Incline Our Hearts

As the School Year Starts

When I was in parish ministry, one of my favorite traditions was the Blessing of Backpacks. Seeing those students with their shiny new backpacks, and the pile of backpacks donated for those who needed them, always filled me with a sense of hopeful expectation. It is good to acknowledge that any time of transition, like the start of a school year, is a time for prayer. 

There is an old adage in the Church that we are more interested in formation than information, meaning that when we teach the faith to those of any age it is less important to memorize basic facts than to be shaped by God through Christian practice and community. There is an aspect of this to our schools also, whether Episcopal or not. Students learn a lot of content in school, but let’s be realistic, much of it is forgotten over the subsequent years. Ideally what most remains from our school years is a sense of self: our values, life lessons, direction, how to learn from disappointment, and the assurance of being loved and supported. 

School is, at its best, a place where we think deeply about who we are and who we wish to be. A time to make lifelong friends, and to learn from inspiring teachers. In school we begin to set the practices (good and bad) that will affect our well-being and our service of others.

And so, friends, support your local school and help its teachers and students in any way you can. Give to a school supply drive. Share an encouraging word with a teacher or school staff member that you know. And pray:

O Eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities
that they may be lively centers for
sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom;
and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find
you to be the source of all truth; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.