An Easter Resolution
Dear Parents and Friends of CCS,
May this issue of Parent News find you experiencing the grace and goodness of God!
Easter Sunday has come and gone, but thankfully the spirit, person and work of Jesus Christ is with us even now! This is such a fruitful season at CCS, even as we continue the rapid journey toward the end of the school year and the beginning of what British educators used to call “the long vacation”.
Even for those who work during the summer (including yours truly), there is a sense in which summer is still a time for vacations and for more relaxation and deeper rest.
For our Graduates, there can be a growing anxiety over leaving home for college, entering the workforce full time or simply trying to understand the call that God is placing on their lives. It’s a wonderful time, and a scary time, all at once.
For those of us who are Christ-followers, that sense of rest can seem elusive, since we are often tuned in to the deficiencies and brokenness of this world, and we may feel the pain of our brothers and sisters very deeply.
Or, we may be so entrenched in the world’s way of living that we are just plain exhausted. Either reality can be challenging.
Yet for us whom Christ has delivered from the yoke of slavery and hopelessness, there is a deeper music that can serve as the soundtrack of our lives.
One ancient rendering of this deep music is the Gloria, a beautiful text that has often been the inspiration for composers and artists throughout the generations.
Here it is in a modern, edited translation:
Glory to God in the Highest, and peace to His people on earth.
Lord God, Heavenly King, almighty God and Father;
We worship You, we give You thanks, we praise You for your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God;
You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us;
You are seated at the right hand of the Father, receive our prayer.
For you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father.
I love this text because it puts us in our proper place in relation to the Trinity, particularly the Father and the Son. It reminds us who we are in Jesus, and who we are not.
Let there be no confusion: Jesus is Lord, our Father is in heaven, and He will be glorified. And when we begin to see Him as he is, we worship, we give thanks, we pray, and we long to witness God as He fully glorifies His great Name.
As we careen through the event-laden last few weeks of the 2023-24 school year, and we look with anticipation toward a more restful summer, I invite you to join me in laying hold of the peace He has promised even now.
Don’t wait.
Life is brief in the scope of eternity, and living in the grace and hope that is ours in Christ makes each day a true blessing, and a potential opening for the glory of the Most High God to break through into our day-to-day lives.
I guess you could say that this is my “Easter Resolution”. Care to join me?
May God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit Who proceeds from them, receive all of the glory as we continue to move step by step toward becoming a truly extraordinary school, for the greater glory of God.
For CCS and the Kingdom,
Tom