Principal's Reflection - 30 October

Advent (almost!)

I know it is early, but at St Luke’s we have started celebrating Advent. Last week, Middle and Senior school students, and this week, Primary students, began lighting the Advent candles in preparation for Christmas. Of course, Advent, which is a four-week liturgical season prior to Christmas, doesn’t actually start until Sunday 29 November. However, since that Sunday is the last Sunday before Term 4 finishes, if we don’t start early, we won’t be able to follow the Advent pattern of learning about the four candles that represent Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. While we generally consider December the end of the year, Christians who observe the liturgical year see it as the start of the year. From the Church’s perspective, what better way to start the year than by spending time waiting for the birth of Jesus?

At the Middle and Senior School Worship service this week, while focusing on the second candle, Peace, one of our Year 10 Ethics and Faith classes acted out a particularly memorable take on peace. It started as an argument among students in the crowd, progressed to a mean ‘joke’ among students who were seemingly friends, and highlighted the hurt that can occur when students include or exclude others based on popularity, appearance or achievement. After each act, a voice-over pointed out the contradiction and hypocrisy between what we profess to be and what we sometimes do not demonstrate through our actions. Ultimately, in each case in the skit, another person came along to show what could have occurred if we all recognised the humanness of every other person. After all, when we consider peace during Advent, we are meant to reflect on becoming better versions of ourselves. The performance finished with the following message:

In an imperfect world, we cannot prevent every argument,
we cannot stop every hurt,
we cannot make everyone like one another.
But everyday, we make choices.
To humiliate or honour.
To exclude or welcome.
To use people or to recognise them.
To make someone else’s life harder - or to make it a little more human.
Perhaps joy is not something we wait for.
Perhaps it begins the moment we recognise another person as fully human,
and choose to treat them that way. 

I firmly believe that we would experience far more peace in the world if everyone recognised the dignity inherent in every other human. How could this not be the case? Imagine a world where we protected, sought justice for, and uplifted strangers, near and far, as much as we do for our family and close friends. You don’t have to be a person of faith to understand the importance of recognising the dignity in every person. The United Nations Charter, for example, describes dignity as a foundation for peace and freedom. For most, Christmas is a time of great joy as we await presents, travel, and catch up with family and friends. At St Luke’s, it is also important to pause and reflect on the messages of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. My hope for everyone is that the Christmas period can also be a time to think about the peace we can cultivate in our own lives, and in the lives of others, through our words and, more importantly, our actions.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our School.

Mr Matthew Hughes

Principal

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