Of course, in kindergarten there are also wise and loving
teachers, discipline and safe boundaries, and someone always watching over the
children. Kindergartners get lunch, snacks, and a roof over their head. Kindergartners have it pretty well,
really. I didn't go to kindergarten when
I was little. I am not exactly sure why. I imagine it was because I couldn't
sit still long enough or I didn't like to be told what to do by the nice ladies
who weren't my Mom. I may have I missed out.
I only remember sticking my hands in plaster-of-Paris once -- that was
at vacation Bible school. I'm sure it made Mom cry. Many of things I did back
in those days had that effect on her.
In reading Isaiah 61 yesterday, I saw a reference to another
Kindergarten - a special garden where righteousness and praise are made to
"sprout up" before the nations; a living-color display of God's
glory. That "garden" is apparently a metaphor for the Lord himself.
Reading those verses reminded me that dwelling in the Lord is not
just about simply "remaining" - hiding under the roof of a school or
temple; it is about being rooted in, and nurtured by, the Creator of all things
good. We commit our rotting flesh to the soil of God's special garden and somehow,
by some miracle of God's nature...something true, beautiful, and
eternally-living will sprout. And the children of God, corporately and
individually, testify to the glory and power of God by living pure and fruitful
lives within the body of Christ. This
image of the mystical Kindergarten seems to be sticking in my mind.
So Lord, I thank you for making Kindergarten. Thank you for
making a place for me there. There are so many ways for you to show people your
righteousness and praise -- to display your glory. And to create this display
from living things...actually from dying things that you have restored...I am
amazed that you chose to do it this way. It is perfect, of course… your Way. It
is the best way possible. But it is still amazing.
And God please bless this new crop - the children of your
garden, may you be glorified in them.
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