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I pray every day I teach, hear students
shout out "Jesus Christ," though not with any piety.
What we've lost, see, is the atmosphere
of starting off each morning with clear
acknowledgment that God IS, our need for his
assistance just to make it through the day.
Students hear of God primarily in curses,
OMGs sprinkled on phones concealed in bags
and purses lest administrators confiscate. They'd benefit,
at any rate, from merest mention of Him
after pledge, announcements. Reminder
that there's more to life than what they see and hear,
what they can prove, more than me and you,
more than current versions of the truth.
As it is, a generation, maybe more,
without a clue beyond the concrete.
Without faith, they have no focus,
no plumb line by which to measure
attitude, find meaning for right or wrong.
They worship Self instead, small g's abounding
in the culture, glad to have disciples.
We did that, afraid their little minds
would warp with 15-second pause to bow,
reflect, belong to something bigger
we can only begin to understand.
(c) Ellen Gillette, 2012
We are no longer a Christian nation, but we are Christianized, or were at some point in the past. Subbing for both secular and religious schools, it's easy to see what regular adherence to something as simple as stopping to pray for others in need builds in kids. Separation of Church and State didn't have to mean the removal of the concept of faith from children's daily lives altogether, that's just how it's played out here. No way to remedy it at this point, either. The damage has been done, and we see it every day. We are body, soul, and spirit. Without nurturing all three, society suffers.
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