November 2019: Counting Our Blessings

Dear Members of the Archmere Community,

 

My wife and I have been going through boxes of things that were stored for years in our closets, as we did some painting in our house over the last couple of months. We had several boxes of baby and children’s clothes, as well as sheets, towels, tablecloths, and other linens that were prepared by my wife’s aunt, who lived with us for a few years and passed away several years ago as she approached her 102^nd birthday. It was a nostalgic (and time-consuming) experience, opening boxes of items carefully wrapped in tissue and satin ribbon, precisely positioned with cakes of lavender soap still in their boxes to add fragrance to the items. Unfortunately, in some instances, time yellowed lace fringes on sheets and pillowcases, and many items were not “modern” or “wrinkle-free,” requiring a good bit of ironing, starching, and maintenance that often does not fit the lifestyle of younger generations.

 

On November 15, we started our Professional Day with Morning Prayer, as usual. Mrs. Meaghan Thomas, Community Service Coordinator and theology teacher, offered the reflection. She told stories about our students’ interactions with the children who go to the Knollwood Community Center each afternoon after school. She told the stories of how the children of the Knollwood community excitedly await the visits from our students, who toss the football, play “Barbies,” help with schoolwork, and are fully present and engaged with the Knollwood neighborhood children. She also explained how few resources the families of these children have, and how meaningful the visits from Archmere students and the support of the Archmere community are. I was truly moved by the reflection.

 

On Friday, November 22, we had a “Tag Day,” or “dress-down day” when students and staff were able to come to school casually, provided they had “purchased” a tag. The cost of the tag on this day was to donate food goods to make Thanksgiving baskets for ten families who live in the Knollwood community, and to help stock the Claymont Community Center Food Pantry and the Knollwood Community Center Food Pantry. Each year, the response from our school community has been wonderful.

 

In John’s (12:8), Matthew’s (26:11), and Mark’s (14:7) Gospels, Jesus says, “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” He is responding to those who are criticizing a woman for anointing his feet using perfumed oil, which was thought to be excessive since, it was expensive and could have been sold, with the proceeds given to the poor. These words of Jesus echo the book of Deuteronomy (15:11) which reads, “For there will never cease to be poor in the land; that is why I am commanding you to open wide your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in your land.” Jesus’ followers would have understood his reference to Deuteronomy, one of the books of the Jewish Torah, in which God is telling the Jewish people that if they organized themselves according to God’s law, there would be no poverty; however, because they do not follow God’s ways, poverty will continue to exist. Jesus is reinforcing that message in the Old Testament, in that, with this anointing, he is the Christ, “the Anointed One,” and only through emulating his life will equity and justice prevail, such that there will be no physical or spiritual poverty.  

 

What does following Christ look like nearly two thousand years after he walked among us? I believe it looks like tossing a football, playing “Barbies,” or reading stories with children who need a friend. It looks like tag days that raise food and funds for families that do not have enough to eat. It looks like gladly sharing of our overabundance of things stored up in our houses with those whose houses are bare.  

 

It also looks like offering love to those in need, not just things. Saint Teresa of Calcutta is often quoted as saying, “We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”

 

All of us face hardships and have hopes and wishes, perhaps for ourselves and for those we love. However, my prayer during this season is one of thanksgiving for all the blessings I have received, including the love and affirmation I have experienced among our Archmere community. I hope to “pay it forward.” May you find joy and satisfaction in counting your blessings as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year.