There was the time when a student from Mexico, another from Newark, and another from New Canaan, CT, sat in our living room as we watched the Presidential election results. Three kids who might never have met and would probably never have been friends, from disparate backgrounds, speaking different native languages, living together and learning together. Or the time when Peter found a student curled up in a chair at the end of the year. "I don't want to go home," he said. "It's safe here." Or the time when the boys raised thousands of dollars in honor of Penny and contributed it to Down syndrome research.
Peter is really good at his job. The assistant Housemaster and I were talking last night about the fact that neither of us have the same instincts. We don't know what to do when we find out at midnight that two boys have had a fistfight, or that someone has been smoking cigars in the attic, or that someone has broken into someone else's computer to send malicious emails. It brings me joy to watch Peter care for these boys with love that is full of grace and truth.
And yet, we wonder sometimes about living here. Jesus says that in God's kingdom, the "last will be first" (Matthew 20:16), and sometimes we wonder if we are helping the "first" stay "first." Are we just contributing to a cycle of pressure and achievement and false notions of what makes human beings valuable and successful? Many of the students here will tell us, "I'm here to get into a good college so I can get a good job and make a lot of money." Are we helping them grow into men of character who will care for others? Or are we helping them achieve a dream of a big house and fancy cars and expensive suits?
I want to participate in God's kingdom. I want to be a part of the work God is doing to restore and bind up and heal. Is there a way to participate in that work here? Is there any way in which the boys in this house, the students at this school, are the "least of these"?
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3 comments:
I realize the boys in the school are privileged, but they are still human beings, and they still need warm hearts and hands to bring them up. I do believe you are doing good there. And, more importantly, you can teach them to reach down and give a hand up to their peers who are farther behind. I'm not religious, but the God's Kingdom you refer to, I believe, is everywhere.
Thanks for your thoughts. I'm starting to wonder (and this will come up in Part 2!) about how to build bridges between the different "worlds" that divide us in this country. Some of that already happens in a boarding school by virtue of the different backgrounds these kids have, but I think there could be even more of it if we work to find points of connection even across racial, socio-economic, religious, cultural lines. Thanks again!
Amy Julia
Amy Julia, I know you know that you see the needs of even the affluent. Like your previous commenter said, even the rich need guidance, especially at the age you get to interact with them. They're still so impressionable. I'm curious what you're going to say in your Part 2, though, about how to bridge the two worlds. I swing wildly between wanting to bridge those worlds and make this world a better place then giving up on the idea altogether because when is it enough? I think the important thing is to focus on heart change, which will last longer than a few weeks of community service. These kids will be walking down so many different paths in the end, they need the right compass to take with them. Not sure that that disagrees with what you're saying, I think you're trying to get to the practical side of that. Good luck!
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