This morning was a great introduction to the unseasonably warm day promised by the weather forecasters. As is often the case, I woke up thinking about you. I am writing this letter because God has given me a strong affinity for you. Having spent all my adult life working in school systems on the east and West Coast, I have been invested in every aspect of your development and have noticed a few things. You are exceptional. You are a bright and enterprising. You are fearless and determined to make a difference in this world. You are making demands for change and are being heard. Technology has thrust you into a new and exciting place that your ancestors could only imagine. It has also created challenges that you will need to conquer and tame for the next generation.
We are all products of our parents or parental figures. In a perfect world, they saw you as a bundle of joy and amazement when you came into the world. Hopefully they possessed the skills to raise you in the manner intended by God. Jesus gives an example of how important you are in Mark 16: 13-16.
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
In the real world, some of you did not receive the love and direction needed to navigate through the bumps and bruises that life has strapped to your young shoulders. You weren’t weak. We didn’t supply the instructions or walk you through the practice sessions that would have nailed your success. Some of you have repeatedly asked “Why” questions about your circumstances and have given up on trying to find the answers because of our dishonesty–intended to shield you. Many of you are struggling to know who you are beyond the personas fabricated for social media. For some of you, the word “Love” has become just another four-letter word to be avoided for and eternity. For this I am incredibly sorry. You deserve more. We failed you in more ways than can be included in this letter.
Please don’t interpret our shortcomings as a measuring stick of your worth. You deserve to have moments of anger toward us and doubts about whether to trust us. You deserve to have moments of wanting to give up. But more than that, at the end of the day, you deserve to search for and discover God’s faithfulness. He has brought you through every crappy situation. He has steadied your footing as you climbed every mountain in your life. God has closed the mouths of lions and tigers when they were on the verge of devouring you for dessert. And when you felt as though you were surely going to drown–flailing and going under for the last time–God lifted you from water’s depths.
God has kept you alive and granted you memories of triumph that can never be taken from you. He preserved you for this time and season. The time is coming when the survival tools required for this country will be in your hands. My wish is that you discover and develop the unique 20th century skills given to you by God. My prayer is that you will continue to seek wisdom from Him and from those younger and older individuals He will send to walk with you.
Sincerely,
Dr. P