Statement: One of the first games that children learn to play with adults is the pencil-paper game of tic-tac-toe. It is such a simple game, easily learned and conquered even by the very young. Having the advantage of experience, the adult is able to easily win. However, what decent adult at some time in his or her life has not thrown a game or two of tic-tac-toe in the favor of a child who is just starting to learn the game? Perhaps we do so to give the child an experience of winning, to give the child a sense of victory, as well as to develop the child's self-esteem. It is an innocent and harmless deception and one that is understandable.
Looking back into my own childhood and at my own early tic-tac-toe days, I am able to name the adults who let me win a game now and then. To this day I can remember the happy expressions on their faces at seeing me win. But I can also remember not winning once in awhile. Sometimes I would lose, and that experience surely taught me valuable lessons also. Whatever the outcome, I learned to trust and feel safe around the adults who took the time to play with me.
It is my hope that children and adults will learn how to play safely together once again, that any trust between them which has been destroyed by senseless violence and terrorism can be rebuilt and strengthened through the renewed persistence of loving-kindness. It is my dream that children might never have to experience betrayal from adults again, that when sitting across from each other, like over a game board of tic-tac-toe, each might see in the other her or his own reflection of what once was and what will someday be.
