I teach Sex Ed. (I've blogged about it before.)
In my class I do my best to welcome questions. I even have a system so they can ask questions anonymously. Sometimes they're silly, sometimes repeats of what I just taught, and sometimes they push me way outside of my comfort zone.
But I insist on engaging with them. We can bury our heads in the sand and pretend that our children don't have questions, or we can take them on an struggle with them.
Sometime I really struggle with them.
This past week I had a question about divorce. I did my best to answer it, but it didn't go very well. I have students in my room who have lived and are living the story of divorce. I tried to be as sensitive and balanced as I could be. But somewhere something went wrong.
So here I'm going to try to write my thoughts about divorce. I haven't been through one. I've only watched from the sidelines. So take what I say with a grain of salt.
I think that divorce is not part of God's plan for the world. In God's perfect world there will be no divorce. We don't like in a perfect world. Divorce should not be, but sometimes they are necessary. Divorce is a necessary evil.
Let me use some illustrations to get the idea of necessary evils across.
I think that locking someone up for life and throwing away the key is evil and wrong. But sometimes, there are people in society for some reason or another need to be put in prison. Jail should not be, but sometimes is necessary.
I think that all weapons that kill or harm human beings are evil and wrong. But police officers need guns to keep the peace. Soldiers need weapons to maintain our freedom. Farmers need a gun to put down the horse that broke its leg. Guns should not be, but are sometimes necessary.
I think that marriage is two flesh becoming one and what God has put together let no human separate. But sometimes there is abuse or other situations that mean a marriage must end. Divorce should not be, but sometimes they are necessary.
I don't pretend to think that real life is simple. Questions like these I wrestle and struggle with. I often wonder what God sees when he looks at the mess we make of his world. But I know that he is a God of love and that he sees more than I do.
This is my professional Blog where I share my personal thoughts on education.
Dear Christian School Teacher;
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your honesty and willingness to struggle with the harder questions.
However after reading your blog I cannot help but feel there needs to be more said on the question of divorce, rather then leaving it as simply a 'necessary evil'.
You have clearly noted the brokenness of the human race as the root of all necessary evils - but that is not the end of the story!
God is not simply watching us making a mess of the world - He is in the middle of it all, actively bringing about redemption for all His people. And He has the capacity to bring blessings out of the darkness.
When we invite God into our broken lives - anything is possible. What we, as humans, can only see as limitations or necessary evils, God is capable of seeing beyond and redeem so that beauty is the end result.
And the wonderful thing of it all, is, this is available to us all - not just those who are divorced!
So let the last word on 'necessary evil' be as it is written in Isaiah 61:3
"To all who mourn in Israel, he will give beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of despair. For the Lord has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory"
As a Christian community we can with confidence be involved with raising our children into 'strong and graceful oaks' - because we know who the real author, in each of their stories.
Blessings to you as you continue in your work - may you be blessed with the vision to see God's redeeming presence in each child's life.
Beautiful!
DeleteThank you. That was the piece I was struggling with how to express well. God brings us hope even in this broken world. Thanks for adding this. It adds exactly what I was missing.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete