This prayer is not for everyone.
Parents, administrators and students have their own laments right now. Those cries have definitely come from inside my own house, but this prayer isn’t for you.
I have heard from teachers who feel safe in their schools, listened to and cared for by their administrators, and appreciated by parents for the work they do. I’ve also heard from teachers who don’t think Covid-19 is a big deal. This isn’t for you, either.
This one is for the teachers who are frustrated, overwhelmed and scared by what’s being expected of them. The ones whose voices haven’t been heard, not only during the Covid-19 crisis, but also for the decades since the feminization of the profession. The current pandemic is not the first time that teachers’ well-being has been an afterthought.
You can download the prayer here.
A Teacher’s Lament for the Disregard of her Well-Being
In a system built on power over,
who will listen to the voices
echoing down the hallways of our schools?
Where will my help come from?
I will raise up my voice.
I will speak the truth of our days.
We have been abandoned and betrayed
by the ones who claim to have our backs.
With one breath they hang banners in our honor
and with the next they send us to play
a game of chance with our wellness.
They keep a safe distance,
behind our bodies, their titles,
and layers of red tape.
They set their guidelines but do not uphold them.
They make promises and forget
that such things require funding.
Do they consider us so insignificant,
expendable and replaceable?
When tensions rise and decisions must be made,
they are deaf to the cries from the classrooms.
We are here and we know the realities,
yet rarely do they ask
what we believe is right or good.
Instead we are told,
and to respond with anything
but compliance
is considered lazy,
uncaring, and uncommitted.
We want to be with our students
and do our jobs,
but must it cost us our lives
and endanger the ones we love?
We are cast as villains,
while the enemy lives on
in the air we breathe.
My hope comes from you, Lord.
They are deaf to our cries,
but will you hear us?
Turn to us and consider our pleas.
We need protections
and the funding to keep them in place.
Draw boundaries around our spaces and our health.
Hear me, Lord, and I will give you the glory!
Preserve my life, and I will serve you!
Amen.