I went to church today, and the sermon was about this high school teacher, who on the last day of school (I think), brought in a rucksack. He handed out blank index cards, and he placed one on each students desk. He told them to write down what is weighing them down, bothering the most. He only had a few rules and they were:
Be entirely honest
Be serious, no jokes or memes
And donât write your name, it must stay anonymous.
He told them to write down the thing that keeps them up at 3 in the morning. The thing whether good or bad that you cannot stop thinking about. So they did, and they folded the index cards and put them in the rucksack one at a time. And when they were done, the teacher mixed up the rucksack and pulled the first one out, so that everyone could help carry the weight of this burden. The first one read âMy dad lost his job a month ago. Now he just sits in his car in a parking lot thinking. I fear we will lose our houseâ. Once the teacher had started talking, there was total silence. There were no glances to guess who had wrote what they did. Everyone listened. He pulled the next one: âI have to carry Narcan in my backpack everyday now. I found my mom blue and near lifeless when I came home from school a week ago. I had to save her lifeâ. The classroomâs silence was undisturbed. It felt so solemn. And the next read: âAnytime I go to a movie theater or closed building, I have to check the exit door, in case a shooter appears (I assume this person is in a minority but it is not stated)â. Finally the last one read âI do not want to be here anymore. I am only looking for a sign that I am neededâ. There were a few minutes of silence, and finally the school bell rang. And slowly everyone got up to file out of the classroom, and as they passed the rucksack filled with their burdens each student voluntarily patted it, acknowledging what they had heard was weighing down everyone else.
I found this to be pretty deep honestly. It kinda humbled me in a way, because we are ALL so blessed to be where we are now, even if you donât think much of it. The message in the end was âBe kind to everyone, for you do not know what weighs them downâ.
Have a wonderful Sunday everyone.
God loves you. đ«¶