September 27, 2013
Regents Daily News: September 27, 2013
Getting Better Every Day
In a conversation with my 18 year old son the other day, the subject of gas prices came up. He said he remembered when gas was less than $2 per gallon. I told him I remembered when it was less than $1 per gallon. I’ve heard my dad say he remembers when gas was less than $.30 per gallon. I had just paid $3.45 per gallon. The pessimist inside me whispered, “Things are always getting worse.” I was reminded at that moment that it’s always a temptation to despair, to focus on circumstances as they go from bad to worse.
But I know that I should resist that temptation.
Since I am called to thankfulness, I should constantly cultivate an optimistic attitude. Sure, a gallon of gas costs more than $3. But a gallon of Starbucks coffee costs more than $15. I have to remind myself: never freak out over short-term vicissitudes, and consider just how good I’ve got it. I can drive along a winter road in a warm car, sipping the most expensive and best beverages in human history while still feeling like it’s a bargain. A trip that would have required arduous days or weeks now takes mere hours or days. People of long ago couldn’t have dreamed of the luxuries I take for granted every day.
We live in an age of abundance – even when it feels like we don’t – and we have the greatest opportunities ever to apply the best perspectives of the ages to the educational needs of our children today. We are in a very advantageous situation.
The time-honored principles, priorities, truths, and tenets of classical Christian education have proven over centuries of study to be the best road to academic excellence and moral development. Knowing this, we don’t let ourselves get tossed around by today’s negative news, trendy thinking, and pop-entertainment methodologies.
From the Greeks (who laid the intellectual foundation for Western democracy, art, and literature through the development of logic and the eloquent expression of rhetoric) – to the Romans (who continued building on this academic foundation) – to Christ Himself (through whom Peter and Paul were able to witness effectively to the Greeks and Romans in a wise and eloquent manner), Western learning and civilization have prospered when we’ve kept our eyes focused and our minds trained on the wisdom of God, as revealed in Scriptures and in the person of Christ.
We’re on the road to a very worthwhile destination at Regents Academy! A good school is getting better every day as we pursue the never-changing truths we are certain of. Oil prices will rise and fall, a cup of Starbucks coffee – at any price – lasts only a moment, but the wisdom of the ages as established and revealed by Jesus Christ will endure forever. His is an everlasting kingdom, and the future a secure one when the Lord of Glory holds it in His hands.
All wisdom and knowledge are to be found in Christ. We have been given the indescribable gift of knowing and imitating Him. At Regents Academy our commitment is to offer your children what they need most in school – the opportunity to grow in wisdom and knowledge, and to know Him from whom it comes.