St. Michael’s mission statement says we want to form “scholars, leaders and disciples of Jesus Christ. “ This morning I want to talk about what it means to be a “scholar.”
Let me begin by saying what it doesn’t mean. We don’t expect all of you to attend Harvard, Notre Dame or Vanderbilt when you graduate. We also don’t expect all of you to make all A’s, and if you fall short of that, that you’re a slacker! Though some of you are capable of these things—and we want to push you to strive for them— our mission isn’t so narrow as to serve only the intellectually “elite.” In fact, I would argue it’s much grander than that! We believe the chemistry and interplay of students with different aptitudes and socio-economic backgrounds give us our authenticity, our liveliness, and perhaps even, our “flair.” It makes St. Michael interesting!
No, what we mean by “scholar,” is that you DO YOUR BEST. Whatever your station in life, whatever talents God has given you, whatever your strengths and weaknesses, we are all called to do our best. I want to reflect on how we can do that.
There’s an interesting video floating around the internet of a Naval officer addressing cadets at their graduation, talking about ways they can “change the world.” He begins with this practical suggestion: Make your bed each morning! (Moms would like this guy). He says that when we begin the day completing a small task, it will give us momentum to complete larger tasks through out the day, starting our day on a positive trajectory. And if it turns out to be a miserable day, when we get home, our bed will be neatly made, beckoning us to get a good night’s sleep, so that we can have a better day tomorrow.
If we want to be scholars, let’s begin by making our beds. The truth is, we’re emotionally influenced by our environment, and if our rooms are wrecks, our lives often reflect this chaos. But “scholars” take ownership of the small things, which gives them momentum for bigger things.
You’ve heard me speak often about the importance of attendance in school. But I want to qualify that a bit this morning. It’s not enough to be physically present. We must bring our best selves to class: alert, and ready to learn. Practically, that begins with getting enough sleep the night before. Doctors recommend 8 hours for teenagers, and if you try to cheat your body with less than that, it’ll steal back that time by making you sluggish and apathetic. So if you’re waking up at 6 a.m. and not getting to bed by 10'ish, you’re not bringing your best self to class. Chances are you’re not engaged. You’re not taking very good notes, you’re not making connections, you’re not asking questions. Yes, teachers have an obligation to develop interesting lessons. But sometimes slogging through a unit in Math class is simply hard work, and it's up to you to slog through it. Bring your best self to class each day.
“Scholars” ask questions in class. When I was younger, I taught in a school without air conditioning. In the afternoon classes, after lunch, it was miserably hot, with our backs sticking to the back of our chairs like velcro, and it was very easy to drift off into sleep. But I remember there was one junior girl who fought through it by peppering me with questions through out class. “Mr. Weber, is this kind of like…?” “Mr. Weber, could you re-explain what you just said? I didn’t understand you.” "Mr. Weber, don't you think...?" This girl wasn’t the smartest student in the class. But she was the best scholar! Ask questions. Teachers love them, by the way.
“Scholars” become passionate about ideas! Do you want to know what makes me smile? It’s students getting into arguments in class which spill out into the hallways afterwards, debating ideas! That’s a sign of "turned on" minds! But too often we are the opposite, consumed with trivial matters. My granddaughter is two, and she’s just discovered her belly button, and she seems fascinated with it. That describes segments of our culture: we are “navel gazers." Let’s get passionate about big ideas! The merits and demerits of democracy! The implications of a world that is 4.5 billion years old, one planet in a galaxy of millions of stars, in a universe with billions of galaxies! Issues of social justice concerning refugees, unborn children, and the criminally accused! Scholars thirst to understand, and they get excited about ideas. Let’s be a school that is electrified with argument and debate!
Scholars don’t work in isolation. Teachers will tell you the best way to learn new material is to tutor and mentor others. If you can explain it to someone else, you’ll understand it and remember it at a much higher level. I highly recommend study sessions together, and I am more than willing to accommodate after school sessions in classrooms, led by students, for that purpose. It’s also more fun that way!
Scholars at St. Michael bring their anxiety to God. Striving to be the best students we can be often brings with it a certain amount of stress. We care about our grades! We care about our performance on tests! But the wonderful gift about being believing Christians is we don’t have to carry that burden alone—God invites us to share it with him. Collette Murphy is starting a morning prayer service in our chapel three days/week with Mrs. Smith. It’ll be a student led group—that’s an awesome way to ask God to help us have a good day and to do our best.
May God give you the courage, the energy, and the desire to become scholars! It’s one of St. Michael’s greatest hopes for each of you!
No comments:
Post a Comment