Throughout our nation, August is the month when students either return to school for the fall term or get ready to be welcomed back shortly after Labor Day. August is a crucial month in the life of all American students.
The educational system itself is an anchor point in our society. Students’ calendars are to a great degree built around events related to their education. As are the calendars of parents, grandparents, employers, and civic and religious entities.
Thus, August provides a perfect opportunity for Graceworx Community Church to enthusiastically commend and cheer on all students in our region—whatever their academic level—and all teachers, administrators, and support staff, who make the educational process possible.
Although education may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one hears the word “church,” at Graceworx we consider education a crucial aspect of what we’re all about.
Graceworx’s sermons at times address themes that are other-worldly. But a major focus is also to educate concerning how to put spiritual values into practice, ensuring that life in the here and now is better for us and for all those around us.
Over centuries and millennia, numerous luminaries have recognized and spoken about the crucial role of education and what it entails.
Jesus said he had come that we “might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Psychologist Carl Rogers said: “The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn … and change.” Nelson Mandela broadened the scope: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Malcolm X contended that “education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” And King Solomon maintained that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, . . .” (Proverbs 1:7)
Clearly, education is much more than simply the accumulation of information. “Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire,” said Irish poet William Butler Yeats. And speaking in a similar vein, Aristotle argued that “educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
Martin Luther King, Jr., recognizing that true education must include the development of character as well as the nurture of the mind, said: “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”
Needless to say, getting a well-rounded education that includes so many facets can be hard work—though highly rewarding. “Learning is not attained by chance,” said Abigail Adams, our nation’s second First Lady. “It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”
And education shouldn’t stop when one receives a diploma or a degree or completes a course of study. Learning should be a lifestyle that continues for a lifetime. All of us should forever be students.
Students and teachers in Apopka and beyond, may the 2023 – 2024 school year be your best yet!
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