Happy August to you!
On my desk is a little book by J.R.R. Tolkien. He is known, of course, for being the author of a big book – The Lord of the Rings – but he was also a great translator of medieval stories into modern language. While the Lord of the Rings is about heroes facing great peril to do right and regain what was lost, accompanied by loyal friends, the two 14th-century stories in this volume are about… heroes facing great peril to do right and regain what was lost, accompanied by loyal friends.
In his book Heretics G.K. Chesterton spoke of families as “an ultimate human institution”, then went on to state that families and the small communities they build are more real, more alive, and more significant than cities or even nations. That is because living together requires we learn about and from each other, to put up with and be put up with. In the “big world” you can be a tourist; in a small community you have to be a participant. That’s reality. That’s where Truth happens.
At The Classical Academy we are starting a new year as a community. We are not a nation, not a city, just some 600 people plus assorted grandparents, aunts and uncles, all on a mission. We aren’t destroying a ring or overcoming armies. We are indeed, though, setting out to rescue princesses (and princes), to help them grow up strong and wise, to help them become the heavenly citizens they are intended to be.
For that task we certainly need each other! Just as Aragorn had Boromir and Frodo had Sam (or was it the other way around? I’m never sure) the Academy community leans on one another: Who is going to help another with a missing homework assignment? Who is going to intercede with prayer? Who is going to help carpool? Who will be the first to say “No” when a group of kids are all wheedling their parents for something none of their parents really want to go along with but none wants to be the spoilsport?
Those things are real. A farmer can choose whether to plant wheat or watermelons. The choices we make for our children and our community grow virtue, goodness, and godly children and grandchildren. Choose well! And let me and the rest of the community know how we can stand up and help make that happen for your family.
– DH
PS: you can find Chesterton’s entire chapter (Heretics, 14 ) here.
