Reflections from the Year
The summer is usually a time of reflection and renewal for me. I look back over the year that was, and I look forward to what can be done differently and improved next year. And I go camping. Lots and lots of camping.
As I look back over my year that was, I have come to realize one thing, and it is best captured in a story.
I co-teach the 11th grade Bible course, which we call Junior Seminar. It is our worldview course, in which we ask students to know what they believe and to be able to explain those beliefs to others. At the end of the course, students do not have a traditional exam. Instead, their final takes place in the form of a conversation. We ask the ultimate questions: “What is truth?” “What makes something right or wrong?” “Who is God?” “Who is Man?” In a way that simulates a real conversation, students have to articulate what they believe, and they have to defend those beliefs as they encounter conversational resistance.
One student (who will remain unnamed) was so vulnerable and sincere in that conversation that it left a mark on me. There is much about Christian culture that has bothered him over the years, and there is a lot about the culture at FRCS that has bothered him. At one point in the conversation, I asked whether or not he was a follower of Christ. His answer was decisive: “I want to be — because of Junior Seminar.”
He found the freedom that exists in asking the ultimate question; he found the substance that exists only in the gospel; and he will never be the same for having tasted those two together.
As I look back over the year and reflect, I am convinced of this one truth: this task of Christian education — it is worth whatever I am able to give it. At some point during the year, I lost track of this truth. I became weighed down by meetings and policies and systems that needed improvement, and I forgot it.
This student reminded me that it is worth it. It is worth all the effort, the time, and the sacrifice.
This student was certainly worth it.
