![\"Catholic](\"http:\/\/www.nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/P2020010-500x375.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This year I was asked to lead our school’s retreat. This was the opening I wrote for it.<\/p>\n
Genesis of the Catholic School Year<\/strong><\/p>\n
In the beginning
\nGod created the school year.
\nThe school year was without form and void,
\nand darkness was upon the face of the classroom;
\nand the Spirit of God was moving over the summer vacation.
\nAnd God said, \u201cLet there be fluorescent lights\u201d;
\nand there were fluorescent lights.<\/p>\nAnd God saw that the light was good.
\nAnd there was evening and there was morning, one day.<\/p>\nAnd God said, \u201cLet there be waxed floors\u201d; and there were waxed floors.
\nAnd God saw that the waxed floors were good;
\nAnd God separated the stacked chairs,
\nAnd arranged the desks.
\nAnd there was evening and there was morning, a second day.<\/p>\nAnd God said, \u201cLet the offices be open
\nAnd the people begin to gather into one place
\nAnd the secretaries appear.\u201d
\nAnd it was so.
\nAnd God said, \u201cLet the office put forth emails, binders, and folders,
\neach bearing fruit in the hearts of the students, parents, and teachers.\u201d
\nAnd the secretaries brought forth supply lists, packets, class lists\u2014
\nphotocopied, sorted, and stapled.
\nAnd God saw that it was good.
\nAnd there was evening and there was morning, a third day.<\/p>\nAnd God said, \u201cLet there be lights in the hallways and walls of the classrooms, and let them be for guidance and planning.\u201d
\nAnd it was so.
\nAnd God made the two great lights,
\nthe Mission Statement and the Student Learning Expectations;
\nAnd God set them in the hallways and walls of the classrooms
\nto give light upon the school
\nand separate the trivial from the important.
\nAnd God saw that it was good.
\nAnd there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.<\/p>\nAnd God said, \u201cLet the parking lot bring forth swarms of energetic teachers,
\nand let them descend upon the classrooms.\u201d
\nAnd it was so.
\nAnd God said, \u201cLet there be bulletin boards and name tags,
\ncalendars and religious corners,
\nto mark the seasons and spaces of the classrooms.\u201d
\nAnd God saw that it was good.
\nAnd there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.<\/p>\nThen God said, \u201cLet us make children in our image, after our likeness.\u201d
\nSo God created children in his own image,
\nin the image of God he created them.
\nGirls and boys he created them.
\nMusicians and athletes he created them.
\nReaders and gamers he created them.
\nDancers and poets he created them.
\nMathematicians and singers he created them.
\nNoisy and quiet he created them.
\nTall and short he created them.
\nFreckled and tan he created them.
\nADD and OCD he created them.
\nAutistic and diabetic he created them.
\nAnd God blessed them, saying, \u201cBe fruitful and multiply,
\nand also add, subtract, and divide.
\nDiagram and outline, take notes and exercise,
\npaint and experiment,
\nand sing.\u201d
\nAnd God said, \u201cBehold, I have given you fluorescent lights, waxed floors,
\nchairs and desks, class lists, binders, name tags, bulletin boards,
\nmission statements and student learning expectations;
\ncustodians, secretaries, teachers, administrators, pastors, parents,
\nthat you may become
\nfaith-filled Catholics,
\nlifelong learners,
\nand responsible community members.\u201d
\nAnd it was so.
\nAnd God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
\nAnd there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.<\/p>\nAnd on Labor Day, God finished his work which he had done,
\nand he rested on Labor Day from all his work which he had done.
\nAnd there was evening and there was morning,
\nand the school year had begun.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This year I was asked to lead our school’s retreat. This was the opening I wrote for it. Genesis of the Catholic School Year In the beginning God created the school year. The school year was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the classroom; and the Spirit of God was moving over the summer vacation. And God said, \u201cLet there be fluorescent lights\u201d; and there were fluorescent lights. And God saw that the light was good. And there was evening and there was...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[22,10,3],"tags":[513,514,412],"class_list":["post-2953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humor","category-spirituality","category-teaching","tag-genesis","tag-labor-day","tag-school"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/P2020010.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pOucj-LD","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2953"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2957,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2953\/revisions\/2957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}