Smiling Young Faces: In Whose Image?

Picture retakes took place today, offering some students or staff who were not pleased with the original image captured to “try again” at striking their best smile for posterity.  A blink, a crooked smile, or an awkward head positioning is hardly how we want to be remembered after all.  The photo company provides me with a “principal brag book” which has class pictures of each grade and includes the staff group shot. I look through it from time to time throughout the year and can’t help but smile when I do. Tracking the growth, inward and outward, of our students is part of what makes a school a wonderful place to be.

High-tech camera gear captures their image, but it is worth remembering the author of that image.  Genesis one reminds us that God man people in his image, one of the key things that distinguishes us from the rest of creation. So what does it mean that our students, your children “bear God’s image?”

To start, here are few ideas. It means our students:

·         have as their life-long goal (like us) to glorify God and enjoy his goodness forever

·         are tasked and equipped by God to be captivated by his world and care for it with  a love modelled by its creator

·         are more than the sum total of their emotional, physical, and spiritual selves. They are dearly loved, intimately known, and have a specific purpose – all known by the creator they reflect.

·         are able to create things in ways that reflect the way our creative God who fashioned the universe

·         are in relationships with many people, in the same way God connects with his world and his people every day

As I enjoy the picture records of beautiful smiles, carefully chosen clothing and groomed hair for years to come, I’ll be sure to appreciate the picture, but more importantly I’ll praise God for the image-bearers I had the chance to be with every day.  SJ