August 9, 2015: sabbath Sunday

School will be starting soon here in Jackson County, NC, and students will be returning to preschool, elementary school, middle school and high school, to Southwestern Community College, and to Western Carolina University for undergraduate and graduate studies. At church today we had a special prayer time to bless children's backpacks and to bless teachers who will be starting a new academic year. The children spent Sunday school time making cards with special prayers on them to keep in their backpacks and read whenever they need reassurance during the school year.  During coffee hour, several of us who teach at the university compared notes on how much work we have left to complete before we see our first classes of the fall semester.

Here is a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer for schools and colleges:

O Eternal God, bless all schools, colleges, and universities, that they may be lively centers for sound learning, new discovery, and the pursuit of wisdom; and grant that those who teach and those who learn may find you to be the source of all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.