Story Telling as Remembering at our Christian School

Why do we gather around cenotaphs, have parades, and lay wreaths each year? Watch a very young child take in such an event and see them absorb the atmosphere of remembrance and you will find the answer. Long before they can understand the depth of loyalty and the pain of sacrifice, young children notice that something happened, that it was important, and that people are deeply connected to it as the tears and silence become tangible.  

Since most of our students have no personal experience of war, remembrance requires the telling of stories. COVID will keep most of the country from being able to participate in remembrance in live group settings. In lieu of those moments, my encouragement is for families to spend time with stories that help us to remember, even as we mark the 75^th anniversary of the of the end of WW1 this year. (Here is a link to one of my favorite story tellers marking Remembrance Day. Story begins at 21:30).  

As a Christian school, helping our students to grow in wisdom means teaching the value of remembrance and the cost of peace. They will live beyond us in a time we will not see and take with them what they know of the value of that peace. Remembrance Day reminds us that our world bears the scars of deep conflict, and yet is entirely loved by its creator as it rests in his care. All wars will cease – we know the end of the story!

We will remember.

Students will be observing Remembrance Day on Wednesday within their classroom. We have been supplied with many excellent options from Veterans Affairs and other branches of the federal government. We are grateful for the gift of technology which can link us to live events in Ottawa or other teach selected options.

We will remember.                                        

SJ

A Lonely World and Our Christian School

Earlier this fall I watched “The Social Dilemma”, something that belongs to a category I’d never heard of - a “docudrama.” It is 90 minutes of thought-provoking exploration of social networking, information flow, and bias in our tech-intense world. With talks of elections in both US and Canada, it is cause for pause about how we know what we know. As in all things, balance and reflection are necessary to understand how it might shape the world of a Christian parent trying to raise children to love Jesus and exercise biblical wisdom.

There are more social media platforms than you can shake a stick at. Yet in our connected electronic age, people are living lives that are more separate from each other than they ever have been. People long to feel connected, known, and valued. A pre-Covid American survey in January of 18-22 year olds indicated 79% of them considered themselves lonely. (See this) I highly recommend this short small book for parents with children involved in tech in 2020.

Our school theme “The joy of the Lord gives us strength” (Nehemiah 8:10) urges joy derived outside of oneself. God’s original, pre-sin plan for humanity was fellowship – with him, and between mankind. Life becomes flat and incomplete when either or both of those break down. The Christian family unit and the vision of Christian education that we aim to support at London Christian Elementary hinges on the belief that we can be a blessing and will be blessed when we live and work together – in our case to care for God’s children.

SJ