Principal's Reflection
Teachers meet each morning at 8.15am for prayer and reflection. Mr O’Brien shared the following fable with us recently:
“Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbours came around to commiserate. They said, ‘We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.’ The farmer said, ‘Maybe.’ The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening, everybody came back and said, ‘Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses’ The farmer again said, Maybe.’
The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbours then said, ‘Oh dear, that’s too bad,’ and the farmer responded, ‘Maybe.’ The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again, all the neighbours came around and said, ‘Isn’t that great!’ Again, he said, ‘Maybe.’
The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity, and it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad — because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.”
Life is a ‘comparative exercise’ in that we are (too often) concerned about how we compare to others. As parents, this often extends to how we perceive our children in comparison to others – on the sporting field; in the company of adults; with their peers; in various academic pursuits. As educators, we refer to important benchmarks to reflect on a student’s development, whether a child is ‘up with pack’ in the sense that he or she is learning and applying knowledge, understandings and skills that are objectively determined against ‘norms.’ To fall behind in some or several areas is not, as is expressed in the preceding fable, an immoveable obstacle to growth in both the errant area or other areas, nor is it a predestination for unhappiness or unfulfillment; history is littered with ‘successful’, ‘rich’, ‘achievers’ who remain deeply unfulfilled. Instead of looking towards an uncertain future, a sense of gratitude of what reflects ‘the present’ might be a useful lesson for us to support a more ‘positive present.’
Last weekend’s Gospel of the lost son or prodigal son is a powerful story when viewed from the perception of each of the main characters, and a tale that offers greater support for the notion of gratitude. A strong feature of this parable is how it is very difficult to ascertain a positive ‘ending’ of any situation, when we are in the midst of pain, loss or regret. I believe that our staff at St Patrick’s are grateful for their unique opportunities to present a positive present and future for the children in their care – positive in the sense that, whilst we acknowledge the importance of planning to support student learning against Year-level outcomes, each child has different capacities that allow them to be uniquely situated to be blessings to their present and future communities through the formation of character that is supported by an effective school-home relationship. Arguably, the most significant message from the fable is the benefits and bounty that flows from a grateful heart – not a heart that is satisfied with mediocrity; rather a heart and mind that appreciates that ‘this too shall pass,’ and that a positive approach that is couched in a grateful heart, can appreciate both the significance and insignificance of life’s ups and downs, which is well expressed by AA Milne in ‘Winnie the Pooh: “Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
As we prepare for end of term parent-student-teacher meetings, I encourage our conversations to be framed in this context of a positive present and future in the context of gratitude for growth that is evident, in addition to considered goal-setting.
Regards,
Rod Linhart
Principal