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:: message from the headmaster august 2005
By way of introduction to my thoughts for ALC's new school year, let me invite you to reflect for a moment on a journalistic piece written by Andree Seu. She wrote of the power of vision. Such a theme is critical for us as homeschoolers and as a community of learning here at ALC. For some - the logical end of living with no transcendent vision is keenly felt. Consider the dire words of the renowned thinker Thomas Wolfe, who captured the essence of such a tragic approach to life:
The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that the sense of loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon peculiar to myself and to a few other solitary people, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence. All this hideous doubt, despair and dark confusion of the soul a lonely person must know, for he is united to no image save that which he creates for himself. He is bolstered by no other knowledge save that which he can gather for himself with the vision of his own eyes and brain. He is sustained and cheered and aided by no party. He is given no comfort by no creed. He has no faith in him except his own and often that faith deserts him leaving him shaken and filled with impotence. Then it seems to him that his life has come to nothing. That he is ruined, lost, and broken past redemption and that morning, that bright and shining morning with its promise of new beginnings, will never come upon the earth again as it did once.
Such is the despair of those who live with no transcendent vision. Yet we recognize that not many are willing to face this tragic, yet logical conclusion to a worldview with insufficient universals - a worldview that lacks a transcendent point of reference. As a result, they occupy themselves with what Andree Seu called "the swirl of seductive images that abound throughout our culture." And with these seductive images, rooted in the here and now, they sedate that intrinsic desire for the eternal.
But parents and students, I pray that you will firmly embrace a greater God than this world has to offer - and that each day you will affirm in your heart of hearts: God, Be Thou My Vision.
There was once a gathering of Christians who possessed such a vision. In fact, they were commended by the Apostle Paul himself for having faith in the Lord Jesus and a love for all the saints. Yet 30 years later, the vision had extinguished - and the Apostle John records in Revelation, Chapter 2 that their lamp-stand was removed.
I am referring, of course, to the church at Ephesus. They had left their first love - and the vision that had once directed the eyes of their hearts - had grown dim.
But what is striking is that the Apostle Paul identifies that which would keep the eyes of their hearts focused on this greater transcendent vision; this first love. And he does so in the prayer that he records in Chapter 1 of his letter to the Church at Ephesus.
Eph 1: 15-19a:
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power to us who believe.
Let me draw the eyes of your heart to a vision of abiding hope - what Paul calls: "The hope of your calling." Paul defines this hope earlier in the chapter - it is to be holy, blameless, sons of God. It is what you and your children will be someday. You have received an invitation, a calling, to make a pilgrimage into the very heart and life of God. That pilgrimage will not only culminate with that glorious end of seeing and being made like the "luminous Nazarene" as Einstein once called him - but that pilgrimage now resonates with an abiding sense of meaning and hope. You are pursuing what missionary martyr Jim Elliot called the A.U.G. degree - Approved Unto God - for that is your ultimate calling.
Paul prayed that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened so that you would know the hope of your calling. Why is it so important that you do not forget the hope of your calling? Let me briefly suggest 3 reasons:
- It is a hope that fortifies. No doubt you will encounter many frustrations and disillusionments as you serve the Master in your homeschooling endeavors next year. But in the midst of those frustrations and disillusionments, remember your calling - for it will fortify the heart in its resolve to serve Christ. To know God so well - to know His ways so well - that the grasping of the hope of your calling will go undaunted.
- It is a hope that enables - enables you to deal in love with family members, and brothers and sisters in Christ at ALC who are not yet perfect. We are a peculiar people you know. Remember: "if you can't see Christ in your brother, then see your brother in Christ." That thought has been a help to me over the years - and no doubt a help to others in dealing with me. We are not yet perfect, but we have a rock solid hope that one day, we will be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.
- It is a hope that answers. It answers the question of man living in a fragmented, troubled world. As Christians, we freely admit that we live in what C.S. Lewis called "enemy-occupied territory." But the King has landed - and Jesus gave you that powerful promise - "be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."
With the approach of another year of homeschooling, set your heart on God as your vision. Remember the hope of your calling, for it will:
- fortify your heart in the midst of disillusionment;
- enable you deal in love with those around you;
- and answer the questions that face the troubled world in which we are called to burn as candles in darkness.
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