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Dear Covenant Friends,
To be part of a learning community, whether it is a university, school, church, or small group Bible study, brings its own kind of blessing. There is not an expectation that one knows it all, nor a requirement to understand everything. It is enough to be a learner, a disciple, to have a beginner’s mind, even in our relationships with those whom we know best.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is portrayed as teaching his disciples to speak to one another directly and honestly, especially when there has been harm or conflict. He then gives the promise that “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among you.” (Matthew 18:20). I often picture Jesus sitting in the empty chair in the room. It helps me look for those moments of truth and grace that reliably show up in our daily interactions.
Last Sunday we called up all those involved in education, whether as students or teachers, and handed out “backpack blessings”. We prayed for this new school year, and the challenges it will bring. Since we ran out of backpack tags, more will be available this Sunday. It’s a gentle reminder that God is with you wherever you go, and the blessings that come with having a beginner’s mind.
I like what Kahlil Gibran said about teaching-
Then said a teacher, Speak to us of Teaching.
And he said: No man can reveal to you aught but that which already
lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple,
among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his
faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of
his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your
own mind. The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of
space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all
space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the
rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of
the regions of weight and measure,
but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in God’s
knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his
knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.
— Kahlil Gibran
May each of you be blessed in your learning and in your teaching.
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