"Are you really sorry about that?" I asked. "Are you honestly going to try and never do it again?" The student grinned... and I think that told me the answer. :o)
Confessing our sins to God and to one another, and the offering and receiving of forgiveness, are at the very heart of the Christian faith. But they are not the end-goal. Living a sinless life is not the end-goal, the aim, the purpose in/of life. The end-goal is reconciliation.
Confessing our sins to God and to one another, and the offering and receiving of forgiveness, are at the heart of the Christian faith, the Jesus-Way, because they help us to be reconciled... with God and with one another. They help restore broken relationships, vertically between us and God, and horizontally between us and other people. And this is why we felt it important to include prayer stations around these themes.
Having said that, we really didn't know how the students would respond to the Be Sorry/Be Forgiven areas. People rarely like to admit that they've done something wrong, let alone own responsibility for what they've done and say sorry (and I'm probably one of those 'people'). And people often feel that they can't (or won't) let go of their anger and hurt inside them. We all know that it's not easy to say sorry, nor to offer forgiveness. Which is why we've been amazed at some of the cardboard-prayers that are now beginning to fill the prayer room.
Some, to be honest, are too personal to show here. It wouldn't feel right to do so, even though they were written in a 'public' prayer room. But here's a few that I think are OK... as you'll see, some are profound and beautiful and moving. And some are quite amusing. ;o)
"I'm sorry for being bossy."
"I'm sorry for back-chatting my mum and dad!"
"I'm sorry for being nasty to my family and not giving them as much help as I should."
"I am sorry for letting other people get to me making me think that I am weird, dirty, smelly, when I am not."
"I'm sorry for saying you made me ugly. Please forgive me."
"I'm sorry I stole my mum's shoes."
"I'm sorry for not looking after my hamster properly (he died)."
"I'm sorry for biting my sister on the nose when we were little."
"I'm sorry for feeling hate instead of love."
"I'm sorry, I didn't do it!" (What are you sorry for then?)
Our prayer has been that every student who wrote one of these cardboard-confessions will experience the comfort and peace and freedom that forgiveness brings...
Over the course of the day we hosted a year 8 R.S. class and a year 9 R.S. class, and then received about 40-50 students during the break and lunchtimes. Once again, many of the students expressed how much they liked the prayer room. And up to half of every class have put their hands up when we've asked, "how many of you have prayed to God for the first time this lesson?" And that's wonderful.
A few of the students have found the prayer room experience unexpectedly challenging and moving today... a few have even shed tears. It has been an honour and a privilege for some of the women on our team to pray simple prayers with each of these girls.
At the end of one of the lessons, the teacher himself seemed moved by the experience. As the students grabbed their bags on their way out, he whispered, "I think the school needs one of these prayers rooms all of the time."
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