Ep. 47 - Learners with a Weary Heart

A liturgy for learners with a weary heart.

O Patient and Gracious Father,

When I look around this classroom you have entrusted to me,

I see faces full of excitement, fatigue, interest, boredom, curiosity, and indifference.

These reactions seep through my broken, dusty defenses,

and I feel an immediate temptation to catalogue.

To slowly strip these image-bearers of their Creator’s designs and

unwittingly remake them according to my own understanding:

valued for their alacrity,

devalued for their apathy.

Father, I confess that my eyes are not your eyes,

my thoughts are not your thoughts.

My heart goes against, rather than after, Your own.

Maker of Heaven and Earth,

help me remember that you love the heart of rocky soil no less than its fertile neighbor.

In the same way that you would more readily and mercifully take up a chisel than a stone,

grant me the grace to meet my students’ disinterest with curiosity.

May my questions affirm their dignity and the unique story that You Yourself are writing.

In the same way that you welcome the sheep without a shepherd, grant me wisdom to guide and encourage the lost, discouraged, and aimless student.

May my advice be intentional and selfless,

culturally aware and yet full of the hope only One who has known life beyond the grave could offer.

In the same way that you span the distance between east and west,

grant me the strength to meet each student where they are.

May I never withhold patience for the bored,

comfort for the weary,

and zeal for the apathetic.

Like springs of water bursting from the desert rocks of Meribah,

may the joy of learning and a humble awe of this magnificent world You have made

gust forth from every soul I see in this classroom.

Wherever they go beyond these walls, I trust You are with them.

You can use every unwanted major, future challenge, job, and learning opportunity to more precisely chisel what my feeble hands began.

I am your ready vessel. Use me to inspire, motivate, and encourage these students—the guests you have welcomed into my life.

I trust You because I have seen You bring life from death in my very soul.

Wonderful Counselor,

Good Shepherd,

and Hope of all hope,

I ask because the outcome depends on You alone.

Amen

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