Who can guess which school handbook has had the
following statement as one of its guiding mission statements?
"Let every Student be
plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his
life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John
17:3) and therefore to lay Christ as the only foundation of all sound knowledge
and Learning. And seeing the Lord only gives wisdom, Let everyone seriously
set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him (Prov. 2:3)."
Can you guess?
This is from the "Precepts" of Harvard University
written in 1646 as one of the guidelines for why Harvard was founded.
Originally, Harvard was a college for training ministers, but note what
the precept recognizes because I think it’s for everyone... that the "only
foundation of all sound knowledge and learning" is Jesus Christ.
Today, you have taken a risk. There are organizations that may question why a Christian minister would be asked to give a devotional to open a teacher in-service. In fact, it might be considered impolitic that I would even draw attention to this.
Rest assured. My initial
academic training was not in religion but in philosophy at Texas A&M.
As a philosophy major, I learned that everyone - no one excluded - has a
point of view. Even the great American philosopher of education - John
Dewey - recognized what he called our web of belief through which all
experience must pass and be interpreted. Everyone has a way of engaging
the world, thinking about their experience, anticipating outcomes, and even,
hoping for joys to come.
It has always struck me that the most honest thing we could ever do is own that perspective. If I'm a Muslim, confess that my Islamic beliefs and practices shape what I do and say. If I'm a Christian, acknowledge that my ways of believing did not form in a vacuum, but came through generations of believers who tried to faithfully interpret scripture and be true to the light of the gospel. If an agnostic or atheist, the most honest thing you could do is own the stream of thought that came before you through tradition of humanism.
No perspective is without its antecedents and without some
rich history of dialogue, practice, and belief.
Which brings me to the point I'd like to make this morning.
Who you are in the classroom, before your students, depends entirely on the person you cultivate OUTSIDE of the classroom. When you step through the doors of Alamo School each morning, you will bring with you your beliefs, your dreams, your hopes, your frustrations and your joys. You will bring a story of who you are and this story will teach every bit as much as the content you present in your classroom. What your students will learn from you and subsequently remember will no doubt be Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. But far more impacting will be your character, your compassion, and your courage. No one ever will object to this school being a place where Christ's compassion and love are poured out by everyone on everyone.
My six year old daughter - Neeley - is transferring this year from a small Christian school in Jackson to Alamo. She is for my wife, Susan and me, apart from our love of Jesus Christ, our first duty, our most important responsibility. She is our joy and she will become, with her brother Will - for whom we have the same feelings - the legacy Susan and I leave for the next generation after we leave this earth.
We entrust her to you for her education because we believe in you. We willingly move her from a school where people can openly teach Christian belief, to a school where people can courageously and compassionately LIVE Christian beliefs. We do this because we know many of you and we believe in you and what you bring to the classroom.
My prayer for you is that you find the opportunity to cultivate outside of the classroom the joy, the hope, the faith, and life of salvation and obedience - what those of us in the Christian faith call the "gifts of the Spirit - with which you will instruct and shape your students in the classroom. The greatest gift you could give this community is not necessarily a school that has the highest TCAP scores - even though those are good atta-boys to have - but children who are trained in every respect to take on the challenges we see facing our nation with the hope and confidence that they have received from us, our very best.
And I believe in this way, we will have fulfilled the goal
set for itself by Harvard in 1646 - that all learning must have its foundation
in seeking life's ultimate good - which for me, as it was for them, is Jesus
Christ, the son of the living God.
Let's pray.
Loving Father, this morning we pray your blessings and your
favor over the teachers and students of Alamo City School. We pray you protection and safety over them
this this school year. Keep them safe
and secure. We pray for your spirit of
generosity and joy to be poured out so that the atmosphere breathed inside
these walls is hope and love, learning through relationship and example, growth
toward strength and wholeness. Give us
all in this community a large vision of the importance of education and
teachers – who day in and day out pour out their lives so that our children
grow into life. Bless them through
Christ our Lord, Amen.
