Like so many of Charles Dickens’ wonderful characters, Thomas Gradgrind is a caricature but a caricature with a point.
Our brains are made to run on joy. A joyful brain functions much better than the anxious, agitated, or depressed brain. Joy supports brain growth. Specifically, it contributes to the generation and reinforcement of new brain synapses.
Charlotte Mason identifies three primary human desires: the desire of knowledge, the desire of society (belonging), and the desire of esteem (to be held in high regard).
A grieving Martha meets Jesus on the way. “If you had been there, my brother would not have died.” And Jesus responds with sweetest of words: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?
All education in the True, Good, and Beautiful is a gift of common grace. And yet, to be wisely offered, such an education involves a set of definite practices.
The resurrection of Christ Jesus, which we celebrate this and every Easter, is something more than the decisive proof of the truth of Christian doctrine. Easter resurrection makes possible a new way of life today.
As Easter approaches, we take a moment to reflect on what seems the most tender of the resurrection accounts found in John 20:11 – 16.
We are shaped by the ideas that are seeded in us and the relational air that we breathe. And we are continuously exhaling ideas and relational air which those around us will inhale. The question is “What’s in the air?”
In education, as in every human endeavor, there exists the possibility of erring to the left and erring to the right. We live in an age in which the responsibility of adults to be intentional and diligent in the formation of children’s habits is largely forgotten.
Fondly do we consider the two presidents whom we honor this month. As young men, both were brash. But they allowed life to season them, and being humbled, they became humble. And, by the end, worthy of admiration.
