Jesus Rules
Bob Wickizer
Sirach 10:12-18
It's back to school and all our families are busy transporting children to and from school. I see the afternoon lines of cars in the neighborhoods waiting to pick up the next generation of local and global leaders. What lessons are they learning in school that will help them become future leaders?
True, reading, writing and 'rithmetic are the foundations of learning, but what about the cafeteria at lunch, the bus to and from school, or that favorite of mine, selection of teams for dodgeball? Those are the places where kids learn how society really operates. At best we hope that our children will learn the rules at home or at church, but let's not fool ourselves. Most of what they learn to function as adults, they will learn at school for better or worse. And the rules of our society today are no different than the day Jesus taught these stories about banquets.
Consider the high school cafeteria. All the cool, popular kids eat at the same tables. They have unwritten rules and selection criteria by which they know who is allowed to approach those sacred tables. Occasionally an interloper is tolerated but never on a regular basis. The cool kids have their own language, their own set of discussion topics and their own secrets. Each segment of high school life is as stratified as the caste system of east Indian society where there are four levels of cool and an untouchable class at the bottom. Everybody knows their place and that place is figured out in the first few weeks of school. Herds of animals quickly sort out levels of dominance in much the same way.
The school bus is governed by many of the same rules although seating on the morning run is also determined by where kids live along the route. Whenever possible, choices for seats are based upon what will gain the most popularity points. Some of the kids know that they are on the outside circle so they don't even try to enter the daily popularity contests. Ot ...
Bob Wickizer
Sirach 10:12-18
It's back to school and all our families are busy transporting children to and from school. I see the afternoon lines of cars in the neighborhoods waiting to pick up the next generation of local and global leaders. What lessons are they learning in school that will help them become future leaders?
True, reading, writing and 'rithmetic are the foundations of learning, but what about the cafeteria at lunch, the bus to and from school, or that favorite of mine, selection of teams for dodgeball? Those are the places where kids learn how society really operates. At best we hope that our children will learn the rules at home or at church, but let's not fool ourselves. Most of what they learn to function as adults, they will learn at school for better or worse. And the rules of our society today are no different than the day Jesus taught these stories about banquets.
Consider the high school cafeteria. All the cool, popular kids eat at the same tables. They have unwritten rules and selection criteria by which they know who is allowed to approach those sacred tables. Occasionally an interloper is tolerated but never on a regular basis. The cool kids have their own language, their own set of discussion topics and their own secrets. Each segment of high school life is as stratified as the caste system of east Indian society where there are four levels of cool and an untouchable class at the bottom. Everybody knows their place and that place is figured out in the first few weeks of school. Herds of animals quickly sort out levels of dominance in much the same way.
The school bus is governed by many of the same rules although seating on the morning run is also determined by where kids live along the route. Whenever possible, choices for seats are based upon what will gain the most popularity points. Some of the kids know that they are on the outside circle so they don't even try to enter the daily popularity contests. Ot ...
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