Raising Up a Generation

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Last week I worked on an America the Beautiful lesson about the administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. I included a section about the Supreme Court decisions in regard to school prayer in 1962 and school Bible reading in 1963. As I searched for an appropriate photograph to use as an illustration, I went to one of my many trusted sources, the Library of Congress.

I found a photo from 1966 that illustrated the Supreme Court decisions perfectly, but, alas, it had copyright restrictions. Though I can’t publish the photo, I can describe it to you. In the photo a teacher stood before her classroom with a large open book. Before her was a classroom of students. Following is the caption quoted exactly as I found it on Library of Congress (including the incorrect punctuation):

[Mrs. Mildred Gold reads literary quotes to her elementary students from, the book, “The School Day Begins,” which replaced the Bible in Pittsburgh classroom after the Supreme Court decision on religion in schools]

How heart wrenching that caption is. It seems that someone—the teacher, the school administration, the local school board perhaps—recognized the need to teach not only the heads, but also the hearts of the students. Therefore, they searched for a substitute for God’s Word. I wasn’t able to find The School Day Begins in my quick Internet search. I did find one book with that title, but its publication date was after 1966. I wonder if an author and a publisher quickly created the book for teachers to use as a substitute for the Bible reading that had once opened school days in Pittsburgh and other schools around the country.

As you know, literary quotes are no substitute for the living and active Word of God. Thank you, thank you for giving your children the training you are. God is counting on you to raise up a generation who knows what others need to know but do not know. Again, thank you.

As Jesus said:

Therefore, everyone who hears
these words of Mine,
and acts on them,
will be like a wise man
who built his house on the rock.
Matthew 7:24

 

 

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