This past summer as I lay in my sleeping bag on the sandy, rocky beach of a lake in the mountains of British Columbia, I gazed at the sky full of stars. It had been a long time since I’d had such a long, uninterrupted time to look at the stars. That night I counted at least fourteen shooting stars, and along with them, some realizations began to fall into place. In the stillness, I felt a deep sense of belonging in this world. (I highly recommend taking at least 30 minutes to star gaze and soak in the silence!) As I lay there, I reflected on creation, good and evil, and education. Although I had intellectually comprehended it before, I began to see more clearly the profound originality and inherent goodness of creation. It’s so original, so foundational, that it often gets overlooked. The forces of hell seek to redefine, twist, demean and distort nature, but God does not need to add anything new to counteract evil. The goodness He has already created stands for itself, and try as they might, the powers of evil cannot hold a candle to it.
At St. Benedict Classical Academy our mission is to provide children with a Catholic, classical, liberal education. Our goal is not to fight the evils of the modern world by creating counter-solutions. Instead, we teach children to come into contact with reality – with the goodness that pre-existed all evil. Over the summer, I attended a presentation by Dr. John Boyle, professor in the Catholic Studies Department at the University of St. Thomas, where I’m currently pursuing my graduate studies online. Dr. Boyle reminded us that the final cause of the universe is the Incarnate Word. He then remarked, “The good news is that we can come to this final cause starting from pretty much anywhere… [because] everything from God to dirt is ordered, related, significant, and knowable.”
Our Lord has left clues everywhere in our world for us to find Him, to learn about Him, and to love Him. But to do that, we must be still and savor the created world with wonder and awe. Like a child who runs outside the morning after a heavy snowfall, eager to interact with the white, cold substance in every way possible – even tasting it – so too must we be open to receiving the small, unassuming manifestations of truth and goodness around us. Perhaps this is why Christ says, “Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it” (Mark 10:15).
This pursuit of Wisdom is what my students pray for everyday in Latin class when they say the words of the Holy Spirit prayer: “Da nobis in eodem Spirtu recta sapere,” which means, “Grant us in that same Spirit to be truly wise.” The literal translation of “truly wise” is “to taste rightly.” We pray to the Holy Spirit to refine the pallets of our souls, making us more receptive to the small, humble manifestations of truth and goodness that surround us in every discipline—constantly seeking new tones and new flavors to appreciate.
AUTHOR: Mr. Peter Dowdy, Latin & History Floating Teacher