This will be the final newsletter focused on the text from Andrew Zwerneman entitled, “The Life We Have Together: A Case for Humane Studies, A Vision for Renewal. In order to tie this altogether and perhaps successfully integrate the way in which this season of waiting relates, I would like to harken back to that concluding image referenced in my previous message:
“Structure creates security and order for freedom to flourish in the self and society. I like to think of a liberal education as a stone mansion - a sort of super structure - that stands the test of time and resists the immature impulses that fail to equip children with the virtues and knowledge needed to go out into the forest. This solid dwelling provides a safe haven for weary travelers seeking a nourishing meal, good company and conversation, and even a healthy sense of humor. We teachers set the table with the best of ingredients from our cultural records, and thankfully we have the gift of supernatural grace in the Holy Sacrament to nourish our souls and unite us to the Incarnate Truth, Jesus Christ.”
What would compel a group of people to build a castle? What would compel a group of people to build a cathedral? Why did St. Andre make it his life goal to build the world’s largest basilica dedicated to St. Joseph?
It would appear futile to spend time on such efforts. There is no utility or practical benefit in these forms of architecture. There is this modern tendency to shun all things of the past and the modern mind is quick to look down most especially upon the medieval time period. My mind quickly gravitates towards the reconstruction of Notre Dame in Paris (construction began in 1163 and finished in 1260). A secular president committed to rebuilding a religious icon of western history in record time. What motivated him to restore this house of worship? Was he inspired by the same sentiments as the original creators of Europe’s most beautiful and historically significant church?
Beauty points upward, not downward. Beauty elevates and enriches the soul. Beauty facilitates an encounter with the divine because it pulls at the whole person: body, mind, heart, and soul.
There are two definitions embedded in a liberal education that address these questions as well.
Mr. Zwerneman defines a person in this way: “Our chief term for understanding who we are and how we ought to live. As persons, each of us carries all other persons: we fulfill our personal responsibility by giving ourselves to them. We learn what it means to give by observing the person who faithfully carries others.”
Another definition that garnered my attention in part derives from observing the Introduction to Philosophy course this week.
Philosophy, according to Mr. Zwerneman, is “The love of wisdom as a way of life, evidenced both in the few who are philosophers properly speaking and, more broadly, in the culture of learning evidenced in Western history. Thinking philosophically is central to a genuine education. It is inherently our responsibility to understand reality. Genuine freedom largely depends on knowing the truth concerning our participation in reality. Action cannot supersede understanding but rests on it. Philosophy construed as a means to change the world is not philosophy but ideology, a false pretender.” (emphasis added).
Each person is in a sense a philosopher. But the goal of a philosophy is not to manipulate reality, it is to understand it. And there is a definite limit to our understanding, which must be accepted. Therein lies the genius of Christian philosophy according to Joseph Pieper. I had the honor of hearing students discuss the relationship between philosophy and theology. I left class that day most struck by this statement; Pieper stated that we must resist “the natural craving of the human spirit for a clear, transparent and definite system.”
It is only a definite structure that can point us in the direction of beauty, not a definite system because no such system exists. The myth of modern progressivism - which is itself a sort of pseudo-philosophy - is that once we create the perfect system for society to structure itself around, the human person will be able to flourish in full freedom.
Conversely, the structure of a liberal education understands the true nature of personhood and consequent role of reality in shaping freedom. This is intellectual humility. That is what I heard in class this week and I think it is a distinctive feature of a liberal education. The structure of a beautiful cathedral incites humility because of its size and distance between the vaulted ceilings and ground level.
We cannot be whoever we want to be. We can only be who we are called to be.
This season of advent carries us to that ultimate act of humility wherein God assumed flesh. It is a virtue that does not come easy to us, but I would argue it is a divine attribute. God comes down to us. We go up to Him. It is not in our nature to change reality. We can only humble ourselves to it much like God did for us. May this season of Advent move us to more humility so as to ascend the ladder of holiness. - Mr. Derek Tremblay, Headmaster