We have a bedtime routine that includes singing a number of songs each night.
Every attempt to decrease the quantity has been met with great resistance and tears.
We told them we can still sing the same quantity if they will sing too. Sometimes we insist that they have to sing to us while we listen.
In an effort to help the children learn more songs we choose one song to switch in/out each week. This week we are singing “Dare to Do Right.”
These are the words (with some of my own commentary/thoughts):
Dare to do right! Dare to be true! *
You have a work that no other can do; **
Do it so bravely, so kindly, so well, ***
Angels will hasten the story to tell.
Dare, dare, dare to do right;
Dare, dare, dare to be true,
Dare to be true, dare to be true.
Dare to do right! Dare to be true!
Other men’s failures can never save you. ****
Stand by your conscience, your honor, your faith; *****
Stand like a hero and battle till death. ******
Dare, dare, dare to do right;
Dare, dare, dare to be true,
Dare to be true, dare to be true.
My comments:
*I think “true” can be multiple things. I think it can be about telling the truth. It can be about not deviating from a known path; similar to a bicycle tire, if it is wobbly at all it is called “out of true” and that is what I like to think of.
**Each person has their own set of strengths and weaknesses, as such, we each can do different things, and that enables us to be our own part of the whole.
***Sometimes making the right choice is not what other people want us to do, we can still do it, we can be polite about it, and we can still do it correctly.
****No matter what someone else does, we are responsible for our own choices and actions. Our success is not determined by the success or failure of another person. We can cheer others on and not wish for them to fail.
*****What ever your moral compass is, stick to it; be honorable in your actions!
******While some battles end in death, I think this is a message of endurance. Do not give up. Fight the good fight your whole life through.