elephant is like a wall."

The fourth man felt an ear, smiled, and said, "Ah, I am now aware that the elephant is like a leaf."

The fifth man grabbed one of the elephant's smooth, sharp tusks and declared, "The elephant is definitely like a spear!"

The sixth man caught hold of the elephant's trunk and said with certainty, "You're all wrong! An elephant is like a snake."

Think about it…

We laugh, but we have all jumped to conclusions when we only saw part of the "elephant."

Respect Is…

Respect is manifested through consideration, understanding, thoughtfulness, a willingness to listen, and loving communication.

Ways that you can show respect include:

* Treating each person as an individual
* Being sensitive to their feelings; putting yourself in their position

* Not belittling them or using sarcasm
* Not intentionally embarrassing them
* Paying attention when they speak and hearing them out; not being too quick to provide your perspective
* Giving their ideas serious consideration; thinking in terms of how you can help their ideas to work

Compiled by www.freekidstories.org

Text Credits:

“Color of Love” by Michael Roy, copyright Activated, www.activated.org. Used by permission.

“Sizing up the Elephant”, copyright Activated, www.activated.org. Used by permission.

Quotations credited to their respective authors and are either in public domain or used under Fair Use guidelines.

“Respect Is…” adapted from “Confident Children” by Alex Peterson, copyright Activated, www.activated.org. Used by permission.

Image Credits:

Cover designed by Rosapuchalt - Freepik.com

Images on pages 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 courtesy of AKARAKINGDOMS/freedigitalphotos.net. Used as permitted under standard license agreement.

Images on pages 2 & 3 courtesy of bplanet/freedigitalphotos.net. Used as permitted under standard license agreement.

Page 9: USDAgov via Flickr

Page 10: Club Med via Flickr, Brian Yap via Flickr, Roberto Voltera via Flickr

Page 11: freepik.com

Page 12: Elyse Patten via Flickr

Page 13: Kevin Makice via Flickr

Page 14: freepik.com

All other images in public domain.