[THE ANGLICAN CATECHIST A Column for Catechists or Teachers who share their Christian faith with children, youth and adults in congregations of the Episcopal Church.]

Summer Recreation

By: The Rev. Joseph C. Neiman

Well, it's over. Another year of teaching has come and gone - unless you're committed to Vacation Bible School as well! Chances are you've been tempted never to teach again! The rector or vicar may have been eloquent in praise of the fine work you did this past school year, but that hardly motivates one to face that frustration again in September. Church School, or whatever it's called, is kind of like a clock. We wind it up in September and by April it barely ticks! The attendance has fallen, our best laid plans only partially worked, and we really begin to wonder if the whole effort is worth anything at all. Even our friends and family question why we do it.

Cursing the day we were born - as a catechist or teacher - is a very ancient and Biblical feeling. Jeremiah felt it frequently and even accused the Lord of "deceiving" him: "O Lord you deceived me, and I was deceived; You overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me...." (Jer 20.7 NIV). But like Jeremiah, I doubt if you'll quit. You know in your heart how terribly important it is for the children and youth of the parish to learn, to grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord, and the Word of God also burns deep within you. Again as Jeremiah put it: "But if I say, 'I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,' His Word is in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed I cannot..... Cursed be the day I was born!" (Jer 20.9, 14).

Thank God for summer! It gives us that time and space to be renewed, to get over that year-end feeling and to re-create the zeal we'll need when the fall programs begin again. But how do we re-create it? The answer is as old as Jeremiah also: WE can't. We can't create "enthusiasm" by ourselves, the real thing, that is. Oh, we can generate a mock interest in things religious and even the Bible, but that is not true "enthusiasm" for the word means at root "one who is God-possessed." The emphasis here is not on "possessing God" but on being "possessed by God," and that's quite different from acquiring professional skills to teach or preach.

If we're to be "God-possessed" when we return to teaching in the fall, we have to take the quiet time, the moments apart in prayer and meditation, wherein we can share with the risen Lord our frustrations with the year that is past, our concerns for those whom we taught, and all the hopes and fears we have as one whom He has called and empowered to teach in His Name. There may be a book or magazine we need to read or even a workshop or class we ought to attend to get ready, but more than anything else, we need time apart with the One who alone can heal our bruised hearts and kindle again, deep within our bones, the fire of His love which will radiate through all that we will do in teaching this fall in His Name. Summer re-creation is vital!

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