Picture from cfespcs.sharpschool.com
“Everything you need you already have. You are complete
right now, you are a whole, total person, not an apprentice person on the way
to someplace else. Your completeness must be understood by you and experienced
in your thoughts as your own personal reality.” ~ Beverly Sills
The fall comes and without a doubt, one of the recurring
themes is returning to school and the purchase of utensils. Buying school supplies, or preparing
for the upcoming tasks, will make the work easier in the long term. In fact,
often what is acquired during this time determines how prepared one is for the
remainder of the academic year. My favorite was choosing a backpack, for the
color, preferably, with many different compartments, complete with zippers and
pockets, so that it would be easier to locate everything during the change of
periods.
In my house, my Mom always made sure we were completely
packed full of numerous items, including pencils, pens, notebooks, erasers,
calculators…the list goes on. She
took full advantage of tax free weekends and sales at Office Depot so as to
avoid paying full price for pencils in January. We, my brothers
and I, would spend multiple hours the night before the first day of school deciding
what would go into the bag and how to establish a system for the year. No matter how prepared we were, around
3rd period we discovered there was a surprise waiting at the bottom
of the knapsack, messenger bag, or two strapped backpack. It could be the extra notebook paper,
index cards, or even the locker magnet we thought was left in the store due to
cost, hiding in that bonus cell phone holder made of the same material as the
bag.
Our lives often operate like this – we pack for the journey
and still, somehow, we are pleasantly surprised by the gifts acquired, even
subconsciously. Funny thing is,
there are so many of us who actually never bother to look inside the bag to
begin with. Some are reluctant to
unzip a pocket for fear of bumping up against negative experiences, to remember
what may have caused pain. Others
have no clue at all that they are carrying a bag. Even still, others of us have only bothered to pull out what
we were responsible for packing, never brothering to rip the Velcro.
We need not worry about what will happen tomorrow, because we
have already prepared for what is to come. “And God
is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always
having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work” (2
Corinthians 9:8). So get ready,
set and go off into a new academic year, knowing everything you need is there
to use.
Consider taking time out this month, as we walk through the
contents of the bag, to reflect on the gifts you have and how you can use them
toward furthering your call.
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