He taught in the Temple every day. The chief priests and the scribes, with the support of the leading citizens, tried to do away with him, but they did not see how they could carry this out because the people as a whole hung on his words.
Luke 19:47-48
There was a time when my children hung on to my every word. Days long before iPads and iPhones occupied their waking hours. When they were very young, I often told them, when it was time for sleep, that if they could imagine all the grains of sand on every shore, or all of the stars in the heavens, then I loved them even more than that. My children, grown up as they now are and with children of their own, could never doubt the love I have for them.
The ancient Hebrews, too, considered the stars in the heavens as being too many to count. The stories they told attempted to express their relationship with their God, about his infinite love, of his plan for humanity, of his desire to provide all that his creatures needed. Humanity’s fall is matched by the promise of reconciliation, of redemption, of our God’s constant invitation to return to him. Recorded for all time, begun around the campfires, remembered in oral tradition, and recorded in print over many hundreds of years, often mixing older stories with newer ones: the recurring theme of God’s fidelity to, and his love for, his chosen people – is epic.
You and I have become a part of this story, through our baptism, through our being part of God’s New People. How many descendants in faith does Abram have? As many as the stars. How much does God love us? More than every grain of sand on the shore, more than all the stars in the heavens. Meaning is found and unraveled is this primary master story of the western universe. Did they hang on every word?
In cosmic time, it has only been seconds since the four bands of the Northern Tribes traded their ochre with the eight North Western bands in exchange for access to seals and shell collecting. To even put this into perspective, in 2010 archaeologists excavating a 600-metre-long section of riverbank in the Brighton Bypass project found a large number of stone tools – later estimated to contain up to three million artifacts. Preliminary dating indicated that the site was continuously occupied from 38,000 to 26,000 BC – a period of 12,000 years. How many thousands of these first people looked into the same skies as we and wondered about their place in the scheme of all creation. How many children sat and listened to the story of the creation of Trowenna, or of the thousands of stories that now forever remain silent and unheard. For our first peoples to have survived and flourished in this most southern island, what stories did they need to tell, and what was taught to each succeeding generation? And did they hang on every word?
There is a giant leap from campfires and fishing holes to classrooms. My family has invested in schools – far too many teachers to mention. But they don’t make sense to everybody. We have so many rules and customs that require a lifetime of learning to negotiate and ultimately succeed in passing. There are today schools without classrooms, students with no school buildings, students who plan their own learning, students who use technology to design their own learning environments or tools, where student and teacher autonomy is valued and encouraged, teachers who mentor, coach and provide mastery support, schools where every student participates as an equal member of a school republic. Where is our school? What story is our school telling? Who is listening? And so, do they hang on every word?
Of the many issues we face in our Catholic schools today is what are we here for? If we take on board everything that the Australian Curriculum demands of us, is the Catholic bit what is left over at the end? Or is our Catholic curriculum enmeshed and integrated into the framework? Would we, as students, parents and educators, be happy with the spiritual/moral dimensions that are found there?
The ancient somatology that divided body and soul has gone, we are singular persons and as such, that is how we learn, that is how we are taught. A whole person. A Catholic curriculum will address the whole person and must.
The green and red catechisms, the memorization of Sunday scriptures, novenas, rosaries, benedictions, weekday masses, and weekly confessions were consigned to oblivion for all but the most resistant. We voted with our feet. Is what we have left sufficient? So, what story have we told you, those who are about to leave school? Did you hang on every word?
And here you are, after so many years. Ready to take on the world, standing on the precipice of a new frontier in your life. Have we given you stories as powerful and meaningful as our ancestors in faith, or our first peoples? Have you held tightly on to the awe and wonder of kindergarten, the thrill of adolescence? Will the constant reminders of our school values, our Marian heritage have an impact on the stories you tell? Did you discover the things that give you joy? Music, art, sport, reading? Are you ready to love life and live it to the full? Then hang on to everything that life throws at you. It’s a hell of a ride with a myriad bumps but you get to write your own story that I’m sure your children and grandchildren will hang on to every word.
The challenge I leave to you today is for our parents – is when you next have a chance, is to sit outside on a clear evening with your child – look to the stars and tell them why you love them so much, and while you’re there, explain your place in this vast universe. That – is storytelling at its best.
Mr Peter Douglas
Director of Faith and Mission