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| Photo by Deleece Cook on Unsplash |
When I was younger, I would begin feeling a mix of excitement and anxiety knowing that summer was slipping away quickly and that the return to school would be here sooner than I knew.
Television ads had long been promoting Back-to-School sales prompting me and millions of other children to begin envisioning what the return to school would be like this year.
Some of the more pressing questions for me centered around:
Who will I have for teachers?
Will my social groups still be the same?
And will I avoid the embarrassment of someone recognizing that my "Trapper Keeper" was adorned with last year's design?
Honestly, trivial things filled my young mind as the calendar had us creeping closer and closer to the first autumn school bell.
Fast forward to today... I'm now a parent of three children navigating their summer break with a new list of questions as the upcoming school year approaches. As we are all aware, this summer is not like any summer we have experienced before... and the '20-'21 school year is going to prove to be just as unique.
News media, social networking sites and inboxes are filled with stories and discussions in regard to re-opening plans for schools in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans are beginning to emerge in many districts and with each new piece of information shared, a flurry of responses from parents, teachers and students fills our communication sources once again.
As a family, we are clear on what we seek to have happen this fall. And our decision is based on what we believe to be best for our family.
And without naming what our decision is... I will state that those two previous sentences could be spoken by many, if not all of the families who are engaged in this conversation.
No matter where you land on the issue...
- students returning to brick and mortal schools
- teachers providing at-home instruction via distance learning
- hybrid options of scheduled in-person classroom experiences alongside at-home online study
- transitioning to a homeschooling model
- or any other option that is out there...
The decisions that are being made in our homes, in regard to the needs of our families, are decisions that are made with the best interest of our children at the core. And, they are decisions that are multifaceted, based on both facts and opinions, and at times extremely difficult.
I empathize with all of the families who find themselves in this situation.
And... I also empathize with those who are tasked with making these difficult decisions at an administrative level... those who are engaged in the development of re-opening plans... because that work, those decisions cannot be easy as well.
While those in administrative positions work to determine best next steps...
While families work to discern what is in the best interest of their children...
Our communities become polarized.
Words become weapons.
And the opportunity for thoughtful, respectful discussion seems to vanish.
Now, we can recount many other times in our shared history when conversations have become difficult and divisive. However, in this moment there is something else at play.
Since mid-March, as businesses, organizations and schools began to make difficult decisions due to rising coronavirus infections, our collective ability to engage with one another in shared work and decision-making has been hindered by a cloud of grief. No one in our nation is exempt. We are all grieving the significant changes that have occurred in our lives, our communities, our world.
And that has significant influence on our ability to engage.
So where do we begin?
What do we do to regain clarity of thought that allows us to more authentically engage with one another?
Well, we can begin in a place of empathy. We can begin with compassion.
There is a passage in the book of Galatians, as translated in Eugene Peterson's "The Message" that speaks to me in this time... and perhaps it speaks to you as well.
Galatians 6:1-3 reads;
Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore them, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.
Stoop down, reach out... and share their burdens.
In other words... acknowledge what it is that others need in this moment... and begin from a place of compassion. And in doing so, live according to that which Jesus taught and modeled.
On the topic of school reopening decisions... to begin from a place of empathy, from a place of compassion, affords everyone involved an experience of equality and respect as conversation begins. To engage with someone from a place of compassion leads us quickly into the act of listening deeply to the fears and/or concerns that are held. It allows us to set our own opinions aside and to pay closer attention to that which is being shared. And it opens the dialogue up to a place of deep connection... to a place of deep love.
Perhaps, another way to say this is to embody the command to love our neighbor. By meeting someone where they are emotionally, acknowledging the weight of grief that exists in their life at this time, we meet them from a place of deep spiritual love. And in doing so, as named in the passage from Galatians, we "complete Christ's law."
As more information is bound to be revealed in the coming weeks...
As countless plans, proposals and revisions are released...
And as an infinite number of responses follow from all directions...
May we allow ourselves to be centered in a place of compassion before responding, before rebutting.
May we listen deeply to the voices that are being shared with an understanding that many of those voices speak from a place of deep grief.
May we be compassionate in our listening and in our responding.
And may we exhibit the love which Jesus modeled to one and all.
For it is our call, our command to be compassionate and loving.
And the time will come when we are in need of the same from others.
My prayer is that we can navigate it all with love and with deep compassion.
And that whatever decisions are made, we can trust that they are the best decisions that can be made with and for the ones we love.
A Prayer:
Compassionate God -
As excitement and anxiety mix these remaining weeks before a new school year, allow us the moments of clarity in living that which you have envisioned for the world. May our questions span from elemental to extravagant, all with an understanding of love as part of each answer. Knowing that "back-to-school" will look different this year... different for each and every one of us... allow us an opportunity to see what it can be from the perspective of others whose decisions are perhaps far different from our own. Draw us into the places of deep love and compassion that fill us and compel us to share it with the world.
And whatever the decisions may be... may they be made in love... and may all involved be kept safe.
Oh... and Lord, if possible, allow all of the patterns released by Trapper Keeper to be received as "in" this year as well.
Amen
