Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Who Do We Teach?: Patterning For Peace

“Blessed are the peacemakers… for they will be called children of God.”  Matthew 5:9

Two easy answers to that question might be “students” or “children.” An answer that speaks to our greater purpose at LCES is “Kingdom builders.” Last week I observed a few moments of a classroom meeting where a guided classroom discussion was taking place in a circle format. Disagreements and tensions around how a recess game was being played were being taken on with a strong direction toward establishing a peaceful, communal, and joyful way to interact. It struck me in the moment that while the intricate details of the particular problem will long be forgotten in the future, the process they were going through was transformational in learning how to walk the hard road of not avoiding conflict. Patterns were being intentionally former here.

A former parent shared with me that his now adult child had attended our school decades ago, and was quick to share how influential the school’s program was in shaping his child’s further education and vocational decisions. That child is now working overseas to actively pursue peace through reconciliation in cultural settings where deep-rooted tensions cause conflicts to repeatedly simmer to the surface. Specifically, he attributed the Peacemaker program (still running here at LCES) with cultivating a significant awareness of the reality of a conflict and strategies to resolve conflict.

When peace and reconciliation overcome conflict, the Kingdom is built.
When grief and sadness are chased away by faith-nourished hope, the Kingdom is built.
When loneliness and desperation are washed away by communal joy, the Kingdom is built.
When apathy and disillusionment are replaced with passionate purpose, the Kingdom is built.

How do you build God’s Kingdom? One class, one child, one moment, one lesson, one conflict at a time.

SJ

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