Backpacks, Blessings, and Big Questions

Dear Friends,

Is it because my kids are no longer at home complaining about my unjust infringement upon their divinely-ordained right to use their iPads as much as they want?

Yes. That surely is one of the reasons why back-to-school is one of my favorite times of year.

But honestly, I’ve always loved this time of year, even when I was a kid. I always liked school, but I liked it best when it was full of freshness and promise and new ideas and blank notebooks with crisp pages (admittedly it was less fun when it was full of boring homework and exams and the notebooks had been smashed in the bottom of my backpack). And then there were those big years of transition (and apprehension) where there were new schools, new friends, new teachers, new sports. So much growing and changing to do.

Now I have to pay for the school supplies and drive through the carpool traffic — so a new school year isn’t quite as good as it once was. But I still like it. I cherish the promise of education. I give thanks for the blessing of the teachers, coaches, administrators, and homeschool parents who give their lives to building and educating our young people. And I pray that, even if only imperfectly realized, we continue to dream and work for a world in which all can be educated in both knowledge and wisdom.

And so, this Sunday we will gather to pray — with intercession and thanksgiving — for the new school year. We call it Blessing of the Backpacks, and we do actually bless the backpacks (so bring yours). But what we’re really asking God to do is bless our students and our educators in the year ahead.

This Sunday will also be the first in my three-part sermon series talking about AI, which is already having enormous effects on our educational system. But my sermon series is really about AI and our faith, and how we should think and respond to this awesome and fearsome potential of this technology as people who believe in salvation through Jesus Christ.

In His Name,
Fr. Andrew