”Wisdom has built her house; she has set up[a] its seven pillars. 2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. 3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city, “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says,5“Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. 6 Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.”7 Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. 8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. 9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.”
– Proverbs 9:1-19
It’s almost time for teachers and students to head back to school. That goes for coaches and bus drivers, custodians and cafeteria workers and all the volunteers who work and serve behind the scenes. It’s always an exciting time filled with hopes and dreams and little anxiety thrown in… especially for the new students and teachers and the ones making those big transitions from Kindergarten to grade school… from grade school to Junior High and finally onto high school. They all need our prayers.
I grew up in NE Ohio on Youngstown’s west side suburban sprawl. It seemed every school I attended was new. Fresh paint. New desks. Shiny floors, etc. After all… more people were moving in faster than the school board could keep up with. Imagine going to Kindergarten in the basement of an old early 1900’s church to a brand spanking new elementary school then soon heading to a Junior high school which hadn’t been built yet and finally being the first class to attend all four years of what was then… ‘the brand-new high school’ replacing the one which had stood for over 75 years. I rode the bus every day… as I didn’t own a car until I was out of college (seriously!) and I still remember having a Steve Canyon (the cartoon version of supersonic jet test pilot Chuck Yeager) lunch box with a glass filled thermos holding hot or cold chocolate milk for lunch. The good old days. Way better than my grandmother’s one room schoolhouse in NY!
My how things have changed. And … my how they have stayed the same.
No more overhead projectors. Teachers and students engage in power point presentations and zoom meetings with e-homework opened up on a laptop or iPad and some lessons are framed on a 7 million square inch flat screen bolted to the classroom wall. Yet chemistry teachers still use beakers and test tubes with ancient recipes while coaches still write their X’ and O’s on a board with super-duper chalk and don’t forget… bus drivers are running their practice routes days before the opening of school along with the custodians cataloging boxes of light bulbs and AC filters for the months to come. Principal’s wooden paddles are now on display in the trophy case celebrated by most of us now… as when it comes to learning and keeping the culture in the know… we are always one generation away from extinction. So… please join me in a prayer for the new school year… as we’re always in this together… all of us!
Lord God of the Universe, as another new school year begins help us to remember from your holy scriptures how you told us of your son, Jesus, who as a child, increased in wisdom and stature. Learning comes as we listen to our teachers and by asking them questions. Bless those who learn that they may grow in the knowledge of life and your glorious world. Bless those who teach, that they may share the wisdom they have received and that they may do their work with patience and love that each generation would continue to love you and love their neighbor well. Amen.”
Faith matters. Especially at this time of the year!
