And let us consider how we may
spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together,
as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more
as you see the Day approaching.
—Hebrews 10:24-25
Out of the mouths of babes. Out of the mouths of teenagers
(smh). For those of you not well-versed in text language, “smh” stands for “shaking
my head.” It took me a while to catch on
myself, but as a teacher of teens, I need to keep up.
Yes, I shake my head at what comes out of their mouths, but
the truth is some of what they say gives me pause—like their responses to a
recent assignment. Given a three-column chart, students were directed to
identify and classify ten structures they pass on their way from home to
school. In the third column, they were
supposed to describe the purpose of the structure.
While I expected that many would list a nearby church in the
first column, I did not expect how they would fill in the remaining
columns. Some classified the church as a
commercial building. And others described it this way: “To worship your religion,” “To worship
religions,” “To practice religion,” and “For people to feel holly [sic].”
