New Starts

Good morning,  God, and thank you for this new day.  Today I get to start over again, completely anew in many ways.  I go to school and a new day awaits me--new ways of treating people, new things to say to them, new ways of looking at what my students do and how they do it.  Track season started yesterday, so we have new things to look forward to in track, especially since last year's coach seems to have made a pretty big mess of things.  I'm hoping that we're going to be able to overcome the negative perception of the program and have a successful season.  I believe it can happen, but it remains to be seen how.

Each day should be a new start for me, but most days I forget this fact.  I get caught up in the routine, in the same old things--lesson plans, class plans, work to do, papers to grade.  It's pretty difficult sometimes to pull myself back and look at things in a fresh way, to see the possibility and potential inherent in each day rather than the limitations that are in place because of others and, of course, myself.

I think that one very important thing for me to do is to keep my mind on you, on the eternal, because that helps me to remember just how fleeting everything is, just how quickly this all will pass and become something else.  And since it is fleeting, we might as well take our time with what we're doing and notice all  the beauty and love around us.  We might as well take the time to connect to others, to learn things about them and realize just how important they really are to us.

We're starting anew every day--even every moment, if we're able to keep our minds on that possibility.  What I would like to ask you is for your grace, for your constant reminder that we are eternal beings here in a temporal state, for your assurance that things will be fine in our new starts, even if we're not necessarily successful in all that we start.

A reply:

New starts are beautiful, and yes, they are constant if you wish them to be.  My only word of caution would be to make sure that what you started before is finished before you move on to a new start.  Many of my children have a very hard time in life because of their unfinished business, because they haven't brought to a close something that they've started.  As the unfinished tasks in our lives pile up, they start to weigh you down and give you trouble on your journey, causing you to move more slowly and more uncertainly on your way as you carry the burdens of today and yesterday.

But you're right--today is a good day to see new things in people, to find new joy in old tasks, to find new things to compliment in old friends, to share new words of encouragement with people who need it.  New starts can happen every moment, and one of my hopes for all of you is that you're able to keep moving forward like a flowing river in which the water never stagnates.  There is definitely a flow to life, and either you can tell yourself that you're still in the same old river, or you can look about and say "Look at the new sights that the river has carried me to see today!"

Monday

Hello, God, and thanks for this new day starting this new week.  It's going to be a very busy one in my life, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  I have to let go of some expectations, obviously--our track practices start today--and once I do that, things will be fine, I'm sure.  I've had a very long time without any sort of coaching at all, so this will be both a good new start and a different kind of transition as I lose time that I normally would have spent doing other things.

I do thank you for this opportunity to work with the young people on something like track--helping them to develop their skills is a lot of fun, and it's great to be able to watch them grow and improve.  I want to do my very best at the coaching so that the kids have a chance to do their very best as athletes.  Knowing that you're there with all of us, all the time, does make things easier.  As I said before, though, I need to let go of any high expectations I have of myself or--especially--the kids, as I cannot control the amount of work they do or the amount of effort that they put into their work.

In any case, though, thanks again--I really do appreciate this opportunity, and I look forward to doing all I can to make this a positive experience for everyone.

A reply:

You're welcome.  Yes, I am there, just as I am everywhere.  And it is important that you let go of the expectations.  You're finally coming to learn that those expectations are what cause you the greatest amount of stress in your life--once you're able to let go of them, you'll find that life is a much easier road to travel than you thought it was.  And have fun!

Wonderful Works

Good morning, God, and thanks much for this new day!  I have many hours stretching out ahead of me to work with, to accomplish new things, to learn new things, to share things that I've learned throughout my life.  I thank you in advance for these chances, and I hope that I'm able to take advantage of them and use them in the best ways possible.

In our classes, we've just finished To Kill a Mockingbird, a wonderful novel with an amazing narrator/main character.  I'd like to thank you for works like these in my life--novels and poems and stories and songs that are more than just entertainment--they're works that teach us, that make us feel more than we felt before we came across them, that remind us of our humanity and the many traits that comprise that humanity--our compassion and our love and our sense of unity.

I'm very fortunate that I'm able to bring such works to students, too, and I thank you for that.  Sharing these works opens their minds and their hearts, and allows me to expand their worlds a bit with ideas that they might never be exposed to otherwise.  To Kill a Mockingbird allows me to teach about love and compassion and the effects of prejudice, not just the plotline of the book or the characters.  Everything works together in the book to create a world that students can step into, not just look into.

I really do appreciate such books.  I wish I could write books like them.  It's okay that I can't, I suppose--my work lies elsewhere, right?  No matter what my work or my abilities, though, I know that I'm grateful that other people have created works that are amazing reminders of the beauty and wonder of this world of ours.

A response:

You're welcome, though I don't take credit for those works.  Many, many people find themselves with adequate talents and in ideal situations for writing amazing works, yet they choose not to do so.  The writers themselves deserve the credit for taking risks, making the effort, and putting themselves out there.

As far as your works go, keep working on it.  You may be surprised what you find coming out of your mind and onto the paper.  You certainly have a rich enough background to share with others--the question is whether you'll do so or not.

Lumps

Good morning, God, and thanks for this new day.  The last couple of weeks have been pretty stressful, what with the unidentified lump in my body.  I saw a doctor on Tuesday and had an Ultrasound yesterday, so today I should get some sort of idea of what I'm dealing with.  The stress of not knowing is a pretty rough thing, as you well know, but I have reached a fairly balanced point at which I'm not allowing it to affect me much.  It keeps me a bit preoccupied, but that's about it.

Terry and I have had a couple of talks of the worst-case scenario--what's she going to do if I'm gone?  Where will she live?  That sort of thing.  I think she'll be in pretty good shape financially for a few years, so I'm not too worried about that.  Of course, there's the nagging feeling that something would be very wrong in leaving her so soon and so suddenly, but there would be nothing that could be done about it, so. . . .

I'm not going to beg you to make everything alright.  I'm not going to beg you to make me healthy in a moment.  People get sick and die all the time, and I'm a person.  I will ask you to be with me no matter what direction this all takes, to help me feel the balance and equanimity to deal with anything that happens in the best ways possible.  I hope that the call I get from the doctor today tells me that everything's fine, or that everything will be fine soon.  But if the call says something else, well. . . .

An answer:

I do appreciate the fact that you aren't going to ask me to heal your body.  The power for that is within you, and if you ask me to do it and then are disappointed, then you become disappointed in me and our relationship obviously suffers.  I have given you amazing powers of healing, and you do know how to access them.

I will be with you, all the way.  You know this already, but I am glad that you asked.  It's like asking your father if he's coming to your wedding (for most people, anyway)--you know he's coming, but there is importance in the asking.  I will be with you as a resource and a guide and a shoulder.  Use me as you will.  Be strong, but allow yourself to be weak when it's necessary, and allow others to be strong for you.  You'll know more very soon about just what you'll be going through--accept it with grace and with the knowledge that there's much to learn in every situation, and you'll find that the next part of your journey will be much more bearable, even enjoyable.

A New Week

Good morning, God, and thank you for this new day.  Thanks for the many opportunities that I'll have to show love, to talk with others and learn more about them, to share knowledge and information that will help others in their lives.  I'll have many chances today to contribute in positive ways to the lives of the people with whom I'll be, so please allow me to do well when I get those chances, and to do what you and loved know to be the best thing.

I go into this day a bit tired, so please be with me and help me to maintain my energy and my high spirits.

Obstacles

Good day, God--

And thanks very much for this new day of ours.  In these hours, I hope to give all that I can to the people with whom I work, with whom I interact, with whom I share this planet and the personal small world of mine.

I've recently come into a situation that's going to be extremely difficult to work through--I've been hired as the track coach at the school where I teach, and it's a program that's in miserable shape, with no core of athletes, no history of success, and a total of $8.45 in its account.  It's a situation that one could look at and quite legitimately say, "I'm screwed."

But this is where you've put me, for whatever reasons there may be.  This is my reality, and I'm in it no matter what's going to happen, right?  So I suppose that what I'd like to ask you, quite simply, is to be with me as I tackle the problems.  This program is completely dysfunctional and close to useless due to the mismanagement of the previous track coaches, and it's going to take an awful lot of work to get it going again, and to get it up to a point at which it's a viable and valuable program.

I'm going to need help if I'm going to be able to do that.  Could you please help me?  Sometimes I feel silly even asking, but I know that in asking, I remind myself that you are there, and that I won't be in this alone.  So I ask now.

And I thank you in advance.

A reply:

You're welcome.  In advance.  And be careful of your feelings, especially those that will keep you focused on the mess and the people who have caused it.  Focus instead on the people who benefit from the program, and you'll find that there will be many rewards.  If you allow yourself to get angry and frustrated, the students will suffer, too, and the program will never be a valuable one that helps students to achieve great things.  Be there for them, and keep out of your mind the mismanagement and the neglect of the others.

And have fun.  Working with kids can be great fun, as you well know.

Am I Making a Difference?

Good morning, God!  It's Monday, and it's the start of a new week and a new work week.  Many things are going to happen to me and around me and because of me this week, and I hope that you'll be there with me, strong in my mind and spirit, so that any decisions that I make, any actions that I take, will be a reflection of love and caring and compassion instead of self-interest or fear.

You know, as each week starts I feel something similar--I wonder if what I'm doing is making any sort of difference at all.  Am I contributing in positive ways to the education and well-being of my students, or am I just doing a job for pay?  Am I giving enough of myself?  Am I treating the kids well?  All of them?  And I guess that the most important question that I can ask is whether or not what I'm doing will have any sort of lasting value, or if all that I do is simply forgotten at the end of the year.

It's very different teaching the freshmen and sophomores who really don't have any idea of the importance of what we do in class, and who for the most part don't care much about the education they're receiving.  To them, class work is something to get through, period.  Am I making a difference?  I know that I'm fully aware of the fact that I'm in a field in which most of the gratification is long deferred, and very often never even seen by the teachers.  But sometimes it would be nice to know that in some way I am making even the slightest difference.

A reply:
You know already one of the most important principles in life:  if you do what you do with love, then you are making a positive difference in the lives of all those who come in contact with the work you do.  While sometimes the feeling of love may not be there, you know that you do love what you do and that you do love the students who are there in your class, so no matter where your heart or mind may be at any given moment, you are still there in love, and you are still acting in love.

The love is the part that does allow you to "make a difference."  For some students, they may not retain much of the subject matter at all, but they'll  remember that they were treated well in the classroom, and they'll appreciate that fact very much.  In that way, yes, you are making a difference.  And remember the email from Rebekah, in which she told you that she didn't realize until she left just how much she appreciated the way you treated her.

And most of  the students will retain much of what you do in class.  For them, too, you are making a difference, because their work will be much easier in future classes.  For them, the papers that they write in the future will come much more easily, and you'll be contributing to the lack of stress in their lives.  They'll certainly appreciate that.

You do know this already:  You're in a field in which most gratification is deferred, and much of it is never manifested.  Because of this, you have to trust more than many others--trust that what you're doing is positive, that it has positive effects, and that it is a positive contribution to the lives of those who are touched by your teaching.  Are you the best teacher in the world?  Probably not.  The most effective?  Probably not.  But because you teach from a place of love and compassion and respect, trust me--you're way, way up there, and you do make a difference.