Canterbury Tales General Prologue

Canterbury Tales General Prologue

Serendipity

Serendipity is the experience that can be rephrased by the title of CS Lewis's book Surprised By Joy. Dictionary.com defines it: The faculty (or the instance) of making fortunate discoveries by accident. May this be a year of serendipity, both academically and personally.

My Prayer For The New School Year

Oh God of color and light and literature- of order and space and language- of numbers and history, Lord, thank you for this school year. Help us to love our students as you do, to inspire them to love you with all their minds; help the coaches to inspire the students to love you with all their strength. Bless the parents for their faith. Lord, we bring the wood- please light the fire.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

Selected Photos from the Folger Library Field Trip

Oscar Night

I have nothing in common with Hollywood and would usually avoid the Oscar Award show at all costs. But this year one of my former students (from The Field School) is nominated for the award for Best Screenplay! And an actress from that film, which she also directed, is nominated for Best Actress. I haven't seen Courtney since 1982, but I've seen recent pictures of her, and she looks a lot like she did then. Beautiful. Natural.

Amazing.

The Academic Community and The Kingdom of Heaven

An idea came to me about two years ago, during Erin's senior year at Hood, that the academic community, especially the small, private college, is an excellent reflection of the kingdom of heaven.
All the disciplines reflect something about God: physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, logic, history, philosophy, anthropology, languages, literature, music and art- each reflects an aspect of who God is. The academic community has the potential to be a perfect God-glorifying community with professors uniquely revealing God (in the discipline of his/her specialty) to eager students who hunger for more and more knowledge that leads them to delight in God. In this community everyone is a learner. A perfect academic community- perhaps our eternal home- is one without sin: teachers would be without arrogant pride or impatience; students would also be without arrogant pride or laziness. There would be no anger, cheating, slander, stealing or bitterness. Sin inhibits learning, and learning fuels worship.

Oh, in this ideal community everyone is steeped in supportive kindness, gentleness, patience and joy- everything that is a fruit of the spirit. I have a longing in my heart for this- it is a longing for heaven- a nostos-longing for a safe home, a loving community bursting with the unending discovery of the triune God. It is a gentle and vibrant place of color, of melody, light, and richness.

Chapel Part 3

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote an amazing collection of short stories called The Canterbury Tales- around the year 1400. This work is esteemed as one of the greatest works of world literature. The stories are held together by a frame story of pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury to pay their respects to Thomas Beckett. To pass the time pleasantly, the host of the inn where the trip begins suggests a contest. Each pilgrim will tell 2 stories and the one who tells the best tale wins a prize. Some of the stories are noble and even godly, but some are a little risqué and inappropriate. Chaucer never finished the work, but before he died he dedicated himself to Christ and asked his readers to forgive him for writing some stories that might have offended them, admitting to their inappropriate content.

I beseech our Lord Jesus Christ, that he,
from now until my life's end,
send me grace to hate my sin
and grant me grace and repentance, penitence, confession,
and satisfaction, to do in this present life, through the good and kind
grace of Him that is King of kings and Priest of all priests,
who bought us with the precious blood of his heart,
that I may be one of them who, at the last day, shall be saved.