Striving for Wisdom

It would come as no surprise if the headmaster of a Christian school began the year by talking about excellence in education or growing in God’s grace. Certainly you would expect the headmaster to affirm the school’s commitment to assist you in your desire and responsibility to pass on God’s truths to the next generation. But a funny thing happened on my way to writing that message – I read an article that my wife, Sheila, had given me months ago.
Sheila is a compulsive pursuer of knowledge. One of her passions in life is to study what great Christian men and women have written about the Christian mind and the need for Christian education. She keeps an extensive journal of quotes that she finds compelling, and on several occasions each year, she shares some of them with our faculty and staff. Quite often she leaves me articles to read that she believes will help us grow as a school. Her pursuits are a driving energy behind the school that Westminster has become today.
A few days ago as I was attempting to clean up my desk from the massive amount of paperwork that tends to accumulate over the summer, I found several articles that Sheila had given me back in March! Naturally I was embarrassed that they had sat hidden under a stack of papers for so long and decided to read them immediately. When I did, I realized what God would have me share.
So often our concept of education revolves around the accumulation of facts required to pass a test or to advance to the next level. I’ll admit that we like high Stanford scores and high SAT scores (of which Westminster has both); they demonstrate a level of knowledge that helps us to feel we are heading in the right direction. Certainly we are proud that our own Sam McClelland was named the Oconee County Star Student last year for having the highest SAT score out of all Oconee County high schools. In fact, Westminster has won this award 2 of the past 4 years. We are also very pleased that all 10 Westminster seniors who applied to the University of Georgia were accepted (a rate of 100% when the average statewide rate was about 30%). We are delighted when our math teams dominate ACSI competitions and our Robotic team finishes 3rd in the state. But my hope is that these accomplishments would be viewed as steps on the path to acquired wisdom rather than simply a result of accumulated knowledge.
The article Sheila gave me was from a book written by Tom Garfield, head of Logos School in Idaho, entitled “Putting Feet on the Trivium,” which discusses implementing the classical model of education in Christian schools. In the article Garfield notes:
“There is a tremendous amount of wonderful material and knowledge out there! If content were everything, the be-all and end-all of education, then personally I would advocate for a whole year of history spent on Theodore Roosevelt. It could easily be done. But scripture calls us to strive and yearn for wisdom, not the mere accumulation of facts or knowledge. A wise man may not recall everything he was taught. But he will know how to gain or re-gain knowledge if he was taught well.”
We all recognize that it is not possible to know everything. Physicist Thomas Young, who died in 1829, is considered by many to be the last man who knew everything there was to know at that point in history. In today’s world, though, information is increasing exponentially. What we want is to help Westminster students develop a strong spiritual and academic foundation, coupled with an intellectual curiosity. This intellectual curiosity will help them to know where and how to pursue truth, even if they must learn or re-learn the facts.
Proverbs 2:6 says, “For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding (NIV).” Later in the chapter, Proverbs 2:10 says, “For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” Finally, Proverbs 1:7 reminds us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
When viewed in the light of scripture, it is quite obvious that learning begins with our relationship to God. As our relationship grows, we gain understanding, and as understanding grows, we gain wisdom. My prayer then is simple: May we as families grow in our love for our great Savior, may we pursue biblical wisdom, and may learning truly be an act of worship.
As we have worked through the difficult decision in the past week to cancel our varsity football season, we were forced to deal with the natural disappointment that a setback like that will bring. Rest assured, though, that our school has not lost the clear vision that the Lord gave the founding families over 20 years ago. That is, with a heart desiring excellence, we will pursue truth, pursue relationships, and pursue God.
Under His Mercy,
Dana