Revelation 19:6-8
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,was given her to wear.
There is a feeling in the general community that secular state education is neutral and Christian education is partisan. However the real question is, can any educational system deliver education that is not shaped by the values and particular world-view of both the system and the teacher? To be frank, I believe the manner in which we teach any subject is saturated in a world-view.
For example, history is more than just a collection of objective facts but also about how we interpret them. We can ask, is history simply events determined by the decisions of humanity – are we in charge of our own destiny, or are greater forces at work? Is science the exploration of the chance events occurring over millions of years or is there a higher being at work? Any study of literature is the study of values, worldviews, hopes, aspirations and failures of humanity. A neutral objectivity is naive and foolish.
Why do I raise this question? There is an arrogant totalitarianism developing in democratic countries that suggests that the only truly valuable education can be pursued by the state – everything else is partisan. The reality behind this thinking is that mankind is “god”. We determine what is valuable and true. The majority rules. Somehow truth is determined by the greatest number.
Essentially the fundamental difference between Christian education and state education is the God/god that we follow. The God I follow has revealed himself in His Word and in His son. It is a truth that has withstood the test of time. The god of secular state education is determined by the values, votes and fashions of any particular era.
I know where my loyalty and faith lies.
Grover in Ostia Antica
I was looking for a photo and I came across one of my favourite Grover photos. Our blue travelling friend has a great sense of humour. He is itching for the next trip!
Now it is getting colder I like to remember the Alcazar in Seville, Spain.
The pulpit in the old church at Gamla Uppsala
“Deo Volente” is not a phrase used much nowadays, yet it speaks of a wonderful attitude.
Deo Volente, often shortened to D.V. simply means “God willing”. Like many Latin phrases its real meaning has been lost in the mists of time. “N.B”, “A.D.” and “C.V.” are just some other examples. In the past letters and messages were often annotated with “D.V.” It acknowledged that any human plans were subject to God’s will.
Deo Volente, at its heart, speaks of an attitude before God. It recognises that our plans are always subject to His will and purposes. God is sovereign and I am not. It is a phrase of humility and acceptance. Not resignation, but the acknowledgement that ultimately God’s purposes and plans far outweigh my wishes and petty ambitions.
It is also a phrase of comfort. Whatever happens in my life is not governed by fate or chance but is overruled by a God who sent His son to reveal His love for His children and who cares for them into eternity. It is a comfort because He has told me, that love is what He wills.
A wood carving in the Melide Museum, Spain, of boys playing marbles
When we were playing marbles around the the cypress trees at Ocean Grove Primary School, little did we comprehend how complicated life would become. Our only interest was winning, honing our skills and showing the other boys how clever we were.
There is an innocence and naivete in being young that is precious because once innocence is lost, it can never be regained. Innocence allows the young to wonder, imagine and rejoice in the world around them. This guilelessness makes wonder and exploration exciting and new. The ocean is a catalyst for stories and wonderful horizons, a forest, a place of scary stories and imaginary creatures … and so on.
It is bad enough that wars and famines destroy that youthful wonder daily, but even when we don’t have these monstrosities we still kill wonder. To put it coldly: too many of our young children know too much. They don’t have to wonder or imagine because it is all done for them. Television and the internet leaves nothing for their forming imaginations. But this loss of innocence is particularly noticeable when it comes to human sexuality. What the average 12 year old knows today far exceeds the knowledge of most 12 year old fifty years ago. Has this extra, early knowledge made for healthier adult humans? I don’t think so. It has tragically led to an overly sexualised society from our children up. Sexuality has lost much of its wonder, beauty and mystique. But I digress.
My plea is that we give our children room to wonder, imagine and explore without imposing upon them our adult understanding too early. That reality will come soon enough – we don’t need to rush it. Our kids need to room to imagine, explore and create – to reveal the world as they see it.
I wonder what Leonardo da Vinci’s childhood was like? I can’t imagine that his parents told him that his fantastical pictures of helicopters and machines were idiotic imaginings. He, I think, was allowed to wonder, and that wonder stayed with him for his whole life.
If your eyes are attuned, when you travel around France and Spain there are numerous signs indicating the Camino to Santiago. They are on walls, paths and buildings. They are a silent indication that you are on one of the many paths leading to the Spanish city of Santiago. But I had never noticed them until I had actually gone on a portion of the pilgrimage. After that, I bumped into these signs regularly – I began to notice them. Until I had consciously connected these signs with the pilgrimage, these signs were invisible to me.
We need to have this sense of attunement too, with the representation of Christ in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament, without seeing Jesus is, quite bluntly, a pointless book. The promise of Christ is the backbone that holds the Old Testament together. But when we start to look for him, he is not just in the promises and prophecies, but can also be glimpsed in key people (e.g. Moses – prophet, priest and king), ceremonies and rituals (the sacrifices in Leviticus find their reality in Jesus) and events (the exodus from Egypt and the entrance into the promised land declare so much about Jesus and the reason for his incarnation). The coming of Jesus, and Satan’s desire to prevent his birth is a continuous undercurrent that surges through the highs and lows of God’s people in Old Testament history. What if David had been killed by Goliath or Joseph had been killed by his brothers? What would have happened to God’s promises?
O.k. God is sovereign, yet we see that sovereignty against a backdrop of Satan’s hatred and humanity’s sin. The golden thread that draws the Old Testament into a unified story of God’s salvation history is the promise of Christ – the Messiah.
One other reason for recognising this important truth: it prevents the Old Testament from becoming just another version of a morality tale alongside brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. The O.T goes far beyond “daring to be a Daniel” or “having the courage of David” it is about God and his plans to see the King and the Kingdom come.
A book that does a wonderful job relating Jesus and his kingdom to the Old Testament is Graeme Goldsworthy’s Gospel and Kingdom. It has been around for a while yet it is still a great introduction to open ones eyes to Jesus, his kingdom and the way it is revealed in the Old Testament.
Gospel and Kingdom is a book I have purchased on a number of occasions and yet I don’t have a copy on my shelves because I have given it away or “loaned” it on numerous occasions.
I had intended to meet up with my uncle and aunt and as a consequence I found myself in a country town hall with 150 people dressed in orange clothes.
No, it wasn’t a Hari Krishna gathering, but rather, Dutch people from Western Victoria celebrating their origins with food and festivities in a small town called Timboon. It hadn’t been my intention to go there but that was where my rellies were going to be – the mountain and Mohammed and all that. Behind some trestle tables there was a roaring trade in Dutch foods – soups, bread toppings (Dutchies love there chocolate and candy sprinkles), biscuits and so on.
I knew I was among Dutch people. There were very few “please’s” and “excuses me’s”. Everything was stated in that unnervingly abrupt “take it or leave it” manner – not malicious just matter of fact! It is a way of conversing that makes our German cousins, in contrast, appear downright warm and friendly.
Some of the people, like me, were very young when they immigrated and yet here they were celebrating the coronation of a new king, doing quizzes about the Dutch royal family and trying to speak Dutch – asking each other what boat they came out on. Yes, most of us were 1950s boat people!
This unexpected experience was a bizarre reminder that our first few years can have such a powerful and life long influence on us. Most of these people have spent the vast majority of their lives in Australia and yet there is a corner of their heart that is always a flat, soggy, tulip infested part of Holland.
Well, I had better put aside the roll mops and zoute drop, find my clogs so I can go out and do some gardening in this blistering 10C heat!
I have been reflecting lately on the task of the teacher and how it has changed in the last 40 years. The most dramatic change in that time has been the growing instability of the family. I recognise that the family has always been a volatile place but its volatility has increased markedly.
Let me put my reflection succinctly: unless the child is remarkable, children's education is radically affected, in a negative manner, the greater the instability at home.
The shrew,
with her
icy breath
and
razor tongue
has finally
arrived.
