Butterfly in the Wind

  Church,  église, kerk, or iglesia...are the same place around the world. Working at an elementary school for the past 7 years I have learned that many children do not know what a church is. Only 22 % of Americans polled in 2021 attended church. 31% said that they had never attended a church. Of my student body I would say that only 31% have ever  attended a church.  Many of the 2nd graders can not read the word Church at the beginning of the year and few know what it is. In Europe less than 5% a re reported to attend church. The bells are ringing, but no one is listening. The Bell of St. Luke's in Redding Every Sunday we begin our service with the call to worship of the church bell at St. Luke's. So few people answer the call, but there was a time in history when many people would come when the church bells rang. in 604 Pope Sabastian blessed the ringing of the first official bells in Europe. The tradition in Europe remains and many church bells ring throughout the contine

  Times have changed since schools used a real bell and real globes.    The school bells have been quiet through the summer. I spent most of Summer Break working at the school as a summer custodian. No fire drills, no bells, and no lock down drills (The lock down drill sound is the same as the old air raid siren and goes on for 7 counts.) However, it was not quiet on campus as we housed a summer camp until the end of July. The camp was contained to certain parts of the school as we cleaned.     Each classroom was dusted from ceiling to floor. Each window was wiped down and washed, and at least one replaced. Every desk and chair was inspected and disinfected. Many of the desks got extra TLC to remove marker, pencil, or glue. Finally, we vacuumed and shampooed the carpets. The fellas specialize in stripping and waxing floors in the gym and cafeteria, so I got to do a few rooms top to bottom and shampoo all by myself this summer. It gives a great sense of accomplishment.    This summer I