Family Spirituality

Prayers for and about the family

Parents' prayer at the beginning of a school year

Thank you God, for fresh starts

God bless this brand-new backpack, filled as it is with survival gear for the year to come.

Bless the pristine paper, the uncreased texts, the pencils whose erasers have yet to be rubbed raw.

Bless the workbooks and the notebooks, both the three-ring binder and the spiral variety.

Bless the pencil case and protractor, the sharpener and the compass.

Bless the thermos and the sandwich bags and the unbruised apple, gleaming and firm.

Bless all 84 crayons, each with its own contribution to make.

Bless the hands that will use these tools and the minds that will imagine how.

Bless the hearts that will guide our children—and the ache in our own hearts as we watch them leave yet one year more.

© 2000 Tom McGrath

Back to Spirituality Index