Interconnected

We are in a season of celebrating community and interconnectedness at EDS. Last week we remembered All Saints and All Souls in chapel, and Friday we celebrated a beautiful 8^th Grade Grandparents’ and Grandfriends’ Day.  This Friday we honor veterans and those currently serving our nation in our annual Veterans’ Day ceremony.

These events are not just isolated holidays on the calendar for us at EDS; they are central to our identity and mission. EDS is founded on the understanding that Jesus doesn’t call us simply to be better individuals and into singular relationship with God -- although he does say the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul. Jesus quickly adds that the second commandment is as great as the first: to love one another. He clearly calls us to live in relationship with each other as well as with God.

In equal parts, we are called to be our best selves, to grow in to closer relationship with God, and to be in loving community with mankind.  This understanding is fundamental to the EDS mission and education.  Our mission calls for us to commit to much more than merely providing for the minimal literacy needs of our students.  Surely we provide that, but our loftier mission is to help students acquire and apply those skills in a theological context of meaning and purpose.  We don’t want to help grow just good students, but good citizens, good people, good parents and spouses.  Our goal is not to send students into the world well prepared merely for high school but also well prepared to make a positive difference and to be meaningful contributors to God’s community.  This, in fact, is the greatest aspect that sets EDS apart from other schools.

So it is important and meaningful that we take time to teach our students about the others in the world who have paved the way for them.  It’s not just a nice thing to do, it’s central to our educational mission to take time to learn about and remember the contributions of saints, grandparents, veterans, and others in our lives.  We are interconnected with creation, and we have nothing, accomplish nothing, and become nothing on our own. We all build on foundations laid by others and with the support of others, so it is fitting that we take time to recognize and remember them.