The hallways and environments of The Way of the Shepherd are once again filled with children! Beginning September 10th, after giving some time for phasing into their classroom environments, the children will once again begin enjoying time in the Atrium each week. As we prepare there is much to be done! This year there will be an E1/E2 (Level II/III) Atrium on our North Campus. All summer, we have been working to prepare that space: a wall was taken out to connect two rooms, much painting was completed, the carpet was fixed and furnishings were added, arranged, and rearranged! The past two weeks have been a period of intense material preparation as all of the Level II / E1 materials (and several from Level III) need to be duplicated in order to serve all of our children on both North and South Campuses. What a gift to spend time working with the hand to “create” a space for worship and prayer.
It is Labor Day today and in the homily I heard at Mass this morning the priest spoke about how we often think of the weekend’s rest as preparing us for the week of work. He challenged that thinking, referring to Genesis where God created and worked for six days in order to introduce rest. We need rest…less as a means than as a goal! In the moment of Creation, God created a space in which we could live and work in order that we might take part in the highest work of liturgy and worship which are a participation in the eternal rest of Heaven. This reflection caused me to ponder how in the past few weeks I have been working to make and to re-make spaces into which the children (and I!) will be invited to come each week in order to “rest” with the Good Shepherd. What a gift!!