Theme: Education and Kindness

Magic words

Cynthia was spending a few days at her aunt Anna's house. They got on very well, they liked each other very much. Due to they lived in different cities, Cynthia could travel to visit her only on vacation.

Aunt Anna took Cynthia to several places. They went out and did the daily routine together.

After a few days, Auntie Anna began to worry about Cynthia. She was a good girl, but she did not use the words well, actually, she did not even use words when they were necessary.

When they went to a store to buy shoes and instead of Cynthia asked gently for help, she seemed more like giving orders to the saleswoman. They ended up leaving it without buying what they wanted.

They stopped for ice cream and Auntie Anna asked:

- Two chocolate ice creams, please.

Cynthia picked up the ice cream, said nothing and sat down. While Auntie was paying them, she got up, went to the counter and said:

- I want another spoon!

Aunt Anna noticed then that her spoon had fallen to the floor. She also noticed that the girl who was attending at the counter gave Cynthia the spoon with a closed face, saying nothing. She was surprised, because she knew that the girl used to be kind to children, always with a smile.

The next day Aunt Anna introduced her niece to the neighbors. They played together for a while, but the friendship did not last long. Two girls who were invited to play next day did not return and neither called Cynthia to play. The girl was very annoyed, because she liked very much the new friends.

Aunt Anna, who had been observing the behavior of her niece, soon suspected what the problem was and decided to have a talk to the girl.

- Cynthia, my dear, have you ever heard that there are some "magic words"?

- Yes, Auntie! I know them from some books.

- Really? And what are they?

- Well... I have a book that teaches to do some magic and the magic word is "abracadabra"! I also know the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. They would say "Open itself, Sesame!" To open the entrance to the hiding place.

Aunt smiled and explained.

- Yes, dear, but it is not about these words from the stories that I wanted to talk to you about. It's about the ones we use in real life, in our day by day lives. They look like ordinary words, but they have a strong and positive effect when you say them. Therefore, they are call "magic words”.

Then, beginning the conversation, Auntie Anna continued on talking about the words we use to ask, thank, greet, and so on... Cynthia paid close attention. She knew the words "please", "thank you", "excuse me", "good morning", and others, but she forgot to use them. She did not realize they were that important!

Aunt Anna further explained that people feel respected, well treated, when others use these kind words to them. Consequently, they feel that must give back the kindness and attention as well. Aunt Anna also gave some examples of the situations she witnessed and how the girl could have talked to people. She went on:

- Cynthia, our Spiritism religion teaches us that there is a Law of God called Law of Action and Reaction. According to this Law, what we do it comes back to us. So, if we treat people well with kindness and respect, we will have kindness and respect back as well. That's a lot easier to get along with, isn’t it?

The girl smiled and nodded.

Aunt Anna was already happy, confident that Cynthia had understood what she wanted to teach her. But it got even better when Cynthia got up, hugged her and said:

- Thanks, aunt!

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com