Jordan, Iraq and the example of the little ones

A few news flashes that highlight the radical change that love can bring about even in the life of the very young, and how the commitment to loving everyone supports them as they grow; and it becomes their distinctive mark

“My name is Karam and I’m 12 years old. I was five when I met the Focolare and was a Gen4. Among the many beautiful things I learned there is one in particular that I have in mind: the cube of love. I played the cube every day and tried to live according to the motto that came up. I remember one of my first experiences. There was a boy at my school whom no one liked and made fun of. I was one of these three. One day I tossed the cube and the phrase came up: Love your enemy. And so I went to school and apologized to the boy. The other two boys who made fun of him with me were shocked by what I had done. I told them about the cube of loveand how so many things in my life had changed once I started living the gospel with the help of this little tool. Now, every day we toss the cube together and try to live the phrase that comes up. And that boy we made fun of is also with us. Now I’m a Gen3 and still continue to play the cube, and I find that it helps me as a teenager to live the gospel in concrete ways wherever I may be.”

Following a series of testimonials by teenagers and children, the Gen4 offered their contribution. They showed up with their families at all the meetings that were held with the Focolare president and co-president in Jordan recently.

“My name is Marian and my brother and I recently had an experience. We like to watch Barney and Friends. One day while watching the shows we discovered that Barney was coming to Amman for a series of celebrations with children and we were looking forward to attending this feast. But the ticket was a bit costly. So we decided with our Mother and sisters not to attend this celebration with Barney, but to give the money that we would have spent on the tickets to the poor.”

One child posed a question to Maria Voce: “What do you think we Gen 4 from Jordan can do to help put an end to the political problems in the world and make the world more clean and beautiful?” Maria Voce answered: “You could do many things, because the world isn’t only far away. the world is also right there in your own house, in your school, in the places you play, in the streets. . .  And so if you care for these places, you’ll be caring for the world. Then when someone sees those places where you go to play and see how clean and harmonious it is, they’ll think: ‘The people who play here must truly love one another. Look how beautiful and clean! Why don’t we do the same?’ And so they will, and then others will do the same, then others. . . You are like the ones who throw the stone into the water. You might say, ‘But it’s only a small stone. That’s nothing.’ But, when it’s dropped into the water a circle is created, and around that circle an even bigger circle is formed, and then another even larger circle, then another and another – until it reaches everywhere in the world. And so what you do is very important. If you don’t begin, then the others will never begin.”