CLERGY CORNER: Back to School with the Golden Rule!

Posted on 22 August 2013 by LeslieM

Our busiest days were when our three children were young and in school. I remember thinking, “Do they have to play so many sports, be on so many traveling teams, play musical instruments and join six clubs? Good grief!”

Looking back, I know I took a lot for granted.

We were a two parent family living in our hometown. We had good jobs. That meant we could afford one of those minivans with the sticky seats. The family nest, like the family school, was nice enough and safe enough. Siblings and grandparents were nearby. Church was a blend of family and friends. The weekly Bible study was at a neighbor’s house.

I miss those days!

My wife has been a public elementary school principal for several years now. Elementary schools tend to be happy places. The little people are usually excited to be there, which is great to see, and the big people are usually happy to be there too.

Almost everybody looks forward to the end of a school year, but you can still feel the excitement, some call it anxiety, when time rolls around for school to start again.

A new school year means new classmates, new teachers, new classrooms, new books, new technology, maybe even some new clothes.

From the parking lot to the front office, from building maintenance to food service, from transportation to recreation, from the new counselor to the new coach, from the new teacher who prepares her first classroom to the teacher about to retire who prepares her last, schools need rules to function well and the most important is golden.

Jesus says, In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you.” (Matthew 7, NET)

How can anything that sounds so simple be so hard? Good grief!

It doesn’t matter if it’s an elementary school, a middle school or a high school. If it’s a public school, especially in South Florida, then you can bet it is a diverse place and we all know students bring a lot more with them from home than a backpack.

Long before the youngest student arrives at school a unique personality is being formed. God-given seeds of talent are either being left dormant, nurtured or trampled. Young life experiences, mostly accumulated outside the school, are shaping every child’s expectations and dreams.

The highest ideal for school is that it be a safe place to lift expectations, to encourage learning, to inspire dreams.

But the pressures of school are not to be denied. Kids want to fit in, but not too much. They want to blend in, but, hopefully, only in a positive way; and how troubles loom large for the ones who don’t find a niche, a sport or a club; for the students who are different, too quiet and alone; for the ones who have troubles at home?

The truth is public schools need help in a lot of different ways these days. I write to encourage that we take the golden rule to school, that we volunteer to help a public school this year.

Google your public school corporation website today. Take a few moments to fill out the on-line Volunteer and Mentor Application or call a public school near you. I filled out the form online myself for Deerfield Beach Elementary and it only takes a few minutes. www.getinvolvedin education.com/volunteers/ application.htm

And just so you know, I realize you do not have to follow Jesus to practice the Golden Rule but it will not surprise you to know I believe Jesus is the only “everlasting way” to live by it. And if this causes you grief, then rest assured it is Good Grief! See ya in school!

You are also invited to join us Sunday at 8:30 a.m. or 11 a.m. for the message “The Golden Rule” based on the 7th Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.

Reverend Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. See more at www.comm unitych.org or on Facebook.

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