Amazing Peace

I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play;

In music sweet their tones repeat,

“There’s peace on earth, good will to men.”

 

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

“God is not dead, nor does He sleep,

For Christ is here; His Spirit near

Brings peace on earth, good will to men.”

                                            -Henry W. Longfellow –

The journey to the manger in the school Christmas concert can be anything but peaceful. Where are those props? How do you set up those risers again? Do we have enough programs? It’s not hard to end up in a spot where singing “peace on earth” feels like a living contradiction to what we feel. Perhaps that is because of the tyranny of the urgent that can consume us. Or, perhaps because we watch the “nations raging together” (Psalm 2:1) and our doubtful hearts worry that dark skies and dark hearts are winning the day.

Christmas in our Christian school ought to remind us that our faith is characterized not only by the “Amazing Grace” we sing of often, but also “Amazing Peace.” Though they may be fleeting, the moments in our lives where we experienced that peace are worth pausing for. Quiet snow falling, a sleeping infant, a musical moment of awe and reflection, or the hum of the road in a darkened car returning from a family outing - these all are a foretaste of the “perfect peace” that will one day characterize every day, every place, for every one of God’s children. I think peace is something you feel more than you understand.

May God grant us moments of that “peace that transcends understanding” as we tell the most amazing story: God took on flesh and became one of us. Now that is a source of amazing peace!

SJ

What gift to give?

A bedtime Christmas family favorite is “The Crippled Lamb” by Max Lucado. It tells the story of Joshua, a lamb who didn’t fit in, was broken, and he had nothing of value to offer the newly arrived King. I won’t share his gift so you can enjoy the story for yourself if you haven’t already, but the gift was one that he hadn’t even considered to be valuable.  

Perhaps the most true delight of Christmas gift-giving (not gift-getting) is in recognizing the ability to give something that resonates with who you are and what you believe is important, and then imparting that gift to someone else in way that is a rich blessing to them in ways they didn’t expect. 

We are so grateful at LCES for the many gifts we receive year-long. Time is one of the greatest gifts we are given by volunteers who offer the work of their hands in support of who we are and we what we stand for; we teach children to acknowledge and follow the Lord as they learn.

We’re also thankful for students sharing their gifts and talents. I can’t wait for the Christmas conert on Dec 20. Let’s rejoice together over the gift of God with us – Immanuel!
 

SJ

Hope and our Christian School

Did you know that two billion of the eight billion people on this planet don't have access to reliable electricity? Fuels for light are expensive, so darkness is part of their life in a different way than ours. It seems their reality is perhaps closer to the world of the people of Israel as prophecies of Isiah mentioned "for those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine." (Isaiah 9)

Hope is the first bold candle of advent that many church traditions will light to pierce the darkness this Sunday.

A biblically grounded concept of hope runs deeper than a strong wish. The Bible assures us that our hope is a sure thing. Jesus has already won, and we are renewed creations! This world belongs to God, in its entirety and we are assured that there is nothing we can do and nowhere we can go that we can escape the Love of God. (Romans 8) What else do we need to know?

Christian schools, like ours, are places where that kind of hope is the anchor. Our Christian school teachers don’t see a group of students to manage for the day or even year, they also see future mechanics, engineers, mothers/fathers, social workers, electricians, politicians, web designers and accountants. They see them all with a grand vision implanted of hope for a world that is entangled with sin, but redeemed by Christ. Woven into the fabric of how the board and administration sustains this school is confident hope that God will provide for our parents, and as result bless our school with all its needs. Our children are free to embrace a certain hope in learning in these things: that this is God’s world, that Christ is enough, that they belong, and that they have a purpose in God’s kingdom.

We know the future will be great, because Christ is already there! That is what we celebrate this Christmas.

SJ

Walking Straight and Christian Education At LCES

I listened to a humorous podcast that talked about a series of experiments that were conducted in 1920’s and 1930’s about the ability of humans to walk straight without the benefit of sight. While blindfolded, and in several different locations, repeated attempts were made to have someone move straight from fixed point to fixed point without curving off to the side. Most test subjects were able to start off very accurately but, without a visual reference point, would veer off and eventually find themselves close to where they started. Results were much better when there was someone else speaking to them to give them an auditory reference point to gauge their progress.

What a great illustration for living together and having a place to belong as a part of learning. We need each other! Without the gift of others, we can easily veer off and find ourselves off track, or even worse, not make any progress. God’s gift of community is a blessing to us when we feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit though the words of others and feel comforted or inspired by their actions. We come to realize that we need one another more than we might have known, and are surprised by joy and the coming kingdom when we feel God working in us through others.   

May our children learn to walk well as they listen to voices around them at LCES.

SJ 

The Pain in Remembrance

On behalf of the school, my family and I laid a wreath at the downtown cenotaph last Saturday during the Remembrance Day proceedings. Gratitude for service and the high cost of freedom were certainly foremost in our minds as we wore our poppies and bowed our heads. The tears, barren tree branches, thousands standing in silence reminded us of the raw reality -wars and fighting remain, guns have not been silenced. We lament that conflict abounds nearby and far away from our home and native land. 

The grade three class led a service in in our school gym on Friday. Spoken words, songs, and visuals during the student-led chapel affirmed that we need to  “let the peace of Christ rule in [our] hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” (Colossians 3:15) 

That peace seems very elusive. Human suffering continues in the hands of tyrants, and so many wait for the kind of justice and peace that Christ commanded. Is there hope?

Yes! That peace of Christ comes to us as we pattern our lives after his gospel. I’m so thankful that the “message of Christ” is part of life here at LCES in the devotional and learning parts of every day. The coming kingdom of God with justice and peace for all is what we work for every day in each lesson and conversation, each challenge and success. May our students grow in wisdom that propagates peace and returns our world back to way God originally created it – beautiful, perfect, and filled with peace.  

The hope of advent is just around the corner.

SJ

Silent Guests in Grade Three

Grade three has been excited to have "guests" with them for much of this fall. These guests turn waste into something of value? Students check in on their guests frequently to see how they are doing, but never hear a peep from them. 

Who are these guests? Worms!

A worm hotel of sorts has been active in grade three this fall. Students are adding scraps, moisture, and are  turning the soil from time to time to watch how these decomposers work. This is an ongoing effort while students have been deep in the study of the distinction between dirt and soil as they learn about how God designs soil systems to work, and how we have responsibilities to be wise stewards. 

This is memorable learning that links students to God's amazing world. I can't help but wonder if this will be one of the things they recall later in life about their elementary school years. I'm thankful for these tangible, hands-on ways in which our students have the chance to grow. 

And I'm thankful for God's gift of worms. 

SJ

Bold Learning in Kindergarten

Our teachers have been deeply immersing themselves in professional development this year. One of the areas of exploration has been connecting our students with meaningful learning that solves a real problem, for real people. 

Notice (below) some of the amazing aspirations that our kindergarten team has for their students this year. So far, examples of them include creating the backdrop you see below (beautiful work), shared soup with people outside their family (building community), working through outdoor centre social realities (solve problems), and visiting the forest (explore God's world). This is high quality learning!

I'm very thankful for my parent's choice to invest in Christian education by sending me to the schools I attended. I am also thankful to see that Christian education continues to expand - both in terms who attends Christian schools and in terms of quality and value of what it has to offer to the next generation.

I'm filled with gratitude for the pioneering efforts in Christian education, excited by the courage and innovation of our professionals today, and have confidence in our schools' bright future. 

SJ