Prayer for the Start of the School Year

Have I ever ridden

On a train this packed,

I wonder, annoyed,

As my train creeps to work.

Straphangers jostle for space,

Contending with kids

Returning to school.

There were four boys

Standing next to me,

Discussing grades, schedules,

Teachers, classes, and friends.

A wave of nostalgia washed over me,

A longing for the time to

Read and write and learn and think,

Before the era of jobs and bills and responsibility

That now claims me.

But Solomon is correct when he says

That there is a season for everything,

And for me, this season has

Drawn to its end.

Then, I wonder about these four boys,

What their lives are like

Beneath the layer of "student."

I remember grammar school angst

About being the class pariah,

Emotions so deep and raw

They consumed vital parts of me

For years.

I remember the calming effect

High school exerted on me

As I found others

Of similar dispositions,

Friends who stood by me

Through the maelstrom 

Of family calamities and
adolescent turmoil.
My college years
Were marred by apostasy
That eventually gave way to
Finding my way home;
Sometimes when you wander off,
You eventually return with a
Deeper appreciation for what you left.
All these thoughts,
And more,
Raced through my head
As I listened to those boys' conversations,
And reflected on my youth.

Lord,
Watch over the kids as they
Contend with
The pressure to belong and be accepted
The pressure to get good grades
The peer pressure, good and bad, from other kids
The pressure of home and family life.
Protect them as they encounter
A thriving drug culture
A thriving sex culture
Gangs
Bullies
Violence
Teasing
Persecution
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time
Family poverty and hardship
Heartbreak
Personal tragedies
And the million and one other landmines
They must dodge every day.

Lord,
Preserve them,
So that they
May someday know
Who You Are...