By Sarah Rein
Nothing elicits groans more readily than the receipt of the back-to-school email in early July. Summer’s promise of carefree days filled with sunshine and swimming has, once again, passed in a blink, and the first day of school casts a long shadow over what is left on the calendar. So much about summer is good – the extra margin for time with friends, the days without an alarm clock, staying up too late to finish a show together. The rhythm of summer is healthy for our souls.
But so is the approach of a new academic year. It is easy to look at each school year as a thing to be completed – a box to be checked off. Has your kindergartener learned to read? OK, that’s done. Has your middle-schooler taken pre-algebra? Mark that one off. High-schooler made it through their allotted novels for the year? Great – now they’ll never have to think about Animal Farm again.
When we reduce learning to these compartmentalized hurdles to clear, it is easy to subtract joy from the equation. Could I reframe August for all of us – certainly myself included? Socrates wrote that “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” Learning is a lifelong (I would argue longer than that, even) pursuit and delight. Our culture has elevated pleasure and comfort to dangerous heights and turned what God intended for our good into a crutch that stagnates us and leaves us less able to defend the faith.
And to those (talking to you, my high-schooler) who might argue that Julius Caesar or geometry are unnecessary or irrelevant, I beg to differ. St. Augustine wrote in On Christian Doctrine that “a person who is a good and true Christian should realize that wherever they may find truth, it belongs to their Lord.” So students, pursue what is good, true, and beautiful this year, and know you will find the Author of it all at the end of your journey.
And parents, let’s not count ourselves exempt merely because we’ve finished our formal schooling years. What if we led by example – not just to encourage our children, but because we believe it will cause us to love God more fully? Try a new hobby, read some good books, let your child see you pursue learning so you can both adore God more.
For further reading on this topic:
- Foundations for Lifelong Learning: Education in Serious Joy by John Piper
- Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling by James W. Sire
- Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman
Sarah and Trey Rein make their home in Brandon with their four children and the best neighbors, just down the road from their beloved Lakeside Presbyterian Church. Sarah is a realtor and lover of good books and learning. You can follow her on social media for all things real estate and literature.
