Prayers for community, children as school starts
My children are young, precocious, and curious. I pray that those who care for them are wise and faithful to their duty of care.
To my children and all children: May the Lord keep you safe from harm and unnecessary sickness and suffering. I pray that those whom I entrust your care are free from acting on their selfish desires. I pray that they place your safety and wholeness above any convenience, attitude, or misdirected beliefs. May your small and fragile life be seen and matter.
May those around you care as much for you as they do for themselves. I pray that your friends’ parents make wise choices for their own families and extended community. I pray that all who work in your school understand that you are both loved, and your own person entitled to safety, care and protection.
May the adults in your life be discerning. May they seek truth and disregard misinformation. May they be wise and counsel only from the wise. May they be driven by love of neighbor and not by love of self.
May the adults in your life keep you under their watchful eye. I pray that they find the energy and focus to not only guide you through typical childhood development but through this atypical time of pandemic and disease.
May those in authority over all of us set aside their pride and vanity and make wise choices for the promotion of not only public health but for the protection of not only my children but all children. A Father’s Prayer, by Jose Rodriguez To my son and daughter, may you make right choices to keep your neighbors — your friends and all who work in your school — safe and secure.
For all school staff:
May the Lord bless all our families and neighbors. May your labor be honored. May our families do all that is necessary to protect your health and families. I pray that we repent from our selfishness and seek to live in a manner that honors the least of these, from the children in your care to you.
May my fellow parents advocate for your life and health the same way they advocate for their own freedoms and their children. I pray that at school you feel loved, safe, encouraged and appreciated. May feelings be made manifest through tangible acts that promote not only your wellbeing but prosper you.
May our children be taught to respect you. May they see in you not only a trusted caretaker but a caretaker who is supported. May our children be taught to love you receive your gifts as a blessing in their lives.
May all who enter your facilities honor the sacredness of our schools and the gift of your vocations to care for our children. May you be treated as a trusted partner and not an adversary. May your dignity always be honored. May the sanctity of your life be cherished.
May those in authority of you care for you with the same duty of care you care for our children. May those in governance over all of us seek to provide you the same shelter of protection you provide our children.
Together, we pray for our governor, Ron DeSantis. May the Creator give him true wisdom to execute his duty of care to all our children. May he live into the values of caring for the least of these and always uphold the biblical call to promote healing through promoting public health. May he see beyond the politics of the age and take on the mantle of the good shepherd to protect our children, their families, and their caretakers by encouraging simple but effective practices. May he set aside all political ideology and embrace the values of God’s kingdom by embracing the sanctify of each life in our schools — the child, the family, the educator and caretakers (the workers), and the greater community. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. Jose Rodriguez is the Vicar of Iglesia Episcopal Jesús de Nazaret and was a 2020 finalist for Central Floridian of the Year. Heather Washburn-Rodriguez is a working mother. They are the parents of Eric, Elijah and Eva.