Rest In Peace

This phrase, originally in its Latin form, Requiescat in pace, uses the optative form of the verb making it a wish or a hope. The phrase is traditionally used on tombstones as an abbreviation of the prayer ending a burial service in the Catholic Church. The full prayer is translated "May his soul and the souls of all of the departed faithful by God's mercy rest in peace. Amen." I realize that the wish has really everything to do with the after-life in a desire for others to avoid eternal damnation. As much as that is at the heart of my desire for every person....especially those near and dear to me, my desire is SO much bigger than that!

Recently, I lost a friend of mine. Well, I didn't misplace him, and he didn't disappear to wherever my socks go when I put them in the dryer (the ones that don't seem to make it out). It's odd trying to even talk about the complexities of life...and especially death. And in being honest, I really felt like I actually "lost" this friend long before he...*sigh*

I have trouble finishing this statement. Passed away? Died? None of those seem to fit. He killed himself. While it seems impolite or abrupt to say in most circles, it's real. It's what happened. He couldn't take what his life was anymore, so he actually took his own life. THAT phrase works! That's exactly what he did. He "took" his life. I have always stood by (and still do) the understanding that suicide is not a solution. Suicide will never find resolution. But...again, he was gone long before that actual incident.

He CRAVED peace...in such a heart-wrenching, real, down to the very marrow of his bones kind of way. He longed for it, he searched for it, he studied it, taught about it, helped others find it for their own lives, prayed about it....and oddly enough, fought for it regularly. What he needed during the last part of his LIFE, more than anything, was to rest in peace. And I truly believe that simple fact is what drove him (in his then present state of mind) to give up, and to give everything up. He wanted peace. No, it was much bigger than that. He NEEDED peace. He had a living relationship with God in a very real way, so this was much bigger than avoiding Hell. He needed peace in LIFE. He needed it NOW.

Why do we wait to wish others such a wonderful thing? I hope our spirits never see the unrest and pain that my friend carried throughout every part of him in every moment. But no matter what you go through, my wish for you is peace. I hope you are able to rest in peace now.....not wait until everything is said and done. My wish for myself is the same.

My wish for my dear friend is also the same...I hope he rests in peace. May his soul by God's mercy rest in peace. Amen.

The Power of an Education

After a day of using my best manipulation skills and every song and dance I could muster to somehow trick students into learning, I went to the mid-year graduation and was reminded of the truth behind what I keep telling my students over and over.

They actually DO get paid to come to school.

After completing the job, they are paid a wage that Uncle Sam will never tax, that no debt collector can "repo", that they can never lose or even gamble away. There is no bad choice or mistake that they can make or decision that any outside force or "the man" can enforce that will ever take away what they have earned. How powerful is that? The diploma that those kids received last night is SUCH an accomplishment, that they have been working their whole life to achieve it; it is SUCH a triumph, that it will last their whole life no matter what.

In a world where everything we work for seems to already belong to someone else, their education will be theirs forever. It enables them to go further into higher education, be looked at for better jobs, serve our country and protect our freedom....and for some of them, it simply enables them to see that they CAN do something right. For some of those kids, no one in their family has ever earned this power. For some of those kids, they make bad choices EVERY day that defeat them and show them over and over they cannot accomplish greatness. For some of those kids, no one believed that they would finish.

This is the power of an opportunity.

This is the power of victory over at least one bad choice.

This is the power of believing they are worth it.

This is the power of a difference.

THIS is the power of an education.

After a day of using my best manipulation skills and every song and dance I could muster to somehow trick students into learning, I went to the mid-year graduation and was reminded of the truth behind what I keep telling my students over and over.

They actually DO get paid to come to school.

After completing the job, they are paid a wage that Uncle Sam will never tax, that no debt collector can "repo", that they can never lose or even gamble away. There is no bad choice or mistake that they can make or decision that any outside force or "the man" can enforce that will ever take away what they have earned. How powerful is that? The diploma that those kids received last night is SUCH an accomplishment, that they have been working their whole life to achieve it; it is SUCH a triumph, that it will last their whole life no matter what.

In a world where everything we work for seems to already belong to someone else, their education will be theirs forever. It enables them to go further into higher education, be looked at for better jobs, serve our country and protect our freedom....and for some of them, it simply enables them to see that they CAN do something right. For some of those kids, no one in their family has ever earned this power. For some of those kids, they make bad choices EVERY day that defeat them and show them over and over they cannot accomplish greatness. For some of those kids, no one believed that they would finish.

This is the power of an opportunity.

This is the power of victory over at least one bad choice.

This is the power of believing they are worth it.

This is the power of a difference.

THIS is the power of an education.