A Teacher's Prayer

They will call me Teacher and expect marvels from me,

Hate when I am right, despise me when I am wrong.

They will cut their adolescent teeth upon my sensitivities.

They will reject me and call me fool.

They will try to shock me with their disbelief, real or imagined.

They will, in turn, come to me with tears when belief fails them.

They will depend on me and hate me because of their dependence.

They will rejoice with me about themselves and see that I, too, need to rejoice about myself.

They will bid me, grow from the substance of my life and be unaware of it.

I cannot go on this road alone, Lord.

I need a sense of someone caring,

Someone helping,

Someone showing the exuberance and the joy, the pain and the humiliation.

Help me when the going is right.

Rejoice with me when I feel I have the world at my feet.

Weep with me when my dreams shatter into bits of crystal.

Above all, be with me.

May I, too, be full of grace and be blessed

And may the fruit of my work be blessed too!!