I was trying to get my seventh-grade history class to understand
how the Indians must have felt when they first encountered the
Spanish explorers.

"How would you feel," I asked, "if someone showed up on your doorstep
who looked very different, spoke a strange language and wore unusual
clothes? Wouldn't you be a bit scared?"

"Nah," one boy answered, "I'd just figure it was my sister's date

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of
4-to-8-year-olds: "What does love mean?"

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could
have imagined. See what you think.

"Love is that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff
gets in the way."
Charlie, age 5

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and
paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her
all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's
love."
Rebecca, age 8

A father was approached by his small son, who told him proudly.
"I know what the word 'Bible' means!"

His father smiled and replied..... "What do you mean, you 'know
what the word Bible means'?"

The son replied, "I mean I figured out what the word stands
for!"

"Okay," said his father. "So, Son, what does the word 'Bible'
stand for?"

"That's easy, Daddy..." said the boy, "It stands for 'Basic
Information Before Leaving Earth'."

While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly
shut-ins, I used to take my four-year-old daughter on my afternoon
rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances
of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One
day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass.
As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she
merely turned and whispered, "The tooth fairy will never believe this!"