Praise the Lord from the earth…fire and hail, snow and ice, stormy wind which perform His word, mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds…let them praise the Lord’s name for His name alone is exalted; His thanksgiving is in earth and heaven.
~ Psalm 148
Christ is Risen! I pray you had a fruitful Lent and a beautiful Pascha. Our community is in the final month of our third year, and the energy on campus is palpable. As I sit to write this, the campus of Chrysostom Academy is brimming with life. The spring flowers have emerged, our flowering trees are in full bloom, the leaves have returned to the trees, bees have begun emerging from their winter slumber, and our office is full of students suffering from seasonal allergies. In this joyful Paschal season, this explosion of beauty and life has made me reflect on how this year we were blessed with a landscape perfectly in sync with Lent and Pascha.
For most of Lent, Chrysostom Academy’s campus was a barren and devoid of much of the plant and animal life we see now. This was the perfect Lenten reminder that creation itself goes through a cycle of death and life. As our students and community members were engaged in their own spiritual ascetical practices, the campus perfectly mirrored their struggle.
Winter here in Pennsylvania can be a gloomy period of time for many people. The days are shortened, and the weather tries to invade your body with bone-chilling cold. We see our students change their behavior with this season, becoming a little more subdued and quiet. For a significant period of time, we begin our days in semi-darkness because the sun hasn’t risen yet. Everyone in the Academy begins to yearn for the light and weather of spring. This physical reality is the perfect environment in which to begin the Lenten fast.
The Church has given us the time before Pascha to reflect on the reality of death and sin, finding both in ourselves. Yet, as Lent progresses and the sun slowly stays in the sky longer, we too see the Light of Christ slowly emerging as we approach His Passion and Resurrection. As Christ approaches His Passion, life begins to emerge, which is precisely what really happened. By His death, Christ destroyed Death, granting Life. Not only do we see this in Church, but creation itself rejoices.
The Psalms are full of the hymnography of creation. God made creation for man, but also man for creation, with the two working together to praise God. This imagery of creation and man working together to beautifully worship the Lord is best exemplified in Genesis, where Adam walked in the Garden of Eden with God as a friend, yet because of sin, became afraid (Gen 3.8). Yet even in this state, creation still praises the Lord with mankind. From the death of winter creation emerges into the life of spring.
When Christ emerged from the tomb, the campus of Chrysostom Academy was brimming with beauty to meet Him. Our campus community reacted to this blossoming with joy and a rambunctious spirit which is infectious. We have had several families and other visitors comment on the joy and excitement they see in the faces of the students, as well as the beauty of the campus. This connection is something Chrysostom Academy considers absolutely vital.
Nature Study is an essential part of the Academy’s curriculum. From Kindergarten onwards, every single student spends significant time each week exploring creation. As spring has progressed, students have found more and more interesting plants and animals to observe and ponder. However, when they came back from our Paschal break, this energy, inquisitiveness, and observation of creation has been noticeably elevated. Our high school students actually captured and are keeping a wolf spider they found on campus.
I don’t believe in coincidences, and noticing this energy made me realize the synchronism we experienced this year, and I thank God everything aligned the way it did. In our final month, the campus will slowly transition from spring into summer, meaning the sudden blossoming of flowers will transition to green leaves. The pop of color which dotted campus will transform, just as Christ ascends later this month, sending down the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. The joy of the Resurrection becomes the joy of summer, as our students say goodbye to our third year and leave us until the fall.
For this, my final Headmaster’s Update of the school year, I want you to take this joy of the Paschal season combined with the beauty of spring, and spend some time in creation, as I do with my family and campus community every day. Together, we can use this time and walk with God as friends in the garden once more. Glory to God for All Things!