THANK GOD FOR OUR SCHOOL!

Ecclesiastes 12:1, 9-14

  Many years ago a ship in route to Dapitan from Cebu sanked near Dumaguete City. A group of Silliman students came to the rescue. One particular student save 15 passengers. Twenty five years later during one celebration of Silliman University Anniversary, while a Board member of the School was relating the incident someone from the crowd shouted that the particular student is present. The speaker requested him to come upstage. The former student, now an old man was asked what stand in memory about the incident. The old man said, “Well, I remember vividly that no one of the 15 persons I saved came to give thanks.”

There is a popular hymn Christians love to sing entitled: “Count Your Blessings.” The last stanza says:

“So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged, God is over all;

Count  your many  blessings, angels will attend,

Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Ref.

Count your blessings, Name them one by one;

Count your many blessings, see what God has done.

Today is the day to count our blessings as a Christian Learning Center Family.

     First of all we need to turn to our parents and thank them for welcoming us into this world. We need to mention that we are grateful for their care, love and sacrifices. Without them we are not what we are today and surely we will not be what we can be. Our lives and our future depend so much upon them.

    Secondly, we need to acknowledge that the Methodist Learning Center is our second family and our teachers are our second parents. Through the name of the school alone, it expresses its perspective that everyone, you, is  literally a child of God. As a child of God you need to be cared, love and to be taught. You are to be prepared to fulfill God’s plan in your lives. Being grateful to the institution of the CLC is our way of affirming our support for all the things they are doing for the welfare of all of us.

      Thirdly, thanking our teachers and expressing our appreciation for their love and efforts that opened to us the riches of knowledge and inspired us to hunger for more is a fitting expression of our celebration today. 

      Of course smiling at our classmates and say thank you is an important aspect of celebration Without them our experiences in school will not be enjoyable and exciting.

      Of course the best of those that deserves our thanks is God. It is He who gave us life, and gave us to our biological parents. God has prepared the way for us top walked. God established the CLC even before you were born to be your school. This is the same God who will be with you through out your life, guiding, blessing, protecting and offering His resources for your needs and wants. The teacher who wrote Ecclesiastes exhort us, saying:

  “Keep your Creator in mind while your are young” 

        and then concludes his letter and said, 

   “Everything you were taught can be put in a few words, 

   ‘Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about’.” 

        I just arrived last week from the US. I have had the opportunity to hear the impact of the shooting made by children against children in Connecticut and in some area areas of the US..

      The Americans particularly school children are in shocked, hurting and are fearful. It is not so much of the material loss that matters. It is that they have not been prepared with spiritual strength to deal with such magnitude attack against them.

       You see US mainland is the center of the world’s financial power. It is where success is measured in money and power. They have relied on their financial resources to protect them. Now they know that their economic strength is not enough. “We are a spoiled people. We thought we can do it alone” says one New Yorkers. 

       Among those who volunteered to the rescue were counselors, consisting of pastors, priest, rabbi, deaconesses, and sisters. They gave encouragement, spiritual support, and served as listeners to those who were hurting. Their were an increased of suicide in the US but at the same time an increased of church attendance was also noted.

       This shows one important aspect of education that we need today: the education that is rooted in our faith in God, who teaches us that the purpose of life is to love Him and to serve our fellow human beings. Our profession and our resources therefore is to be used to fulfill God’s will and to serve the well being of our fellowmen.

       We are thankful that our parents, our teachers, and our school are united with this purpose to help us grow in knowledge and in our spiritual life. This will prepare us fully to take our place in our society and make our best contribution in life. 

        This is what we believe, you are not only God’s gift to us, you are also God’s promise to our parents, family and country. When you finished your education and start your profession, remember that God made you succeed in order that you will love Him and that you will be able to serve your fellow human beings for the honor and glory of God. Thanks be unto God!

So go, climb up the ladder of your educational quest, but remember, you are not alone, God is with you, and your parents will continue to pray for you. This is our faith, this is our hope and this is our prayer. Amen.