Before the March Break, Lila, a Third Grader, asked if she could share something she had written with the school community after Meeting for Worship. Her “speech” (as she called it) follows – more evidence that the children are watching and paying attention to today’s issues, that they care about the future and seek to actively participate, and that everyone is capable of asking the right questions and speaking their truth at Buckingham Friends School.

Do I see the world the way you see the world? Do you see the world the way I see the world? 

Every Thursday we gather in this house of peace that we call the Meetinghouse.  Here is a query that we have had in the past: “How can we take care of our Earth?” But the actual question is: “How can our Earth take care of us if we don’t take care of it?” 

You guys might not know, but if it wasn’t for Earth, we wouldn’t be here right now.  Earth literally does everything for us.  But does Earth have a twin? Is Earth the same as other planets? No.  Humans and Earth don’t have people or planets the same as them.  Even though humans can have people who look or sound like them, we are all different.  Is Saturn the same as Earth? No, Saturn has a bunch of rings and it’s yellow and orange.  Earth doesn’t have rings and it’s green and blue.  Some humans might have long, wavy brown hair and some might have short blonde hair. 

What I’m saying is that we’re soooo lucky to have Earth because if people could visit other planets, those planets might not be as good as Earth.  So can we take a moment to thank Earth for what it does and how can we thank it? 

So today, think about, “How can our Earth take care of us if we don’t take care of it?”