Persons

“Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” I John 3:2

A Person’s a Person No Matter How Small

The chapel at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham calls itself ‘a sermon in stone.’ We took our students there recently on our excursion day and were overwhelmed by the symbols and beauty of its place. The children were invited to explore until a symbol spoke to them and then take time to illustrate it in their museum books. It was like a treasure hunt of sorts and we were all surprised by its effect. The chapel is designed to teach and remind at every turn. There are murals of the church year and shields for each of the apostles. The Trinitarian symbol made with the acacia’s everlasting leaves graces the ceiling. Four foundational preachers are carved into the pulpit. Every detail points to the Christian tradition and holds theological and historical significance. The chapel is designed to retell the beauty and excellence of our true and living faith.

I wonder if in a very similar way the Garden of Eden is designed for persons, to tell them who they are and what they are for. Picture a place of exquisite beauty, form and provision. This is a place where rule is by recognition, not dominance; where the atmosphere is infused with a sense of comeliness and aesthetic delight There is a rhythm/cadence/pace of living here that is unrushed and timely. A sense of proportions with variety and repetition, safety and adventure fills the space. Garden life was characterized by sleeping deeply and awaking to fitting work. Male and female were in sync, free of cold distance or clinging togetherness. Solitude and community ran parallel and were the dialectic of this place.

At our essence, this Reality is what persons are made to enjoy. We are ever leaning towards this sense of shalom, of suitableness, of wholeness. When we taste this we find deep rest and a sense of satisfaction. Our essences echo, ‘yes, now this is true and sincere.’ Although our days here are broken and full of suffering, we find that we often taste hints of this kind of care. This kind of kindness feeds our hope.

The personhood of children is essential to our understanding of education. We have seen that the habit of attention to a child leads to the recognition and particularizing of that child, with the fruitful sense that one is knowing and being known


A few months ago I heard James Houston, a dear mentor of our work, describe the four consciousnesses of persons. These would include our Cognitive intelligence where all can be substantiated, our Emotional intelligence where relating and sympathizing with another occurs, our Conative intelligence involving our will with desire and longing and our Spiritual intelligence linking us to the Father, Son, and Spirit and connecting us to others.

It is our understanding that when a person is recognized in all four of these arenas he will be most attentive and will feel the most tended to.






To attend:

To be attentive means to bring all four of these consciousnesses to the moment. When we are able to do that freely we retain and remember better. Attention given and attention received has a ripening effect on us. We are living creatures and it seems that when we are well tended we grow and are fruitful; when we are ignored or not recognized we shrivel and shrink. If people tend to us, but do not care for us, we experience it as manipulation. It feels like harshness instead of nurture. Attention must be laced with caring when living with persons.

Add attention to glance and you get gaze.
Add attention to hear and you get listen.
Add attention to taste and you get savor.
Add attention to touch and you get stroke.
Add attention to smell and you get scent.


Charlotte Mason said, ‘It’s not how much a child knows, it’s how much he cares that matters.’ One of our board members once retorted, ‘Well, I want my child to know and care!” I believe that what Miss Mason was saying is that if a child only knows but does not care, the learning will be forgotten or will become a knowledge that is idolatrous leading to pride. Caring and delight in knowing fosters humility and joy.


To recognize

Childhood is marked by a lack of self-consciousness. This innocence or humility is what Jesus is drawing our attention to when he says, “Unless you become like a little child…” It may seem inefficient to be patient with a child and to protect his freedom to be. But goading, enticing with rewards and comparison are all poisons to a child. It behooves us to recognize the child for who he already is instead of promoting postures and paces that will one day find him wearing a mask, pretending to be someone he is not or infected with hero worship, desiring to promote himself instead of be himself.

The seed in fertile soil is a fitting metaphor for recognizing the child. There is only so much effect we have. The essence of the seed, the child, is intact and already has an aim or bent. We offer soil nourishment, virile conditions, attentive waiting and a little weeding, and the child grows into all he is becoming. As we recognize the child we will see his particular weaknesses and fleshly ways. We help the child by fostering habits of attention, kindness, honesty, steady effort, and more. This promotes postures of truth and care where he is free to confess his selfish bents while still hoping and longing for more.









To particularize

C. S. Lewis said, ‘Affection is responsible for nine tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.’

Jesus always finds a way to particularize, set apart and convince the follower with a knowing that is past knowing. Think of how Jesus came to His band of men and women after the resurrection. Thomas could have been a real irritant with all those doubts. But when Jesus came to him, he spoke to those specific doubting parts of him. Thomas was convinced internally of the truth of Jesus’ resurrection. Note the way Jesus came to the scholars of the Emmaus road and the women at the tomb as well. All demonstrate particularizing and affection.

We want to be a people who wait alongside and enter in while Truth particularizes our children personally. An atmosphere characterized by presence (attention), hospitality (making room for our deprivations as well as our abundances), and care (entering into the reality of where one is) all put us in the way of particularizing to grow. When spending leisurely time with a child reading, listening to music together or taking a long walk one often senses this particularizing taking place. ‘Ah, ha’ moments, a special exchange of tender words, a knowing smile, a blush or sudden rush of tears. All of these and more speak to this wooing of Truth that comes along side of us to name and particularize us.

Knowing and being known

When attending, recognizing and particularizing with affection are present a deep sense of belonging is formed. Secure in the knowledge that we are seen and cared for, our lives grow in fruitfulness. This is a different word than achievement. Products need management to be productive while persons need grace to be fruitful. The giving and receiving of gifts is our commodity as persons. ‘What does it matter? Grace is everywhere,’ says Bernanos in Diary of a Country Priest.

As we see ourselves more in the role as midwives, bringing to the light of day something that already exists and as the farmer, sowing and nurturing a seed that already contains essential life, we will enjoy days of knowing and being known by others. This engaged knowing is the distinctive of Jesus’ pedagogy. This is not dry and dutiful knowledge but one laced with vitality, virility and verdancy. The heart, mind, soul and spirit we are after is one that hears, attends, understands and responds. Now I not only know as with an axiom, but I feel a caring responsibility for all that I have received.

Eugene Peterson said, ‘If we try to understand and form ourselves by ourselves we leave out most of ourselves.’ Pondering the idea of persons can lead to growth in ourselves and our learners, while neglecting these may have a shriveling and deadly effect. May we be persons who are open to God and others in freedom and mindfulness.