Light a Fire

This school week started on a frozen Wednesday -- three days to heat up enthusiasm for a new semester. One of the first tasks we tackled was introducing the quarter's novels: two classes will read Alexander Dumas's Count of Monte Cristo, one Arthur Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles, and one Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- all great books, each with its own strengths: great adventure, clever plot twists, irony, strong character development... and truth woven in and among it all. 

Oddly enough, the one with the most poignant spiritual lessons is the one that survived banishment for a time*: Twain paints an honest picture of true love and respect fostered between a young, white trash, midwestern adolescent and an honorable, protective, father-figure runaway slave. 

Huck Finn is not my favorite American novel (don't tell my American Novels professor), but I do love what it stands for. I love its messages about hypocrisy and greed and dishonesty and, mostly, about the putrescence of racism. I pray for my students as they read it, that in the heart of Memphis, a city riddled

with racial divide, they will read words of hope and healing!

Before introducing them to the book, though, I asked them to discuss society's ills. Start with the three worst. Then compile your list with two others'. Now just brainstorm. Next put a star next to anything you've seen today. Read your starred list. My! That's a sad picture! What do we DO about it? Talk among your group. Come up with one single action plan to combat all that awfulness.

I listened to them honestly evaluate the world in which they live ... and then seek to bring Kingdom to it. My heart swelled as I listened to them express what we all need to do better. Respect other people. Create a forum for honest dialogue. Respond to hurtful things with kindness. Listen better. Love more freely. Be honest. Stand up for what is right, even when no one else will.

As I listened to the wisdom of these sophomores, my skin tingled. 

After class I realized that I hadn't prayed with them that cold Wednesday. But the truth is that the Spirit moved in our hearts that day, prompting goodness in a way no prayer of mine ever could. May the fire He ignited burn brightly as these students go forth as Godly ambassadors into these hallways, these streets, this broken world. May they never lose sight of the power He can give them to battle the spiritual forces of darkness. Even when the last page has been turned on the Mighty Mississippi, may they trust in the power of the soul cleansing flood of Christ's blood to redeem what is lost. 

Amen. Let it be so. 

*Banished as early as a year after its 1884 publication and repeatedly afterward, the classic novel "was the fifth most-frequently-challenged book in the United States during the 1990s, according to the American Library Association" according to Esther Lombardi ("Why The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Has Been Banned, https://www.thoughtco.com/why-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn-banned-740145).

NOTE:  Feel free to follow and comment here on Blogger. I'd love to know how my experiences bless you and how you see Christ in YOUR classroom (or workplace). Let's make His name FAMOUS!