Only this I want

 

I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything, and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him.

Philippians 3:8 - 9

None of us was born speaking English. We learned over the first years of our lives – we developed a vocabulary, a sense of grammar, strung sentences together, explored its peculiarities in rhyme and rhythm, nonsense words, prose and poetry and song. In time we became experts, so we could judge nuance and generality, succinctness and verbosity, sincerity and arrogance.

Our parents generally taught us the essentials about healthy eating, road safety, sun safety, good manners, how to clean up our rooms, manage our income, stand up for ourselves, share our stuff, behave at Grandma’s and a myriad of other things that enable us to be productive members of our families and communities.

And yet, there are some things that parents don’t prepare us well for at all – and often it’s not because parents deliberately avoid them, it can often be that we just don’t know that it matters. Just one of those things is religion. Religion is learned, it is passed on from generation to generation, person to person. Like language it has to be lived every day, practised – but also questioned, explored and examined so that fine details are teased out, the characters are alive, the rites and rituals make sense and link with the patterns of the lives of those around us – and all of this goes to nourish the growth of faith. I have met many people who want their children to choose their religion. That is all and well, but there can be no choosing if a child has no choice. Children cannot be presented at school because they have not been taught to speak because parents want their children to choose their language. Religion is the language of the heart and it takes many years to uncover it riches.

What is it you really want to pass onto your children. Something that will be passed on for generations? What is the capacity of the familial stories you tell? Will they impact, challenge, change and transform individuals and communities, transfigure, invigorate, be life-giving?

Many children and a great many adults know the intricacies of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings and can talk day and night about their meaning, the analogies and metaphors, writing styles and yet disconnect from the great stories of our most powerful religious and cultural text, the Bible. St Paul’s advice is clear as a bell, learn what we will at home, school or university, but nothing can outweigh the advantage of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.

Peter Douglas

HEAD OF SCHOOL SERVICES, NORTH

A ritual to read to each other  

by William Stafford

  
If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.

For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
storming out to play through the broken dyke.

And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,
but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.

And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
a remote important region in all who talk:
though we could fool each other, we should consider--
lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give--yes or no, or maybe--
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.

 William Stafford (The Way It Is)

PETER'S WHEREABOUTS FOR THE NEXT 2 WEEKS:

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Transforming the TWC meeting space

Photos by Bobbi-Jo

The corridor space outside the  meeting room has now disappeared; the photocopier room extended by taking out the bathroom and opening the space up for better movement around the office.

ELIM at Mulgoa

Many Tasmanian Catholic principals attended ELIM in the '90s and early 2000s. I was in the class of 2004. It was an outstanding experience. ELIM is now providing its outstanding course to Assistant Principals. Worth looking at if you have the wherewithal! 

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