Note: the audio for this message may be
found here.
Fall is in the air. The new year begins
now. Oh, we pretend that the year begins in January because
that is what our calendars say, but anyone who has even
been a part of the school system in the United States
knows better. The year really starts in late August or
early September because that is when everything is new
again.
New clothes, new pencils, newly bought
note paper in neatly stacked sheets yet unmarked; empty
notebooks just waiting to be filled with information,
doodles, drawings and scribblings of distracted minds,
backpacks still clean, not yet filled with books and torn
papers and lost notes and remains of lunches and snacks.
Children in new grades walk into newly-refreshed classrooms
to meet new teachers, some of whom themselves are facing
brand new experiences as they've just finished education
programs and have been hired by various local school districts
as new teachers.
Yes, the year starts now. And today I'd
like to say “thank you” to all who have made
it their life work to educate young people. Because of
the hard and often unrewarding labor of teachers and aides
and coaches and administrators and lunchroom and custodial
workers, children have a future. These children are given
unparalleled opportunities to learn and expand their minds
and bodies and souls as they are educated mentally, socially,
physically, and in the arts.
Who among us, even those of us who may
have found school most difficult and frustrating, doesn't
have the memory of at least one person in the education
world who profoundly touched us? Most of us can remember
names and faces of these faithful laborers who gave extra
effort or a badly-needed pat on the back, or a willingness
to believe in us when everyone else had given up.
I especially want to thank those who serve
in the public school system. While private schools have
an important place in our whole educational system, it
is in the public school that we have opportunity to see
what a nation like ours can produce. What a gift given
to so many—and with so little recompense.
In the best of all worlds, schools work
side by side with churches to help build whole individuals,
people who can become thriving and productive members
of the human race. The church offers hope and light to
our spiritual sides; schools offer hope and light to the
educational side.
This Sunday at Krum United Methodist Church,
we will have a special blessing at the close of worship
for all who are part of the school system, whether teacher,
coach, student, administrator, aide or in any other way
affiliated with the school system. Come and join with
us as we take a journey into the light of glory for our
hearts and minds and souls.
See you in church.
Christy
The Rev. Dr. Christy Thomas, Pastor, Krum
UMC
Questions or comments about this article?
Please contact me at christy@krumumc.org
or phone the church office at 940-482-3482.
