O my
people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live
Ezekiel
37: 1-4
Episcopal
Schools Celebration
April
15, 2012
God's Spirit at work in their lives?
Our sons attended an Episcopal
school in Austin, Texas. We fell into a
pattern of talking over dinner about what was discussed in chapel or in class
that day. It was started by our oldest
son who mentioned a topic and a particular speaker who had captured his heart
and led him to reflect. It became
something we continued because it gave us a window into our children’s lives,
what they were experiencing at school, what they were carrying in their hearts,
and how through conversation, questions, and events, they were trying to make
sense of their world and figure out their place in it.
When Sey and I chose an
episcopal school for our sons, we did it because it provided an amazing setting
and environment for learning. We could feel the energy in the air. The teachers
were engaged and cared about the children.
The facilities were warm and creative and I knew that I, myself, would
love to learn there. But over time, we found
something much deeper; we found a core sense of values and expectations that
permeated every moment of our sons’ lives spent in this community. And those values and expectations modeled,
taught, and reinforced the belief that every child was unique and of intrinsic
worth. That the dignity of every person in the community was to be celebrated
and respected, and that there was a driving spirit that the gifts of their
minds, bodies, and hearts were to be put to work in the world, becoming a part
of the actions needed to make it a place of hope and life.
Today we come together
in this beautiful space to celebrate the work of Episcopal Schools. In particular we celebrate the important work
being done here at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School. We celebrate the gift of birth and support
that St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church provides as the school grows and stretches,
seeking to serve the children and families who become a part of this vibrant community.
Today we also come
together to celebrate the good work being done by over 1200 Episcopal Schools
throughout the world. Episcopal schools provide excellent and rigorous
education, multiple opportunities for children to learn about themselves and
their gifts and how to best develop these gifts. (through athletics, math
competition, music, art, dance, drama, poetry writing to name just a few).
And Episcopal schools
are committed to instilling in every child a sense of their own worth and power
as children of God, energizing them to go into the world and share their love with
others. The work of Episcopal schools grows more
important with every passing day.
In our readings
this morning we hear the familiar and always for me, stirring vision of the
prophet Ezekiel as he is lifted up and placed in a field of dry bones. The
bones are lifeless and appear to be incapable of ever rising from their
permanent place of desolation and despair.
But God has other ideas and asks Ezekiel to prophesy.
‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to
them: O dry bones, hear the word
of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to
these bones: I will cause breath
to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to
come upon you, and cover you with skin,
and put breath in you, and you shall
live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’
I was thrilled
to have this reading for this particular celebration because I have seen this
reading in my imagination as the reinvigoration of legions of people who through
the indwelling and invigorating spirit of God gather to change this world for
the better—a revitalization brought about through the breath (ruach) of
God. God breathes life and love and
faithfulness and passion (enthusiasm, energy, zeal, commitment) and a multitude
of people find themselves renewed, prepared to do the work that needs to be
done. The work brings fresh hope, fresh
purpose into life.
This reading tells of a
vision given to the prophet Ezekiel.
Ezekiel as a young man has been captured and taken away from his home to
a place where he is the captive, the displaced, the alien. He has seen his home destroyed, his place of worship
that was the center of his identity, reduced to a pile of burning rubble. He has seen his people defeated and then led
away as prisoners to a life that is without any meaning. And so he is depressed and miserable. There is nothing left in him that reminds him
of hope or purpose. He has been
subjected to great suffering in this present time, (Romans 8) But God has
plans.
God knows that in building
the people up in strength and stability and infusing them with the life giving
power of God’s own breath (ruach), that God is always making things new. And through
this new life we are all given the opportunity to participate in a renewal, a
building up, a time of invigorating ourselves, our families, our communities
and our world. This is the work that we
are given to do and in our Episcopal schools we delight in participating.
Here at St.
Patrick’s in chapel, in our classrooms, and in our daily encounters with each
other we are invited to wonder, to notice a love and beauty that is larger than
ourselves. In our reading today from
Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul says that what we see and experience in this
particular moment is nothing compared with the glory that is possible through
the spirit of God moving in us.
In Chapel we
provide a space to be quiet and to listen to beautiful music, Holy Scripture,
and prayers that call us to look beyond ourselves to a greater sense of truth
and love. Everyday in our classrooms we invite our students to notice growth,
hope, and possibility in learning. Our
youngest children in our Nursery School will soon be receiving duck eggs in
their classroom. Over the course of a few weeks, the children will be invited
to wonder what is happening hidden from their view inside these eggs and wait
with great expectation for the possibility of new life and how that will be
experienced. Anticipation will be in the air.
In our Episcopal Schools we
provide many opportunities through art, study, and worship to encounter that
sense of awe and wonder that helps us move beyond and hope for the potential of
great love and great beauty. This sense of a larger measure of
love and beauty gives us all strength to face the ‘changes and chances of this
life.’ (BCP, Prayer in Compline, p. 133)
While reflecting on and hoping
for the glory that is possible, looking to the truth and beauty that is so much
bigger than we are, we also celebrate the reality that each one of us is of
infinite value. Each one of us has a
divine spark within us, being created in the image of God, that fills us with
the love and majesty of creation. Each of us is unique and remarkable in our
own way. Each of us is beloved.
In music performances, in the
classroom, on the playing fields, opportunities are created where children are
encouraged to learn about their gifts, to explore their interests, and develop
a sense of who they are and what they are called to be in this place and in the
larger world.
Walking the halls of the
Whitehaven campus and climbing the stairs at MacArthur you see the myriad ways
that our children are invited to express themselves creatively and show a bit
of what they believe and what they see through lively and interesting works of
art. You hear the beautiful sounds of
music coming from voices and instruments as children pour out energy and
enthusiasm. And in many large and small
ways every child is learning that they have something important to give, that
they have something of value to share, and they are able to experience the joy
of that realization and experience.
At St. Patrick’s we care
deeply about building a sense of responsibility, honesty, and caring in our
community. Our creed helps to develop strong roots in our children as they
grow.
We talk about being kind to each other, listening to
each other, helping each other—not standing by as a silent participant when
someone is being hurt or treated unkindly.
In an Episcopal school we see this
as living into our baptismal covenant with each other. We see each other as precious and loved and
we try through our words, our actions, and our attitudes to care for and to
respect the dignity of every member of this community. We work hard to provide
a safe place for all our children to stretch, to grow, to learn, and to take
risks as they develop into the fullness for which they were created. In this
way we provide a framework of stability for our children.
And with the
development of these gifts and these disciplines we offer each other the
opportunity to share who we are and what we have with the larger world. At St.
Patrick’s we invite children to share their love with others—those who are
close to them like their families and their BFF’s—and those who are outside their
immediate circle. We introduce them to
the many ways we all can share our abundance. We teach them that they have important
gifts that are needed by the world and that there is a community beyond our
walls that needs us to share our gifts and have us gratefully receive their
gifts.
A wonderful spirit of
generosity and compassion is moving in this place. The last time I visited with you from this
ambo—first it was a different ambo—I shared with you about the work of our
children at our Gifts for Good fair. I
was amazed as the children lead the way in making an important difference in
the lives of God’s creation both close by and far beyond their immediate
community.
Our children are invited
to bring their hearts and their gifts to other important work in our city. Through Grate Patrol, our youngest children
bring vegetables from home and their teachers cook nourishing soup. Our older students make sandwiches and
package snacks that are then carried by families working together with the
Salvation Army to take life and spirit sustaining food to those who do not have
enough to eat here in Washington.
Our children visit
people living in senior living facilities offering gifts of their time, their
kindness, and their singing and dancing to people who spend much time alone. They work at Capital Area Food Bank and DC
Central Kitchen. And in this coming week,
as a culmination of study and conversation, our children will be putting into
action their understanding that we are all of one body in this world and that
we are all responsible for each other.
Our students, faculty, and families will be packaging over 10,000 protein-based
meals to be sent to those who suffer from food insecurity around the world.
In so many ways and places we are able to witness to the
spirit of love, compassion, and purpose moving
in this place--in this community.
The work of Episcopal schools, as an example, St. Patrick’s,
leads me to see a vision of legions of children who have been a part of these
communities moving out into the world spreading their grounding –the breath
they have received—to a hungry and parched world. There they can share their
vision of hope and abundance—this idea given flesh by their studies, their
sense of themselves, and their service in the world.
On this day, we celebrate the good work that is being done in
this place asking God to continue to bless this community and its fruits and
praying that we can continue to grow and share our gifts so that all may
experience the enlivening power of God’s spirit within them. “I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live.”
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