I've spent most of my adult life raising and teaching children and young people — my own, of course, but other people's children, too, in classrooms and other settings as well.
So I think a lot about the lessons we, I, teach young people. What's the most important thing I could say, if I had the chance? Would it be about how to succeed? How to flourish? How to fulfill their potential?
The older I get, the more I think that the most important thing I could share with a young person is none of that, but more of what the psalmist says. For we all have moments of being brokenhearted, crushed and feeling alone in the world. What a difference it makes to know that we are not alone at all. It might even be a matter of life and death to know how close God is to us all the time, even — or perhaps especially — when we feel furthest away from him.
Loving God, may I be moved to bring your healing touch to the brokenhearted around me.
So I think a lot about the lessons we, I, teach young people. What's the most important thing I could say, if I had the chance? Would it be about how to succeed? How to flourish? How to fulfill their potential?
The older I get, the more I think that the most important thing I could share with a young person is none of that, but more of what the psalmist says. For we all have moments of being brokenhearted, crushed and feeling alone in the world. What a difference it makes to know that we are not alone at all. It might even be a matter of life and death to know how close God is to us all the time, even — or perhaps especially — when we feel furthest away from him.
Loving God, may I be moved to bring your healing touch to the brokenhearted around me.
Amy Welborn
