Monday, September 4, 2023
Back to School
The Rev. Aaron Jenkyn
This past Monday my kids and I loaded up all the gear into the car and headed to the beach for our annual last day of summer vacation beach day with friends. In between jumping waves and building giant sand forts we talked about the new school year and all we hoped it would be. My kids were anticipating being “the new kid”, another friend was starting 7th grade this year, the littlest in our group was about to go to preschool for the first time. All in different schools, different grades, different towns, and yet their hopes and dreams for the school year were so very similar: to fit in, to be liked, to be challenged and useful, to make new friends and keep the old, to not get lost and always know where the bathrooms are.
Though they exchanged bits of advice, and shared their fair share of horror stories, it was the way that they listened and supported each other in the unknown that made my heart swell – these were big transitions for all these kids, and in naming them they turned their worry into curiosity and fear into excitement. As I watched these kids jumping the last waves of summer I prayed that they might jump into the new school year with the same amount of curiosity and hope, love and confidence that has brought them this far.
We left the beach early that day, sneaking away to visit my kids new school, and to meet their teachers and classmates for the first time. As we walked through the doors and turned towards their classroom, we heard someone say their names, and when we turned around, a complete stranger reached out her hands to hug us, “I’ve been waiting for you” she said, “some of your friends from St. John’s told me you were coming.” What a gift that was for our family. And what a gift it was to watch her, and all the other teachers, welcoming every student with that same sense of joyful anticipation and unconditional love.
Back to school can be hard, for so many reasons, but it is magical watching teachers and students rise to the challenge every year, ready to learn and love and grow together. As students, teachers, administrators, and staff around our region begin a new school year, let us pray for them :
A Prayer for the New School Year
God of all wisdom, we praise you for gifting us with curiosity and learning. Give to all students, teachers, and caregivers a clear sense of your love. May they feel your presence throughout this school year. Guide their choices, their quest for knowledge, and their relationships. Use their successes and failures as opportunities to grow in understanding of who you would have them to be. Continue to shape them, that they may walk in the way of Christ, grow strong in Spirit’s love for all people, and know the complete joy of life in you. In the name of Christ our Great Teacher, we pray. Amen.
Linda Witte Henke, adapted, “From the Vine,” in Marking Time: Christian Rituals for All Our Days, Moorehouse Publishing 2001, p. 63.