A Land of Milk and Honey

Whilst this expression is now a commonly used idiom, it was first used as a description, by God the creator, to his people, recorded in Exodus 3.  God tells his people that he has heard their cry and will deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians – who have been their oppressors – and bring them to a place where living conditions are good and the people have the opportunity to flourish and thrive – to live as God intended them to live. It is my assertion that we, as a community, have had that blessing from God that could well be categorised as “living in the land of milk and honey”.

Consider this – our enrolments have been on an upward trajectory for well over a decade.  An intentional plan to have a four stream Primary and a six stream Secondary – first conceived almost 10 years ago – will be fully realised in 2024 – right on cue.  Since 2016, our enrolments have increased by 33%.  Demand outstrips supply – we are bound by limits placed on us by our local government – and so we pray earnestly and continually for the right timing for the families who need places in our community the most – that spaces will open up for them. 

In 2021, a funding peculiarity – which had resulted in us being underfunded by the Federal Government for more than a decade – was corrected.  This has enabled us to press forward on our desire to create purpose-built environments for all elements of our curriculum offering.  Our temporary portables and demountables – whilst some had served us well for up to 30 years – had outlived their “beauty” and their utility.  We will see, at the beginning of 2024, the completion of the final piece of the secondary school “building pie” – the senior secondary facility – with new homes for maths, science, food tech and the senior years.  Right on cue, when we need it. 

That is not to say that the last few years haven’t been tough.  The pandemic stretched every pastoral care resource we had.  Anxiety and uncertainty, in the minds of school-aged children, can wreak havoc emotionally and socially.  Much has had to be done to restore our learning communities to places where God’s gifting of each of our children can be fully expressed. It is a work in progress – it always is – but we have had to climb back from some dark places at times.

Not to mention the fact that we now face unprecedented challenges to our school’s capacity to be who we say we want to be – a Christian school where all who work here live out authentic, purpose-filled lives because of the saving faith in Jesus they personally know and have responded to. (Although, on this last point, that tension is felt more keenly by the parents of the children, than it is by the children.  We, as the adults, hold this tension daily.  We want to see our kids thrive and flourish – and we are rightly concerned for what the future holds for us as a school.)

In 2023, we are seeing a new beginning (maybe it’s a re-emergence) of what it looks like for our students to display full expression of their God-giftedness.  One thing I can do is point to success such as those that have happened in the last two weeks.

Firstly, on a Thursday, for the first time ever, we won the Division 1 Athletics carnival.  No small feat for the second smallest school competing there.  And, then over the Friday and weekend that followed, we witnessed the extraordinary success of our musicians at the Generations in Jazz festival. Punching well above their weight, they turned heads and won prizes – outcompeting schools with specialist jazz programs that are decades old. 

But, rather than itemise a whole list of human measures, let’s take a look at scripture that informs the bigger picture of who we are seeking to be as community – and, specifically, I want to spend a few moments on 1 John 4, verse 18. 

“There is no fear where love exists. Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love.”

In John’s first letter, chapter 4 includes two major ideas. The first is that believers ought to "test the spirits" to see whether they are from God (1 John 4:1–6). The second theme is that God both loves us and that "God is love" (1 John 4:7–21), which should lead believers to love one another.

In this second section, it is verse 18 that is the key verse.  In this section, John teaches that biblical love is a sign of being born of God, and knowing God. He states emphatically that believers are to show their love for God by loving one another (1 John 4:7–12). Love not only demonstrates God's presence in our lives, it serves as evidence to the rest of the world. Love is how the world is meant to "see" God, even though they cannot do so physically.

Verse 18 offers an important perspective on the relationship between love and fear. Namely, that godly love and worldly dread are incompatible. God's perfect love drives out fear of being accepted by Him. Here, John’s emphasis is not on “fearing God” – that is holding him in awe - rather, his focus is a believer’s anxiety over whether or not God will truly love and forgive us. He asserts that believers who follow God's example of love have no reason to fear that God will not accept them. God’s perfect love removes the need of this fear. He is love, He shows perfect love, and He places love in the hearts of those who believe.

I share this with you because it is a centrepiece to the learning culture that we are fostering here at DCC.

Let me show it to you through the words of another – from a fictious character many of us have grown to love over the last couple of years.  You may even remember the scene.  It’s the darts scene from Season 1, Episode 8 of Ted Lasso.

As we moved back from the isolation of lockdowns over the last two years, we have quietly been turning our classrooms into places where we have sought for love to be a dominant dynamic, in order that enquiry (or curiosity, as Ted puts it) is not an added extra; rather we want it to be the foundation of every lesson. To do that, we have had to create environments where a child’s natural curiosity is nurtured, not squashed. Where asking questions is expected, celebrated, cherished and as significant a part of the learning process as finding the solution.

Being curious means putting aside judgementalism – those tendencies to think we know it all already, or it’s not important, or it’s unworthy, or it’s wrong. For us adults, it’s actually harder than it is for our students.  Give them space to search a little, give them an invitation to take control of direction of their classroom enquiry, and they begin to thrive.

They are motivated more, they begin initiating enquiry. There are times, already, when a teacher is late to class and the class is already on task.  Unheard of when I was at school – when the teacher directed everything, told us all what to do, when to do it, and insisted on showing how to get it done.  Teachers are still directing the traffic flow of the classroom, but they are now facilitating discovery rather than being the only wise sage in the classroom.  It is a revelation.

But it takes partnership. The teacher’s disposition is one element: the learning environment – including the built form – is another.  The right environment can make enquiry learning so much easier.

Every building since we refurbished the Year 7 area and created a new secondary library (so, four building projects ago) has had this approach to learning in mind, as we have quietly gone about designing and building flexible and inviting spaces for Year 7, at Hall Road, for PE, drama, and music.  I also marvel at how Years 5 and 6 have turned their space into one that makes enquiry learning easy to do, too.  In terms of our facilities and how they are being used, we are definitely living in that land of milk and honey.

But partnering is more. Does your church – the one you attend as a family – encourage the children to be curious, seeking to know God’s truth through responsive teaching and experiences? Is it doing that for you?  Or does it follow an approach that places all the direction in the hands of a few?

How do we encourage our children to own their faith if they are not deeply encouraged to explore what it means to be a believer / why the claims of Jesus are personal on their own lives … if that is happening, then the experience of school and church are in unison.

What about our families? I remember how easy it was to amuse my kids when they were pre-schoolers.  Take them for a walk.  The “why?”, “how come?” “where did?” “what is … for?” questions started before we got to our front gate, and stopped well after we got home. Curiosity was rife in those moments.

As kids get older, how do we keep on encouraging curiosity?  Or do we look for the quick fix – life is busy, so they are told what is what, what to do, and when.  Are there times where they have to occupy themselves, not blob in front of the TV? Are they encouraged to work out how to repair things that break, rather than simply throw them out?

And what about extended family influences?  Are we creating places where our children are in the company of those, in their family, with a different outlook?  Where negotiated outcomes are necessary?  How are they skilled in the family setting to do that?

Don’t get me wrong – removing judgementalism is not removing judgement.  Safety and security are critical to young ones, essential for healthy living for all.  And limits and standards have to be set.  Learning how to exercise good judgement is “caught, not bought” – you can’t simply impose it, it has to be learnt and discussed, without a sense of pre-determined rules and regulations overwhelming it all.  

Your children, our students, show daily that they can come to good decisions and wise practices if they are encouraged to work it out – with people they trust, who honour their capacity as developing human beings, as image-bearers of God.

In conclusion, let me talk for a moment about our peak national body, CEN – Christian Education National.  Last year, I introduced the DCC Association to how they were representing us, as they navigate our current unsettling legislative environment.  And, if you remember, it was a metaphor for our lives together.

We, as a school, operate in a world where being on top, having the ascendancy, is being achieved through the creation of fear, an arrogant posture and bold ambition. As a school, we stand alongside CEN in encouraging our students, as they seek to be more Christ-like, to replace fear with eternal hope, arrogance with humility, and to put aside ambition in the name of being openly hospitable to all, no matter how they treat us. 

May this continue to be our approach, at home, at church, and at school – a school that seeks always to put Christ first, to use God’s word, the Bible, as the anchor for all we do, as we seek as a collection of God’s people to do all we do as an act of worship, giving glory to God alone.

So what can you do now? 

My first answer is as old as time itself - please pray. When we call for prayer, especially at key times when parliament is arguing about legislation – pray with and for us.  I am always convinced that God will answer our prayer – we can all tell stories of His remarkable and miraculous provision – for each of us individually, and for us as a whole community.

I’m not sure how He plans to answer our prayers in this particular circumstance, but I remain convinced that He will give us opportunity – no matter how restrictive legislation becomes – unlike anything we have ever had before, to witness to Christ and his sovereignty to the wider community we live alongside.

Wouldn’t it be a great thing to explore more intentionally how we could be a blessing to those outside our fences, who don’t know Jesus, so they too could come to that living, eternal relationship with Him we all love and cherish as our own?

And secondly, why don’t you consider joining the Friends of CEN?  It’s new, and it’s for you.  Whilst it is especially designed for those in our associations who are no longer current parents, it is open to all.  Friends of CEN seeks to provide encouragement and resources for all who support our schools, on a semi-regular basis – no matter how old you are, what stage of life you are in, whether or not your kids are finished at school.

Shalom