Many years ago, we moved
house suddenly due to the First Gulf War. In fact we were part of a swift
evacuation that involved leaving the country almost overnight with one suitcase
– which was packed with mainly baby supplies and photographs! While living in
Dubai all that time I ago, I had collected shells with my own children. Dubai
was a very different place then and the beach where we used to play is now home
to the Burj Al Arab! I was sad that we lost our shell collection because those
shells were part of our story. Shells have long been a part of people’s lives.
For early Christians,
the scallop shell was a symbol of pilgrimage. People who travelled and crossed
the seas would often bring a scallop shell home as a souvenir. The scallop
shell became the symbol of someone who was a pilgrim or who had journeyed with
God.
The wonderful website
Barnabas in Schools, which always has great resources, has a fabulous end of
year school service. I know that most of you have already written your End of
Year services and printed the prayers – but maybe save this idea for next year.
The Scallop Shell Service
idea is about using pilgrimage imagery to reflect positively on the past year.
“The end of the school year, like other
stages of transition, can be a bittersweet time of both looking back and
looking ahead, with wistful goodbyes and hopes for the future. Reminiscences
and regrets can blur. This idea helps you to celebrate the positive, place the
negatives in some helpful context and focus attention on going forward.”
If you are a priest,
you probably use a scallop shell when baptising a baby. You could show your
students the shell and explain that sometimes, when someone is baptised as a
Christian, the priest will pour water on their head with a scallop shell to
show that this is their first step in making that long life-journey with God.
The website gives you
an outline for a service and plenty of information. You could also have a scallop shell prayer
space where students reflect on their time at school by writing about their own
journey on cut out scallop shells. You could create an entire ‘beach’ with the
scallop shells of your students.
Remind the students
that some journey are difficult but we can persevere and be joyful as we remember the good
times. Mistakes are a part of our learning journey and help us to grow.
I know the plans I have
for you... They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future
and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11, NLT)
Jesus said:
Come to me, all you who
are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. (Matthew 11:28–29, NIV)
There are plenty of
articles online about the scallop shell to help you with your message. You may even know someone who has
walked the The Road to Santiago. Here you can read about St James and the scallop shell. The scallop shell is the iconic symbol of the Camino de Santiago.
I think the symbolism
of the shell is something with which children will connect and it will be an
image they will remember. Imagine sending off all your students on their summer
holidays, knowing that some will see a shell, pause, reflect and possibly even
think of their own journey with God!
