Venturing out of Safe Harbor

I recently came upon this prayer poem attributed to Sir Francis Drake. It reminds me of one of the more difficult aspects of our job here at EDS. In the context of a loving, nurturing, safe school, we are also called to challenge students, to draw them out of their comfort zones, and to assist them in taking risks that sometimes lead to frustration and failure. We are called sometimes to rattle their complacency, challenge their assumptions, and, yes, at times to even disturb them. If we don’t stretch them now while they are most malleable, if we don’t expand their dreams toward eternity now while time is on their side, then when will it happen? With God’s help and grace, we are helping our children build foundations for learning and for life – upon which they will build lives of meaning and purpose. We sometimes forget that can be difficult, scary and unsettling – as it should be.

Disturb us, Lord when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we have arrived safely
Because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision of the new Heaven dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of and,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength courage, hope, and love.