Back to School

Pause

Am I welcome here?
Am I safe to sing or laugh or shed a tear?
Will I be loved the way I am? Will friends be near?
Am I welcome here? Am I welcome here?

You are welcome here.
You are safe to sing or laugh or shed a tear.
We love you just the way you are, so have no fear.
You are welcome here. You are welcome here.

from “You Are Welcome Here” by Mark Burrows (2017)

Listen

Don’t let any foul words come out of your mouth. Only say what is helpful when it is needed for building up the community so that it benefits those who hear what you say.

Ephesians 4:29

Think

I talk out loud to myself all the time. It is something I have done for as long as I can remember. I talk to myself to help remember things like a list or a phone number. I talk to myself to think through all the possible outcomes of a decision. I talk to myself when bored or lonely. Sometimes, I even tell myself jokes. And yes, I laugh at them every time.

But I can talk to myself in ways that are not nice. More than once and in different ways, I have told myself that I am a bad person. That I am not lovable. Some of the worse things ever said to me have been said by me. These things have never been true. God knows that and tries to remind me of that. God does not want us to use words to hurt and harm people. God desires that we build up one another into a community where we share words of love with ourselves and others.

Patrick Kangrga

Pray

God, speak to me. Speak loving words about who I am and who I can be.

Let me hear them and accept them as true.

Encourage me to share loving words with everyone I encounter as often as possible.

Inspire me to always build up others and my communities.

Amen.

Go

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You’ll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend

from “For Good” in Wicked by Stephen Schwartz (2003)