Back to School Prayers
A few weeks ago my bishop asked if I'd craft a collection of Back to School Prayers in my new role as Scholar in Residence for Arts, Media, and Culture for the diocese. I was grateful for the opportunity and ended up writing six prayers: prayers for kids schooling at home and going off to school, a prayer for high school and college students, and prayers for parents, teachers, and school administrators. Christianity Today offered to re-publish these prayers and requested a few new ones. I added a "Prayer for a New Day," a "Prayer for Nightly Care," a "Prayer for a Time of Pestilence," and a "Prayer for Teachers" that they might pray for themselves. My favorite perhaps is the " Prayer for Frustrated School-Related Relationships ," of which there are plenty today and there will be plenty more, I imagine, in the weeks to come. The prayer goes like this: "O Lord, you who told us that we would have trouble in this world, we conf
