For Wilshire Baptist Church
A friend posted a picture on Facebook of four different university banners in his front yard with this message: “No reason for our family to be surprised since each grandchild is a uniquely different child of God. Each has unique gifts and aptitudes and interests and aspirations. It’s time we step aside and watch them thrive in the world.” It’s a beautiful expression of the wonder, value, gift and blessing of diversity.
We have one of those university banners near our front door, too. It’s green with gold lettering, and in the fall and winter I see it and think about football and basketball and whose side I’m on. But throughout the year it reminds me of lessons learned, friends, experiences and traditions that helped shape me and will always be a part of who I am.
This past Sunday at Wilshire we had the Blessing of the Backpacks, where school kids bring their backpacks and book bags to the front of the church for a special litany and prayer. We didn’t have such a blessing in my day — we didn’t have backpacks either — and when we do it now I have an urge to walk down with my satchel and sit on the floor with the kids. Schooling never really ends, after all.
The litany recited this year included these words: “Students, may God’s blessing and protection be on you and these backpacks this new school year. And as you carry these backpacks, may you carry with you the love of God to see everyone around you as a neighbor loved by God.”
The kids may not hear it, but it’s actually a blessing for them; the backpacks just represent the journey of learning and growing they are starting. That journey may or may not lead to a university banner in the yard some day. I have one, but my brother doesn’t; he just has a big, beautiful family and life on the edge of the Rockies.
Regardless of the path a student takes, my friend’s message holds true: “Each has unique gifts and aptitudes and interests and aspirations.” And to edit his words a little, “It’s time we step aside and let them thrive in God’s Kingdom.”