Trinitas Blog

One goal not written in the Trinitas mission or vision statements is the goal of building a close community among Trinitas families, but it is our goal nonetheless. Community building isn’t a foreign concept at schools, and especially at the college level since it is a retention tool for colleges and universities. College students who might otherwise consider dropping out or transferring to another school may be reluctant to do that if they have grown close to their classmates, professors, and others at the school. For Trinitas, our reasons for building community run deeper.

On July 4, 1776, representatives to the Second Continental Congress signed their names to a little document Thomas Jefferson and a few of his esteemed colleagues penned, and the world hasn’t been the same since. The Declaration of Independence gave continuity and near unanimity to the thoughts that were already swirling in the heads of a couple million colonists chafing under British rule in the thirteen colonies along the eastern seaboard of what is today the United States of America. The Declaration served to organize the rebels in an official sort of way and make clear their intentions to the mother country that the colonists meant to be independent if King George intended to maintain the status quo they found so oppressive. He did.

There is something in a boy that loves danger. That love frequently manifests itself in ways that polite society does not approve of, so we often squash it thinking we have done the boy a good turn, saved him some trouble down the road. What we ought to do instead is help him order his love of everything else to its proper place so that his love of danger becomes bravery in the face of evil, or even just resolve and determination in the face of the difficulties of life for the good of the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, though, our tendency is to squash and emasculate. And where has that gotten us? What has become of masculinity? Whatever happened to killing the dragon and getting the girl? Our boys and men are wilting in the face of dragons while the girls are girding on their armor for the fight. Backwards? Uh, yeah.

About the time we wrap up the school year, my thoughts turn to my garden.  My garden provides a quiet place for work and contemplation, and as is my wont, my musings rarely stray far from my life as a teacher.   Cultivating in my students a love for learning and a desire to love God and neighbor is a lot like cultivating a garden.

What's the best way to begin the summer break here at Trinitas? With a book recommendation, of course! Several years ago, I read The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming of Age Crisis and How to Build a Culture of Self-Reliance and think that it is still of value to parents today.  The author, former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, has been in the news here in Florida frequently this year as he has assumed the helm of the University of Florida.

The common notion about teachers at the end of the school year is that they run out of the building screaming like banshees and then retreat to the comfort and ease of lounging beside the pool all summer to recover. Frequently during the last week of school, parents will ask teachers what they plan to do all summer. I remember one parent who stopped by the school a couple of weeks into summer and was truly dumbfounded to find the parking lot full, the office well-staffed, and all the teachers hard at work. “Don’t y’all know it’s summer?” he stammered. Yes, we do.

Classical Christian educators often refer to a G. K. Chesterton quote about education really being “a transfer of a way life.” What we’re all working together to do at Trinitas is to create a Paideia of God, a culture in which the things of God are the things we think, say, and do. We want to, and want our children to, think God’s thoughts after Him, to speak and sing His word, and to do what His word commands. This is the transfer we’re hoping for.

In John 14:15, Jesus tells his disciples, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” He does not offer them a points system wherein they might earn rewards for keeping commandments. He does not offer them 100 points for loving God and 90 for loving neighbor and another 50 for not coveting so they can earn their way to heaven. He says simply, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” There is no bargaining, no threatening, but a simple invitation to prove love through obedience. The invitation is valid for us as well.