God Said What?

A student made my day today. He said he should have dropped out last year before he met me. He came to that conclusion after sparring with me two different times over his stated decision to drop out of high school. He was certain it did not matter to anyone else and that he was the only person affected by his decision. He continually insisted that it was his decision, but he would not stop arguing with me about the idea of dropping out. He could not accept my disapproval anymore than i could accept his decision. He wanted someone to talk him out it, someone to not give up. He made the mistake of saying that maybe God put me there to tell him to drop out of school. It did not take long before he realized that making that comment was even worse than saying he decided to drop out. I think he does have a better understanding of social justice now. I pointed out that since he had brought up God, all was fair game and he was in for a sermon. And I began to preach. I connected everything I had already said to him about staying in school to social justice. Lifetime health. Family stability. Living wages. Doing what is right. Every one of them come with social justice implications. And every one of them linked to education. He never saw the sermon coming. God was his trump card. He was not expecting a pair of Gods to match and raise. Our first conversation ended with him walking out of my office. The second conversation ended with us laughing together and agreeing to meet again in the next week. He still insists he is going to drop out. I still insist he is going to graduate - from somewhere. I look forward to more sparring with him when he returns to my office. One thing I am certain of is that he will not be using "God" and "dropout" in the same sentence.