REFLECTIONS O F A RETIRED TEACHER
On the way home from a conference on Secularism, in November 2009, I found myself thinking about an experience over 20 years ago and about this piece I then wrote for a Christian teachers magazine, NEXUS.
I had a good reason for using a nom de plume then.
A CHANGING VISION
or
AM I BECOMING A HERETIC?
I’m puzzled!
An older friend of mine, a fine Christian as well as a highly respected educationalist, made a comment which I would once have supported enthusiastically, but which now leaves me cold.
"Wouldn't it be great," he exclaimed, "if we had groups of fifteen or twenty teachers in schools, Christian teachers, meeting every fortnight at lunch time for prayer and fellowship!"
I didn't find that idea at all attractive; indeed I was surprised at the negative response I made. On reflection, my feelings are unchanged.
So why do I feel so uneasy about that genuine vision of people whom I admire and whose faith is so strong? Is there something wrong with my faith? Have I lost my love for God and my desire to see people become disciples of Jesus? Maybe that's the problem, but at the risk of being accused of rationalising, I want to explore some other possibilities.
As a Christian working in a government school, I look for ways of building bridges with colleagues, ways of affirming what we have in common, and the thought of meeting in school time on school property for some sectional interest, however worthy, seems to me a way of dividing rather than a way of drawing together. I would not be impressed by a group of Communists, or Moslems, or bird watchers, or radical educationists who drew apart at school to build one another up.
As a Christian working in a government school, I feel that my Christian influence is felt most as I go about the multitude of tasks I have, organizing extra classes, co-ordinating Mathematics, attending Curriculum meetings, teaching 20 periods in the classroom each week, doing yard duty, sipping morning coffee, encouraging the music staff, helping out at the staff-student games.
I'm happy to be known as a Christian and as I've grown older I've become less anxious about what people think about that. There are other Christian people on the staff but I don't know how many because I've never asked people. I suppose I have a special bond with some of those on the staff with whom I have a common faith, and from time to time we may talk about faith, but I'd hate to try to formalise that link in school time.
When I was younger, I used to worry about being a good witness My willingness to try to be a witness was great, but I fear I was far too conscious of my responsibility, far too preoccupied with witnessing. Paradoxically, as I have ceased to worry about witnessing, I think I've had more natural conversations about faith than when I was trying so hard.
On many issues we have common cause with those caring agnostics and atheists and people of other faiths. I want to see these issues as ways of affirming that God is at work, bringing in the Kingdom. I'm enjoying finding points of agreement with others, because I know that God is in there with us, and before us, bringing truth and light.
So, let's plunge in to the task at hand in our schools, looking for signs of the Kingdom springing forth, sharing ourselves with all our colleagues, learning to be real, learning to listen and to respect our colleagues' views, as well as to speak and share our own faith.
By all means, let's meet as Christian teachers, but let's do it after school hours, away from the school. Let's keep our schools as places where we actively seek to be reconcilers, to be affirming what we have in common with others, rather than what makes us different.
P.S . Although I am not an official member of A.T.C.F.(Vic.), I have a close friend who provides me with NEXUS and who shares his educational and Christian pilgrimage with me! We are, as it were, kindred spirits!
James Ledingham
[from NEXUS , 1987]
I had a good reason for using a nom de plume then.
A CHANGING VISION
or
AM I BECOMING A HERETIC?
I’m puzzled!
An older friend of mine, a fine Christian as well as a highly respected educationalist, made a comment which I would once have supported enthusiastically, but which now leaves me cold.
"Wouldn't it be great," he exclaimed, "if we had groups of fifteen or twenty teachers in schools, Christian teachers, meeting every fortnight at lunch time for prayer and fellowship!"
I didn't find that idea at all attractive; indeed I was surprised at the negative response I made. On reflection, my feelings are unchanged.
So why do I feel so uneasy about that genuine vision of people whom I admire and whose faith is so strong? Is there something wrong with my faith? Have I lost my love for God and my desire to see people become disciples of Jesus? Maybe that's the problem, but at the risk of being accused of rationalising, I want to explore some other possibilities.
As a Christian working in a government school, I look for ways of building bridges with colleagues, ways of affirming what we have in common, and the thought of meeting in school time on school property for some sectional interest, however worthy, seems to me a way of dividing rather than a way of drawing together. I would not be impressed by a group of Communists, or Moslems, or bird watchers, or radical educationists who drew apart at school to build one another up.
As a Christian working in a government school, I feel that my Christian influence is felt most as I go about the multitude of tasks I have, organizing extra classes, co-ordinating Mathematics, attending Curriculum meetings, teaching 20 periods in the classroom each week, doing yard duty, sipping morning coffee, encouraging the music staff, helping out at the staff-student games.
I'm happy to be known as a Christian and as I've grown older I've become less anxious about what people think about that. There are other Christian people on the staff but I don't know how many because I've never asked people. I suppose I have a special bond with some of those on the staff with whom I have a common faith, and from time to time we may talk about faith, but I'd hate to try to formalise that link in school time.
When I was younger, I used to worry about being a good witness My willingness to try to be a witness was great, but I fear I was far too conscious of my responsibility, far too preoccupied with witnessing. Paradoxically, as I have ceased to worry about witnessing, I think I've had more natural conversations about faith than when I was trying so hard.
On many issues we have common cause with those caring agnostics and atheists and people of other faiths. I want to see these issues as ways of affirming that God is at work, bringing in the Kingdom. I'm enjoying finding points of agreement with others, because I know that God is in there with us, and before us, bringing truth and light.
So, let's plunge in to the task at hand in our schools, looking for signs of the Kingdom springing forth, sharing ourselves with all our colleagues, learning to be real, learning to listen and to respect our colleagues' views, as well as to speak and share our own faith.
By all means, let's meet as Christian teachers, but let's do it after school hours, away from the school. Let's keep our schools as places where we actively seek to be reconcilers, to be affirming what we have in common with others, rather than what makes us different.
P.S . Although I am not an official member of A.T.C.F.(Vic.), I have a close friend who provides me with NEXUS and who shares his educational and Christian pilgrimage with me! We are, as it were, kindred spirits!
James Ledingham
[from NEXUS , 1987]
posted by ledingham at 4:54 PM
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