All Saints' Day reflections

The following is excerpted from some of my remarks at 8^th Grade Grandparents’ Day last Friday. They seem appropriate for all of us on the days following All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day:

“Bernard of Chartres is reputed to have said, ‘We are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size.’[1]

The visual image of this appears in the stained glass of the south transept of Chartres Cathedral. A window shows the four major prophets of the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel) as gigantic figures, and the four New Testament evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) as ordinary-size people sitting on their shoulders. The evangelists, though smaller, ‘see more’ than the huge prophets (since they saw the Messiah about whom the prophets spoke).

500 years later, Isaac Newton picked up this theme when he wrote to a colleague:

‘What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways. If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.’[2]

AT EDS we often talk about those upon whose shoulders we stand ….father Clarkson and the founders of the school, the students who came before us, the teachers, family members --- and in a few days we will honor and remember the veterans who serve, who served, and who gave their lives for our freedom.

On a regular basis at EDS we talk about our interconnectedness and our interdependence. We talk about the role and importance of community in our lives -- how we need each other, how our actions impact others, and most importantly about our common humanity and brotherhood in Christ.

Every day we pray as a community and give thanks to God for our many blessings, including the rich blessing of those who love and support us….those on whose shoulders we stand.”

We only have what we have because of the love, support, hard work, and sacrifices of so many others. Most of all, we only have what we have because of the generous and unconditional blessings of our Creator.

I encourage you to take time to remember them. Slow down; stop for just a moment. Think of those upon whose shoulders you sit. If they are available, send them a word of thanks. If they are not, send them a prayer of thanks. I believe that by adopting an attitude of gratitude our considerable blessings will be deepened and enriched. It’s worth a try.

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[1] Wikipedia contributors, "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants " Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia2010).

[2] "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants " , http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/268025.html (accessed 11/9/2010, 2010).

The value of educating; the cost of not

88% of American 8^th graders report that they expect to attend college, and yet only 25% actually graduate from a college or university.

I really hadn’t paid attention to these statistics until recently. I’ve been trying to find ways to calculate and understand the actual value – as opposed to cost – of an EDS education, and came across some staggering information.

Only about 71% of American high school students graduate from high school. Of those graduates, only 70% attend college. And the percentage of American college students who graduate in 6 years or less is only about 50%!!! Do the math and you discover this steady attrition through the system yields college and university diplomas for less than 25% of American 8^th graders.

The implications are staggering to the American economy, culture, political discourse, civil structure – pick your area of interest.

And don’t dismiss this as merely a function of socio-economic sorting. Among the students in the top 20% of our socio-economic strata, still less than half (just over 40%) graduate from college.

Now consider that all of those numbers for EDS graduates are nearly 100%. We don’t claim all the credit, but we get a significant share. By the 8^th grade our students are on a fast track to success. They have the academic and intellectual foundation, work ethic and study habits, aspirations, interpersonal skills, self-knowledge, and sense of purpose to put themselves on the right side of those statistics. What is the value of that – to them and to our community?

Venturing out of Safe Harbor

I recently came upon this prayer poem attributed to Sir Francis Drake. It reminds me of one of the more difficult aspects of our job here at EDS. In the context of a loving, nurturing, safe school, we are also called to challenge students, to draw them out of their comfort zones, and to assist them in taking risks that sometimes lead to frustration and failure. We are called sometimes to rattle their complacency, challenge their assumptions, and, yes, at times to even disturb them. If we don’t stretch them now while they are most malleable, if we don’t expand their dreams toward eternity now while time is on their side, then when will it happen? With God’s help and grace, we are helping our children build foundations for learning and for life – upon which they will build lives of meaning and purpose. We sometimes forget that can be difficult, scary and unsettling – as it should be.

Disturb us, Lord when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we have arrived safely
Because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision of the new Heaven dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of and,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength courage, hope, and love.