On this occasion of the start of second grade, I post this prayer. My Mom's Dad, my grandfather, was a true academic. When he got home from work, he didn't ask, "What chores did you do?" He'd ask, "What have you read?" This was his favorite hymn. I pray this for the boys, that they would pray this in their year.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me show love;
where there is injury, pardon:
where there is doubt, faith ;
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
