Midweek Musing- 9/4/24

Most of you know my day job is in public education where for the last decade I have served as a school administrator.

As part of my own professional development, I try to keep up with “big picture” education policy. Over the course of my career, education policy and funding has gone from an area where the general consensus was that teaching kids was a priority for everyone because it was believed it was for the common good of our nation. And thus, it was generally agreed that education policy was apolitical.

Today, however, public schools have become an area with deep divisions and intense controversy. In fact, my local school district has installed metal detectors which those attending school board meetings must pass through because the rhetoric has at times become so vitriol.

Now if you have several hours, I will gladly sit with you and share all of my opinions on how to make K-12 public schools amazing, but that is not the point of this musing.

However, I will be using one particular debate in education to share what I believe the scriptures teach about the kingdom of God. So, I hope you will read on, even if educational policy is not something that interests you, because I promise I do have a point to make. And hopefully it will bring you hope and maybe even make you look at things though a slightly different lens of faith.

So, one area of educational policy that concerns me centers around aspects of special education and in particular how public schools will or will not serve students with some of the most serious disabilities.

Now the economic truth is that such education is expensive and there are those who feel we need to spend far less. They note that many of these students will never contribute to our nation's economy. Some folks recently have even advocated for getting rid of much of special education altogether. Others on the other side of the issue push for even more funding to provide more therapies, supports, and services while often ignoring the reality of the costs of these programs. Now none of these debates have easy answers and I will not even attempt to give you any. However, I hope this information helps provide context for the following anecdote.

It was last spring as a few of us were standing around waiting on a bus that carried a number of our students, including some with significant developmental needs. The teachers and paraprofessionals were chatting away. But as it was early and I was the only guy, I was standing a short distance away, leaning against one of the posts for our covered walkway and waiting for my Diet Coke to kick in and wake me up fully.

Anyways, I heard someone raise the question about what some of these special needs students would possibly do in the future and the conversation included discussions about which if any of the students would ever live independently.

I think there were six ladies standing there and at least 14 opinions. One lady suddenly remembered I was there and looked in my direction. She started to ask me my thoughts when, fortunately, the bus arrived.

I wouldn’t have had a good answer for her, at least not back then. However, after some time in thought and even prayer I have one now. And this answer is really what this week's musing is all about.

So, my answer is this.

Yes. Unequivocally, yes, I do believe they will be able to live fully.

Now what I don’t know is when that will happen.

But I believe with all of my being that in that promised day of God, all that is broken in this world will be mended. And all that has gone wrong will be made right. And that injustice will be swept away by God’s promise of justice rolling down like a river and righteousness like a mighty flowing stream.

I believe that someday we will experience life that is not defined by scarcity but by abundance. That we will be free to be all we were intended to be. It’s a promised day which we long for because all hurts will be healed, and every tear will be wiped away.

Of course, while I believe this to be true, I often fail to live in light of it. Because although I pray for God’s kingdom to come and know deep down this promise is true, I still live in this world. It’s the world of empires and evil and lies and pain.

It’s a world where sin has a hold on each of us.

So, while I believe in the promised day of God, I still pray God will help my unbelief, because sometimes that promised day is so far away it seems like a mirage. Yet if we are open to God’s work in our world and our lives, we will get glimpses of the kingdom which is promised by our savior for us all. And that provides the hope that help me push through even on the hard days.

Thanks be to God for that great and glorious day which is to come. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Alleluia Amen.