Bertis Downs, a member of the board of the Network for Public Education, is a lawyer who lives in Athens, Georgia. His daughters attended public schools in Athens, where they thrived. Bertis spent his professional life representing the rock group REM. He now devotes most of his time to what he values, as a board member of NPE and People for the American Way. He is a wonderful person! On a trip to London, he visited the historic Church of St. Martin in the Fields. He thought about the famous quote from John Dewey about the best and wisest parent and did a mash-up with the prayer of St. Martin.
And we got this prayer from Bertis:
“It seems that John Dewey was Episcopalian, so I like to imagine him re-writing the St Martin’s Prayer for the World for school purposes:
“God, give us a vision of our public schools, where what the best and wisest parents want for their own children, the whole community and its leaders want for all of its children, leading to a world as your love would make it: a world where the weak are protected and none go hungry, uneducated or poor; a world where the benefits of civilized life are shared, and everyone can enjoy them; a world where different races, nations and cultures study and thrive and live in tolerance and mutual respect; a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love; and give us the courage to build it.
Amen”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Beautiful
Sounds like he rewrote the Beatitudes.
Take out the “god and his/her(?) love” and asking this god to “give us the courage” stuff and I whole heartily agree.
Duane,
That’s what Bertis wrote. I don’t censor you, and I don’t censor him. And I will not revise “God Bless America.”
Diane,
I didn’t mean that as a request to censor. What I meant was that for me (and many others) the god talk takes away from the writing as for me it refers to something meaningless. Sorry for the confusion as to my meaning.
It’s a prayer, Duane. . . .a petition to a higher power.
It’s Trinity Sunday (as was celebrated at the Episcopal church I attend today). This prayer emphasizes the Holy Spirit. People imagine the encapsulation of the Holy Spirit in different ways.
What word would you use for the higher power if not “god?” “Holy Spirit?” Just curious. Or would it be a prayer to mankind?
Since there is no “higher power” nor “holy spirit” nor “god” I prefer to eliminate that mythical thinking, at least from my brain and I wish others would also and learn to celebrate humanity for its own sake. Prayers mean nothing to me.
To each his own I guess but in the public schools we need to ensure that mythical god worship is excluded. Hey if folks want the god talk then they can send their children to sectarian schools.
Duane,
This is a beautiful prayer. And prayer can be a powerful thing, as it speaks to the Something Greater Than Me in all of us. All of Us. It reminds us that we are in this together, united as a human race, and that at least some equality, not total meritocracy or oligarchy, is ideal.
I too struggle with science versus religion. But whatever I believe about the origins and destinies of us, I remain willing to listen to better angels from both sides. … I admire your thoughtfulness, Duane. Your comments are always insightful and witty. And I worship all Greater Than Me ideas you have, no matter your choice of words to describe them. I worship the All of Us idea. That’s why I don’t believe in school “choice” or survival of the fittest in public education. I do not wish for my students to inherit the wind.
London is misspelled. Just wanted you to know in case you wanted to correct the error. Nice post! 💜
Lovely…I have the Dewey quote hanging outside my classroom door right under my room number for all to reflect on as they enter the classroom.
This prayer is beautiful. Thanks for sharing .
Beautiful prayer! Thank you for sharing it on your blog. One of my favorite poems is “The Winter of Listening” by David Whyte
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Deanna, may I add to your lovely post another favorite poem (sonnet)… “The heart in wonder, like a lonely wren” by Robert Nathan. He writes: “So, if you hear me, tell me that you hear, Lest I grow weary and forget to sing.”
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education.