A Benediction, or, saying Thanks like the Prayer Book

A Benediction

Good God. We are here in an attitude of thanks: for students, teachers and parents.  God, there is so much in our world that deserves our thanksgivings. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side. We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us. We thank you for all valiant seekers after truth, freedom, and justice.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you and each other. We can be stubborn sometimes and think we have all the answers. But you in your infinite humor and wisdom have made a world that reminds us daily that ‘going at it alone’ is rather foolish. Every now and then you remind us that we really are made for friendship and charity, and not for self-satisfaction and greed. We don’t like this very much, especially when it means we have to share our lives with others and even strangers, but we thank you anyway.

Last but not least, we thank you for the life of the children entrusted to our care. Help us to remember that the life of the mind, the welfare of the heart, and the long conversion to a life of mature happiness is what education is all about. Strengthen, support, guide and nurture today’s graduates, and may this day of celebration be long and fruitful and include good food, good company and many laughs.

Amen.

An Invocation, or, a prayer (without Jesus)

An Invocation

O God, Creator of all. We acknowledge this day that you are a good Creator and that everything that has existence, from tadpoles to textbooks, is good as a result.  We are not always too keen when it comes to writing papers or taking tests, but we know that such things are also good, especially when part of our formative education. As such, we thank you for making schools like Rumson Country Day possible. We know that education here is treated as a constituent foundation to raising confident, happy and creative children.

We confess that sometimes we treat education as a means to another end. Sometimes we talk as though education is about getting a job or maintaining a certain place in society. Having a good job is important, but school is also the place where we learn character, that is, school is where we learn the dispositions of a good life. Having a certain status in society is fine, but education is first and foremost an activity of growth: of being nourished and cherished enough that maturity and happiness result. With this in mind, dear Lord,  we are grateful that the graduates today have received the best kind of education.

We pray that as parents, teachers and civic leaders, you will help us do everything possible to instill in today’s graduates the benefits of the life of the mind, the welfare of the heart, the capacity of love, and the boldness to change things. We readily acknowledge that you think we are infinitely worthwhile. Show us, we pray, how we can make this clear to the graduates in what we say, and how we act. We are terribly proud of their achievements. They are precious in your sight, and we thank you for every single one of them.

Amen.