A Community of Creators
If it wasn't already clear, last week's Harvest of Talents craft and bake sale revealed what a wide-ranging artistic community we have. Thank you all for sharing your creative gifts! Handmade berets, pillows, jewelry, wall-art, cosmetics, snacks, baked goods, wreaths, and even homemade Christmas trees -- a remarkable set of skills. And not surprisingly, most of the inventory was snatched up within a quick two hours, raising a total of $1,600 toward our Augustine Campaign.
God continues to grow our school in meaningful ways like this -- through both relationships and generous giving -- and as we approach Christmas and the end of our semester, let's pray for continued provision. To match our $30,000 grant, we must raise $12,750 in the next two weeks before December 17. Thank you for your generous gifts so far! Would you continue to consider who else might be interested in ACA's rich, biblical vision for education? Our vision-film is an excellent way to bless others outside our community, and to let them know what a great work we are doing for our children.
May we never forget God's power. He is loving, he is personally involved in each of our lives, and he will always bless us if we are faithful.
To Be Happy at Home
Thanksgiving is here at last. While few things compare to the glory of Christmas, Thanksgiving is a close second as far as I'm concerned, and I believe that's no mistake. Done right, giving thanks can't help but be potently meaningful down to our roots, or "in the deep heart's core," as Yeats said. I become more thoughtful at the beginning of the holiday season, as only seems natural, and given life's difficult obligations that we all share, I am glad to be forced into good solid rest. (Consuming a bird with soporific properties helps.) This reminds me of something C. S. Lewis said in his essay, "The Weight of Glory":
To be happy at home . . . is the end of all human endeavour. [We] must say that the sun looks down on nothing half so good as a household laughing together over a meal, or two friends talking over a pint of beer, or a man alone reading a book that interests him.
If we follow the argument all the way down to the end of the road, giving thanks is the whole point of life. Why are we educated? Why do we take degrees at the Ivies and nail down fast-paced jobs? Why do we bolster our LinkedIn connections and strategically restructure our financial portfolios? So that we can laugh together over a meal, take joy in our children, read a fat book, and drink in the gifts of life. So that we can give thanks, which is glorifying to God.
We breathe in, and so we must breathe out. We earn, and so we must spend. We gather up, and so we must scatter abroad. These are the God-given rhythms of life, and we are wise to follow them. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, may we set aside our work (and our homework) with peace and confidence. God is good, he holds out open hands of blessing to us, and asks us to eat.
Not Blind Lovers
"Love your enemies," Oscar Wilde once said. "Nothing annoys them so much."
Funny. But take a step back, outside the joke. If the motive is to annoy, it's not so much love at all, is it? Love takes on a cynical, underhanded role. Edgy and brooding. Like the oh-so-irresistible vampire Edward in Twilight.
Of course, this isn't love at all. God is Love (noun), and God loves perfectly (verb), but there are plenty of human perversions of love here on earth -- and this distinction is key for our students to get into their bones as they grow older and are exposed to more of the world.
On a human level, "to love" is not a universal good. "To hate" is not a universal evil. They are verbs, and their value depends on whatever direct objects they're attached to.
Experiment #1:
"I love my wife -- which is why I'm going to do the dishes for her, help with the kids, and buy her King Soopers flowers every other Tuesday."
"I love Fifty Shades of Grey, because I'm attracted to mysterious men whose passion for me makes them want to hurt me so bad."
Both people are loving something. And one of them has a problem that Jesus needs to fix.
Experiment #2:
"I hate her, you have no idea. Omg, she thinks she's so cute."
"I hate lies, I hate consuming lusts, and I pray that God would deliver me from their bondage."
Both people are hating something. And one of them is being godly about it.
As we teach our students at ACA, we want to show them how to make these kinds of basic distinctions. We want to show them how to love like God loves and hate what God hates. Every school subject is packed with controversy, and our children are constantly drawing conclusions about what to love and what to hate. We want them to be lovers -- because God is love -- but not blind lovers. Unless we are making constant, Scriptural distinctions both in the classroom and at home, our children will make no Scriptural decisions when they leave the home.
This, not that. Good, not evil. Sacrifice, not self-interest. Truth, not being cool. Joy, not sorrow.
And God will be faithful.
Our Cozy Time Machines
In the May 2014 issue of "Old Roads Magazine," my brother, a musicology graduate from Stanford University, wrote an article on traditional versus contemporary music, specifically in terms of how we sing in church, or how we teach music in our schools or homes. Like the old Microsoft/Apple debates, we enjoy taking sides. Bach or the Beatles? Mozart or Messiaen? Taverner or Taylor Swift? And sometimes, the more conservative among us can get pretty miffed that pop music is just going to the dogs and that these darn kids today don't even know who Beethoven was.
True. A big problem. But there's a bigger problem than bad music: and that's getting miffed about it. Instead, we should act. Specifically, we should counter bad music by composing quality music for today, and not just by putting Bach on playlist-repeat.
And more broadly (cue segue), we should embrace this action plan in classical education as a whole as we seek to transform the ills of our culture. Act, don't react. Create, don't retract.
Classical education easily and naturally retracts. Into the past it goes, like a turtle into its shell. And no wonder: we recognize the godless, cultural malaise our children face, we bemoan the abysmal math and literacy scores our nation regularly chokes up, and we therefore retreat to the Renaissance. We jump into our safe and cozy time machines and head for the pristine past. We teach Latin, logic, philosophy, and classical literature -- and then we expect our kids to positively influence culture today.
Ain't gonna happen. If we are living in the past, we'll alienate our kids (who can't help but live in the present, bless their hearts). Unless we bring the treasures of the past into the present, they will be useless. We must use the past as a tool for the future. We must teach our children to be creators in the present for today. We are created to create, and so we must teach our children to compose, write, research, solve, and discover for today's world. That is how they will best glorify God, and that is how classical Christian education will truly transform culture, one generation at a time.
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The Verse about Good Grades
One of the great comforts of Scripture are the verses that aren't in Scripture. For instance, I consider it a blessing that the Holy Ghost did not see fit to inspire the verse about getting good grades.
"Woe unto that child which getteth a C+, for it would be better that a millstone were tied around his neck . . . ."
Thankfully, we are called to excellence generally, and not to A-plusses in Social Studies specifically. God has made us all with different minds and different interests, and the simple fact of a C-grade, or even of an F (gasp), does not necessarily mean anything is wrong. (Often it does, as in the case of chronic Looking-Out-the-Window Syndrome -- a separate issue.) Human minds are different. House-rules are different. Our standards of excellence and hard work should be rooted in biblical truth -- but those standards have quite a lot of valid, reasonable, and varied out-workings.
Aim for the Ivies -- but remember that community college, or no college at all, is no crime. Encourage fast-lane jobs -- but remember that trade-work, home-making, and community service are equally noble, often far more so.
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" (Ps. 24:1). Join me in being mighty thankful that, despite God's high and beautiful standards for us, he has little interest in the content of our report cards.
Matching Gift Challenge
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We’re excited to announce our first matching-grant initiative of The Augustine Campaign! A generous donor has offered $30,000 if we can raise $30,000 by the last day of this semester, December 17!
If your family or someone you know has been considering a one-time donation to the school, now is the perfect time to make that gift. Double your donation and support Denver’s only classical, Christian school serving preschool through high-school students!
Gifts can be made online or by check, delivered to the front office or mailed to:
The Augustine Campaign: Matching Gift Challenge Attn: Nate Ahern 480 S. Kipling St. Lakewood, CO 80226
Monthly donations made between now and December 17 count toward the matching gift challenge. The monies raised go toward The Augustine Campaign initiatives: general fund, tuition assistance, and classroom supplies.
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” – 1 Peter 4:10
Grace and peace, The ACA Board & Administration
P. S.: Does your employer match your donations to non-profits? Now’s a great time to find out!
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The Augustine Campaign
Augustine Classical Academy launched The Augustine Campaign on October 15, a focused effort to raise $600,000 over the next three years. In its first year, the campaign’s goal is to raise $175,000 to support the general fund, establish a robust tuition assistance program, and drive enrollment.
Why now? We’re at an exciting time in ACA’s life: With geographic stability, an exceptional staff, high-quality curriculum, and a clear vision for excellence, ACA is ready for the next step—which includes raising funds to catalyze growth. (Read more about why we fundraise.)
The Augustine Campaign comprises three important parts, each of which serves an important role:
Character Builders support the work of the school through recurring, monthly gifts. After a one-time set-up online, gifts—in an amount you designate—are charged to your credit card of choice once a month until you make a change. The benefits of this program are significant: Regular gifts enable us to budget wisely and save us from costly mailings and other fundraising expenses.
While we encourage all families to consider a monthly gift, we ask that you also share this opportunity to support your children’s school with your family and friends. (Don't forget to include the link to our Giving Page!)
Legacy Builders bless the school with major gifts in excess of $1,000 annually. Do you know someone who might consider supporting the distinctive, high-quality education available at ACA in this way? If so, please contact the Board of Directors at board@augustineclassical.org to discuss ways we can connect with these individuals.
Community Builders help extend ACA’s reach in the Denver area. We would love the opportunity to share our mission with your church’s leadership or family ministry team, your neighborhood or professional association, or any other group interested in helping families raising up a generation of bright, gracious leaders. Email board@augustineclassical.org to start the conversation!
As we launch this campaign—which is, of course, an act of faith—we remember that we serve a God of abundance, who gave nothing less than Himself for our good. Please join us in praying that God will do great things for His glory with all the gifts ACA receives.
Grace and peace
The ACA Board & Administration
A Night Sky Full of Promise
There are a few things you just don't want your kid coming home from school and telling you.
"Hey, Mom, we got to read a story about gang rape today. And then they cut her up into pieces!"
That would be one of them. If your child said that, you'd be right to jump on the phone with the school head and demand to know what was up. Filthy literature in a Christian curriculum? What happened to my child's innocence? Are the classical pagans worth studying? Even the ladies from "The Music Man" sang about how bad Chaucer and Rabelais were.
True. Except there's a slight difficulty: the gang rape story story is from the Bible (Judges 19:1-30), and the Bible is a book we call infallible. It's God's perfect word. What should we do? No wonder we don't find this doozy in The Jesus Storybook Bible. And how are we supposed to deal with the remaining big chunks of grit and sin in the Old Testament?
The answer is that, as Christians, we must deal with those chunks. But as a school, we must let you, as parents, deal with them first. ACA is in the business of teaching God's whole counsels unapologetically, but it is not in the business of preempting your parental discretion and responsibility in key issues. There is no part of the Bible that we are ashamed to read in school, but there are further discussions and deeper questions for parental authority only, particularly in the younger years. Sometimes, the best answer is that you will explain more when they are older. But the worst answer is to indefinitely ignore parts of the Bible because they are yucky, or because they have blood.
"All Scripture is breathed out by God . . . ." (2 Timothy 3:17) All, not some. The uplifting parts, and the dark parts. At ACA, we embrace this truth wholeheartedly. But we also understand that kids are still kids. So when it comes to selecting passages for students to memorize, we prioritize. We do not avoid, or over-emphasize, but we are strategic. All Scripture is breathed out by God, and some of its stories are good to teach early on. Some of them not till later.
We also realize the glorious truth that Scripture is food even when we don't understand it. While we're committed to not assigning students a passage out of context, like "My wounds stink and fester" (Psalm 38:5a), or "Chelub the brother of Shuah begat Mehir, which was the father of Eshton" (1 Chron. 4:11), we still acknowledge that our students' understanding will always be imperfect. Yet the passages cannot fail to be life-giving. We are confident that, as they work God's Word into their bones, he will work it out in them someday for his glory.
Our fundamental hope is that our children will learn to love the gospel, and over time, begin to grasp the simple and astonishing story-arc of the whole Bible: that like Abraham, we are old and weak under a night sky full of promise; that we are sinners in need of forgiveness, that the infinite-personal God became frail flesh, died, and rose for our sakes, and that he is coming again with glory to rule over a new Kingdom of Peace on earth.
Grace and Peace,
Nate Ahern
Time Flat Wasted
If there were a winner for the most frequent comment made by the general public about education, it might be this:
"I got my degree in X, but I haven't once used it since."
And then we nod and bemoan what's wrong with education to bring so many people to that pass, though we never really pinpoint the cause.
There's a cause, all right, and it's unfortunate, but not in the way we might think.
The problem with a statement like this is that it turns education into an object. Education is meant to be used (and used up). A degree is pursued as a means only. What can it give me? When life gives me a lemon, I squeeze it dead. We want to shape and manipulate our education, for the express purpose of monetarily benefiting from it, and if we aren't able to do that, it's basically time flat wasted.
But an education is supposed to shape us. It is supposed to transform us into givers, thinkers, and influencers-of-culture. Far from being a limited set of necessary tools for a limited set of necessary evils, education -- including our specific professional degrees -- gives what is intangible, but what is also universally powerful. And that is an ability to be thankful for our rich heritage of knowledge, perceptive of what needs to be done in the world, well-equipped for those tasks, and brave to jump in the trenches and do them.
Trivium: Rhetoric
Over the past few weeks, we've had a closer look at the classical trivium. Yesterday, you may have seen Kaylyn Wilson's overview here, and I've also mentioned some specifics of the Grammar Stage here and of the Logic Stage here. What could possibly come next?
Why, just so. The Rhetoric Stage.
The Rhetoric Stage is the capstone of the trivium. It is the telos of all prior years of study since Preschool, the goal, the crown and glory of the whole classical-ed show. Until this stage is reached, the Grammar and Logic stages are only incomplete preparation -- valuable in their own right, but weakened and compromised without unification. Rhetoric is a queen with her crown, the picture of unity, strength, and power.
Rhetoric brings true beauty to knowledge. And so rhetoric is wisdom adorned. Far from the byword it is today -- "That's just a buncha rhetoric . . ." -- this stage fixes all knowledge to the standard of God's beauty, and it speaks like he speaks. It writes like he writes, creates like he creates, and loves like he loves. Unless that universal model of beauty is learned, what might happen to knowledge? To a disconnected Grammar and Logic?
Many things, from the silly to the tragic. Sans beauty, brilliantly-educated minds give soporific speeches via monotone PowerPoint. Those that conceived the great cathedrals are gone, and "the architecture of servitude and boredom" (as Russell Kirk once said) produce industrial slums. The "suicide art" of Jackson Pollock and the irreverent and nihilistic "Piss Christ" of Andres Serrano are hailed as masterpieces. The ruling elite see the stunning magic of the infant human form as inventory to be chopped up and sold to the highest bidder. And if there is no beauty, no standard for loveliness, who are we to object? Let our children use their classically-educated minds to find their own truth.
But the earth is full of God's glory, and it is crying unending praise to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. What is all our knowledge and logic without the living Word? What is beauty without the Glory of Christ? What is love without incarnate Love? We lay all our learning at His feet -- from Grammar to Logic to Rhetoric and beyond -- in recognition that He is the author and finisher of all.