One of my favorite books is Teaching & Religious Imagination by Maria Harris. It is a wonderful book and I am grateful to my doctoral comps for forcing me to become familiar with it. What I love about it, is how it describes secular teaching in religious language. The very act of teaching – regardless of subject or location – is a religious act. This is not just beautiful imagery, which it is, but an important truth to acknowledge as we head back to school.
Those of us who have been charged with the sacred task of providing a child with an education recognize and are humbled by that holy responsibility. It matters not in a school whether we are the teacher of prayer or the teacher of tennis. Education is interactional and God can be found in the quality of our relationships. How we treat our students and each other matters.
Teachers officially report for duty come Monday morning. The sun rises on a new year. I am as anxious and excited as anyone to see how it will all play out. “Man plans; God laughs.” We’ll see who’s laughing next week…
…a restful Shabbat and weekend to all!