This post comes from Jason Ayres. Our wonderful, long-running, long-faithful SRE teacher at Maroubra Junction Public School….
"When the LORD saw that he had turned away from the flock to look, God called him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."
Exodus 3:4.
In twenty years of teaching Scripture lessons, this year is one of the more challenging.
Well, to be more precise, some of the kids are more challenging, and solely by the grace of God, I feel called to face the challenge.
The behaviour of a small group of children is challenging, but more challenging are some thoughtful questions, and the odd challenging statement about what Mum or Dad has taught them at home, or wherever they were taught to say, "It's just a bunch of myths", and, "It's all just like cartoons".
An eight year old confronting me about myths!
Alright, kids. For the rest of the year, it's just the Bible and an illustrated book on Biblical Archeology.
I really dig archeology! (-an old person's joke there)
Old person's jokes aside, I believe God calls us all to turn away from our "flocks"- the hurried, the important, and the trivial things of life - and listen in.
Life is so noisy, "I can't even hear myself think" sometimes.
But Moses said, "Here I am", and look at how the tide turned for him and the Israelites after that particular conversation with God.
For me, taking a walk in the park is no "walk in the park". It's often jammed in between one errand or task and another.
Recently, however, I was walking in a local park and praying for guidance on how to teach the kids this particular lesson, and happened to look up at the afternoon sun, with such "burning" colours that mixed with the top of the gum trees. I felt compelled to sit down and shut up, or shut down and sit up, and quietly pray, "Here I am".
And yet, there are certain times when I feel that I'm "not all here", and isn't that just like.. wandering in the wilderness!
"Hear I am", or "not all here". I know which has been more beneficial to me.