The following is adapted from a faculty address delivered at Convocation by Mr. Varela on August 16, 2024, at Trinitas Christian School.

Our theme for this year at Trinitas is love. Of course, love is a central theme in many of the stories you have read, and it will be a continual theme in your studies because it is a constant in the world God designed. Jane Austen writes of a love that grows over time between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice. In Little Women, Louis May Alcott gives the reader the heartbreak of unrequited love between Laurie Laurence and Jo March. Romeo and Juliet tells of a tragic love, courtesy of Mr. Shakespeare. These are all examples of romantic love. Since dating isn’t a part of our school culture, let’s lay that kind of love aside for now and think about love as it pertains to you, dear senior, and even you, seventh graders.

Love What Got You Here.

For many of you, who you are today has been shaped by the years you spent here in the Grammar School. Standing in line as a kindergartener has taught you the need for structure and order. Keeping a clean cubby and preparing for binder checks has taught you the importance of organization. Sitting quietly in class has taught you that someone who has come before you has something good to pass along and that you should listen to them. Even being sent out to the hallway has taught you there are consequences for your actions, and though your teacher may be disappointed in your actions, he is eagerly waiting to restore you to the class. Trinitas student, love what got you here. Be thankful for how you have been shaped by your time in the Grammar School. Give thanks to God that you have been brought up in a school that cares about virtue and growing your soul, not just your mind.

Now, please take those virtues you were given in the  Grammar School and exhibit them with you in the Upper School. Of course, the Upper School at Trinitas looks different than the Grammar School, as it should. No longer are you required to walk from place to place in a straight line. Instead of a cubby, you are given a locker to manage on your own. You are invited to discuss openly in class and share your thoughts on the topic at hand. You are even given some classes, like Schola Seminar and Choir, just for the sake of learning without the need for assessments. We have trained you in the Grammar School. Now comes the call to maturity as Logic and Rhetoric students. Take those training tools from Grammar School and use them to thrive as Upper School students. Love what got you to where you are today. Remember your training. And, please, don't forget the importance of good handwriting!

Love Thy Neighbor

We hear that phrase a lot around here. We have a whole day dedicated to Loving Thy Neighbor. Sometimes, Mr. Cowart even leads us in a cheer. “I say LOVE, you say NEIGHBOR.” We care a lot about that phrase, so much so, that it guides our way of life at Trinitas. Mark 12:30-31 says “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” My friends, loving your neighbor will begin when your love of self ends.

We are called to die to self and put the needs of others above our own. Gentlemen, we give you opportunities to practice that by waiting for the girls to exit the class first and by letting the girls and grammar school heat up their lunches first. You have been taught to thank your teachers as you exit class for teaching you. That is a small way of loving your neighbor. Now how else can you show love to your neighbor this year without being prompted? When you pray, “Let me see this world, dear Lord, through your eyes” you will see a classmate who is having a hard day and needs some grace. You will see a teacher who is juggling a lot, and you will know today is not the day to push his buttons. You will see a grammar student who is dying to have a big kid talk to him at lunch. The younger kids love you guys and look up to you. Your conversation with them at lunch is the first thing they will talk about in the car when their parents ask them about the best part of their day. You will see coaches, teachers, and a headmaster who are pouring all they have into developing and improving you as a person. How can you serve them? Die to yourself and look for ways to love your neighbor. Take your eyes off yourself and see who God has put in front of you today. May our Upper School be known by our love for one another.

One of my favorite things about the Upper School is our Honor Code. It is a pledge that you make to God, your parents, your church, your teachers, and your classmates that you will live honorably and favorably at this school. This pledge is not some frivolous formality we do for show. This pledge carries some serious weight. When followed, it orients our frame to a beautiful, scholarly way of living. You will agree to statements, like “I will seek to honor the Lord in all that I think, say, and do. I will do my utmost to learn as much and achieve as much as I possibly can. I will honor and respect the time, work, and feelings of my fellow students.” Committing to live by this code is one of the best ways you can love your neighbor at Trinitas.

Love What Lasts

         If I were to ask each of you “What do you love?” how would you answer? Sports? A particular celebrity? Hot Cheetos? Sleeping in? Attention from others? Our loves shape us. They are what we think and dream about. Our affections must be properly ordered, lest we become unbalanced. If your loves only consists of idleness and not hard work, how will you learn to labor for six days and rest on the seventh? If your consumption of media is only easy reading and easy listening, how will you develop a taste for the Great Books? If your preference in food is only McDonald’s chicken nuggets, how will you develop a taste for a well-cooked steak and potatoes? What you love matters. Love what lasts.

Josh Gibbs, a well-known voice in the classical Christian world and former Trinitas faculty member, makes this point better than I can. He says, “Our society has a cultural metabolism which moves at a breakneck speed. Much of our lives are given to things that are not worth a second look, second read, or second listen. This constant exposure to mediocrity is robbing us of the ability to listen deeply, think deeply, and love deeply. Some things do last, though. Two hundred years later, we are still listening to Beethoven. Three hundred years later, we are still traveling great distances to stand before the works of Rembrandt. Sixteen hundred years later, we are still reading Augustine. Why have these things lasted? What happens to people who love things that last? What becomes of people who never learn to love anything deeply?” (Love What Lasts, 2023)

I was arrested by this sentence, “This constant exposure to mediocrity is robbing us of the ability to listen deeply, think deeply, and love deeply.” Oh, how I want you to be a student who listens deeply, thinks deeply, and loves deeply. I want that for myself, as well. To do that, we must embrace the right kind of loves. Love learning Latin with Mr. Sanders because Latin is the language of scholars and our Western heritage. Love learning art with Coach K because our world needs more beauty and structure. And for crying out loud, love music because I said so! Note that I did not say you need to be good at any of these disciplines. I did not even say you had to like them. But love learning during your time at Trinitas because it is good, it is beautiful, and it is true.

May God’s blessing be on each of you this year. May you not grow weary in well-doing as you love what got you here, love your neighbor, and love what lasts. Now go forth and live as kings and queens in God’s kingdom.