Dec. 14, 2009 — Standing with us

A first-grade teacher asked her students what they wanted to be when they grew up.

One by one, each child got up and announced, “I want to be a banker like my father,” or, “I want to be a teacher like you, Miss Smith.”

The last child to speak was very shy.  He said, “I’m going to be a lion tamer in the circus. I’m going to face those animals with my whip and chair and make them leap through hoops of fire and obey all of my commands.

Seeing the disbelieving looks among his classmates, he added, “Well, of course, I’ll have my mother with me.”

Well, what we know is that we can tame the lions of our world when someone is standing with us. Which is why I carry a little pocket token with the inscription, “Lo, I am with you always.”

Just a thought. I'm Sid Batts from First Presbyterian Church in downtown Greensboro, fpcgreensboro.org.