Dear Teacher,
As a new school year begins I want to ask God’s blessings and favor on you who instruct whether in the classroom or at home. Perhaps a good exhortation may come from the lips of our rotund friend, G.K. Chesterton, who once wrote: “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” Teaching is a spiritual exercise. It is not a dispensing machine of facts. Teaching is a deeply emotional and intellectual exercise. You are not only helping the formation of other humans, but you are shaping your own.
In the process of instructing, one is faced with the many duties of confronting, challenging, restoring, and rebuilding oneself and pupils. There will be many situations where gratitude seems as distant as possible from reality. But in such situations, you need to contemplate the engaging and spiritually charged journey of passing wisdom to another image-bearer. Through every tear and laughter, remember to give thanks. When gratitude is forgotten, education suffers from the misery of idolatry; for idolatry entails forgetting the Creator and his gifts. Seek gratitude after the good and hard days. Embrace gratitude as a caffeinated arrow of grace in your life. Teach. Give thanks. And persevere. The Lord be with you.
Sincerely,
Pastor Brito
