Oct 4.97: Light For The Day - "For the Child Who Leaves ..."

Matthew 19:14 (TEV-Today English Version)
Jesus said, "Let the children come to me and
do not stop them, because the kingdom of heaven
belongs to such as these."

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"For the child Who Leaves in the Middle of the Year"

Father,
it's hard to describe her mood today.
Already she stands a little apart from us.
She's edgy, I guess,
and oddly subdued.
Eager to be off,
to start over,
to get the good-byes behind her,
yet so reluctant to let go and leave us.

We, too, are reluctant.
How hard it is
to think of someone we know
and like so much
being a stranger in a new place,
entering a classroom that is not ours,
sitting among classmates who are not
these,
greeting a teacher ...

there's something unfinished
about this, Lord!
June ... June ... not january,
is the time for good-byes.
June -- when they all leave together,
not January -- with this one little piece of us,
broken off,
leaving alone.

She cleans out her desk
and turns in her books.
We have a party in her honor.
Her mother comes early
to pick her up.
I walk them to the classroom door.
A little too brightly I say,
"Remember your promise to write to us!"
She nods
and hugs me, quickly, tightly,
then turns and hurries away.

Aching, my heart calls after her,
"Go with God!"

- Elspeth Campbell Murphy
(First-grade Teacher)

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