Today’s Thought “Corporal Punishment in School” G. Ward

2 Timothy 2:4 “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.”

Attending a parochial school for my generation carried a connotation of strong, disciplinary boundaries both educationally and morally. For my siblings and me the threat perceived by fellow students from varied priests or nuns was merely an extension of home boundaries (synonymous with The Gestapo of the 1930’s & 40’s – somewhat cynical). I avoided trouble for fear in being mis-handled (particularly by those instructors wearing those funny looking uniforms), but then there was that dreadful day while I was a third-grader whereby implicit instruction was given that no one should leave their seat and guess who failed to listen attentively to then rise and sharpen his pencil? My early years had personal prognosticators insisting I was going to be small in stature like my father and that woman took full advantage of that (50 years ago & I’m yet upset)! She (and no she doesn’t deserve a name – just kidding – Eph.4:26) snatched my arm practically out of socket (sometimes it still hurts) while my feet were dangling in the air to then throw me in my seat (that my parents paid for). Needless to say educational prowess on that day was extinguished by embarrassment and anger. Moreover, I was far too cute for that kind of handling (cf. Ro.12:3), but it enabled my subordination to my Master, whose rule is gentle and merciful, yet carries a horrid reverberation when any refuse the mandates given, while they can yet be investigated (*Ro.6:23).