A few things to learn: be better, not bitter; be positive: always know who you are and what you want to be; not what the world wants you to be. Serve the Lord and grow better in the Lord, for surely the grace of God is in every one of you.– Sir Wesley Hall to the pupils of St Giles Primary School as his alma mater this week saluted the clergyman, former politician and legendary West Indies cricketer.
It may be much to digest, some observers might say. But just one of these pearls of wisdom would have been as uplifting to the children who stood before this giant of a man Sir Wesley as the occasion that enveloped them.
The celebration may even have been overwhelming for some. It certainly was for Sir Wesley, who was himself moved to tears – and was not embarrassed to confess it.
In a manner of speaking, this colossus demonstrated humanity and humility, traits the honouring pupils of St Giles could better come to understand are the stuff great men and women are really made of.
But what was equally striking was that Sir Wesley came positive with every statement he uttered to these impressionable little ones, who so reminded him of himself when he sat as a child under that hallowed roof of the then St Giles Boys’ School.
“The foundation that I received from this school,” he told the little ones, “has served me so well, the values that have been taught to me at St Giles are still with me.” For him, and to them as he suggested, “St Giles is still the best”.
Such endearing language, we have no doubt, will have conveyed Sir Wesley’s own declared belief in those pupils’ abilities and hopes, helping them to internalize a positive identity and develop more awareness and self-purpose. As a bonus, the legend’s language, within easy earshot, will have formed among the pupils self-satisfying mirror images that could only enhance the young ones’ self-perception and consequently help to promote positive school behaviour.
There is much to learn therefore from this week’s notable St Giles experience by those who must deal with the little angels of this nation. If we will prompt them to remember the rules, to be of good behaviour, not to let anyone lead them astray, it is important to use clear and direct language, absent of doublespeak and sarcasm.
Like Sir Wesley, we must communicate calmness and self-respect and, importantly, qualify ourselves to be exemplars of the said qualities
we speak gloriously of – “with the perfect love of God that is reflected in [us]”.