Don't Clog the Well!

Over the past 3500 years, there have only been approximately 300 years where the world was free from war.  Think about that for a moment.  That means that there has been war for over 90% of the past 35 centuries!  How about you?  Has there been even one year where there was peace in the world during your lifetime?  Pretty sad.  Military tactics have evolved over that 3500 year span.  Modern wars are fought with much technology and whoever has the most sophisticated technology usually “wins”.  In WWI, the trench became an important part of military strategy.  Our Civil War was fought by two sides facing each other at relatively close range and the winner was whoever could reload their weapon the fastest.  I think the British blew it during our Revolution due to their insistence of wearing bright red coats.  I guess the world “camouflage”” wasn’t invented yet.  In Old Testament times, one creative military strategy did not involve weapons at all. Yes, David was slinging stones at Goliath and hand to hand combat was the standard, but if you really wanted to defeat your enemy the objective was this:  stop up the wells of your enemy by loading the well with stones.  This would cut off the water supply and people cannot survive without water.  Once the enemy became parched, they gave up.  Those that refused to give up died of thirst.

Kids carry all kinds of stones with them.  These are stones that they shouldn’t have to carry, but they do.  You may not know about these stones, but believe me, they exist.  These stones block the flow of student learning and relationship building.  Kids in this school or any other school for that matter, carry these stones that weigh them down..  These may be stones of abuse , hurt, rejection, depression, or hopelessness.  Stones may be carried that are representative of poverty, hunger, neglect or a lack of love.  Some of these kids are easy to spot.  Some hide it quite well.  What are these kids looking for?  First and foremost, they are not looking for someone to add to their burdens!  They already have enough on their plates and are often ill-equipped to handle it.  You may not be able to remove all of the stones, but you can do SOMETHING.  Prevent abuse by accepting their answers in a class discussion and watch for any signs of bullying in the hallways.  Be the one that picks them up with a compliment or a smile.  Give them hope and build their confidence.  Be perhaps the only adult that wants to build a good relationship with them.  Show them how caring adults are supposed to act.  Alert the office if these kids need help with lunch money or clothing – there are things that we can do.  These kids are not our enemy and we should never desire to clog up their wells.  Some of them have only a trickle.  Let’s be part of the plan to open up the springs.