A Continuous Celebration of the Whole Child!

SEA: A Continuous Celebration of the Whole Child! By Father Steve Clifton

I am writing this post shortly after experiencing my first Peace Day Chapel as Chaplain of SEA. In preparing for the service, I had the opportunity to hold and examine, one by one, the dozens of origami doves made by upper grades students in Mrs. Daniel’s art classes which were hanging from the balcony as everyone walked into the church this morning. Each student, after making a dove, wrote on its wings some words or a phrase reflecting what peace means. I was overwhelmed by the number of students who, without prompting, made reference to God, religion, and/or spirituality. This points to one of the beauties and strengths of our school: an acknowledgment and celebration of the spiritual dimension of life. Not as an add-on or peripheral activity, but as a core aspect of our identity as a school. As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin has been quoted as saying, “We are not physical beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a physical experience.” SEA understands, believes, and lives in the knowledge that development of a child’s spirit is at least as important as development of the mind and the body. And children—in their eagerness to learn, their creativity which hasn’t yet been squelched by criticism, their open and optimistic hearts—are probably more open than we adults to hearing and responding to the still, small voice of God. It’s no coincidence that Jesus taught that anyone wanting to experience the fullness of life as a spiritual being must approach it like a child! For thirty years SEA has been doing much more than providing an education for its students. We strive to instill in them a knowledge that because they are loved by the One who created them, they can love freely and deeply, showing that love through kindness, respect, honesty, and acts of compassion and peacemaking. This coming Sunday, September 27, is Celebrate Children Sunday at Church of the Resurrection—an opportunity at both our 8:00am and 10:30am services to place children in the front and center of our worshiping community, to which you are cordially invited! But the fact is that the Resurrection family of ministries, including SEA, is eager to put our youngest members front and center all the time, so that they know that they are truly loved, deeply treasured, and fully a part of our life and our world. Sure, they have a lot to learn, but they also have much to teach us. We are committed to continuing to create and build up the Kind Zone, in the hopes that our students will take what they feel and experience here into a world that desperately needs that kindness, acceptance, and love.