We'll finish with a final assembly on the theme of vision. First a song by the Eurhythmics. Again, I would ask you to focus on the words.
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree
I travel the world an the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
Let's make it clear I am not recommending this song, or any of the songs played this week, as good music. We're listening to them to put us in touch with popular ideas. You might describe it as "pop without being kinetic", to misquote from the recent middle school play. It's perhaps worth noting in passing that this was one of the most popular songs of the 1980s in this country. Thousands of pairs of shoes and hundreds of dance floors have been worn down to the sound of "Sweet Dreams".
For all the catchy beat and syncopation, there's little of great significance in the words. Nevertheless, the idea "Everybody's looking for something" clearly identifies the mood of the eighties. For Annie Lennox who wrote the song, the "something" that everyone wanted was
related to getting on in life; in her words "moving on";
related to making sure that "people who want to use you" didn't get their way,
and related to making sure that "people who want to be used by you" were so used.
In short, what people wanted was to be "moving on", taking advantage of others on the way.
This selfishness expressed in the song is about as far as you can get away from a Christian sentiment, nor is the idea in line with our school philosophy; indeed, it is a telling insight of nineteen eighties greed. Nevertheless, there is the recognition that "everybody's looking for something"; the feeling that we want more than we have. The feeling that we should become better than we really are at present, feelings that are common to everyone. People dream of a better life for themselves. "Man transcends man."
Well, there's only 14 shopping days to go till Christmas - and what have dreams to do with the festive season? And how do these assemblies on the theme of vision relate to the time of year? Perhaps we have hopes for Christmas day in terms of the presents we hope to receive. Perhaps we have dreams about parties and puddings. Perhaps we'll do a karaoke to Val Doonican's "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas".
However, I want to go a little deeper than that; I want to remind you of the time before the first Christmas.
Dreams played a major part in the preparations. John the Baptist's father, Zechariah, had a dream concerning his unborn child; the dream foretold that his son's job was to prepare and to announce the beginning of Jesus' ministry. And Mary had a vision or a dream; she learned she was to conceive a son to be named Jesus, which means "God's rescuer". And Joseph, Mary's husband to be, also had a dream about the unborn child; the baby Jesus was to have the title "Immanuel", meaning "God with us".
So here we are getting close to the point in the mystery of Christmas. This is a season when dreams, hopes, aspirations all come true. They came true historically in the birth of a child. They also come true now because we can approach the reality the Enya wanted on Wednesday, the perfect man with perfect values of justice desired by Tuesday's Wild West Hero. "Man transcends man." We want something more than we've got. We want to be something greater than we actually are. And Jesus, the transcendent Man who came at the first Christmas is, I believe, the one able to bridge the gap between what we are and what we might hope to become.
May your dreams come true this Christmas.
I'll finish with a verse from a song for Christmas.
Who would dream that what was needed
To transform and save the Earth
Might not be a plan or army
Proud in purpose, proved in worth?
Who would think, despite derision,
That a child would lead the way?
God surprises Earth with heaven
Coming here on Christmas Day.
(Wild Goose Songs 1)
"Let us learn to dream, and then perhaps we shall learn the truth."
Sunday 9 September 2007
Dreams 3
As yesterday, we're going to listen to a song. Let's concentrate on the words.
When the evening falls - Enya
When the evening falls and the daylight is fading
from within me calls - could it be I am sleeping?-
For a moment I stray, then it holds me completely
Close to home - I cannot say
Close to home - feeling O so far away.
As I walk the room, there before me a shadow
from another world where no other can follow
carry to my own, where I can cross over
Close to home - I cannot say
Close to home - feeling O so far away.
Perhaps one of the reasons I like listening to a wide variety of music is that music has the ability to express feelings I find very difficult to express in words. Music describes what words can't.
In this song, Enya describes an experience, perhaps in the quietness of evening in her bedroom, alone, late at night, an experience when she isn't quite sure what is real. Is she awake or is she dreaming? She's striving to make contact with reality - not the trivial reality of ordinary objects around her, the table and chairs, wardrobes and mirrors - but something much deeper, something of much greater significance and meaning.
Now, in the third verse, she indicates she has memories of such moments of insight, that contact with a deeper reality. She knows the experiences she's had are very special to her; her worry appears to be that in the hurly burly of so called "real life" she'll forget those rare moments of delight, those moments of vision or understanding when everything seems to fit into a fuller, a more profound perspective.
From my own experience, I know that this sort of contact with reality often takes one completely by surprise with its force and brilliance. Moreover these experiences cannot be manufactured or reproduced. They creep upon you and catch you off guard. All previous experience has to be reappraised in the encounter.
I read of scientists, you might describe them as professional sceptics of such experiences, but even they have similar experiences, often associated with notable discoveries. Pretty soon afterwards, the discoveries were taken for granted, yet the discoveries were always treasured by the scientists themselves, not least for the joy associated with them. These examples have been quoted in other assemblies, but they bear repetition.
Yanofsky, speaking of the measurements 12.3, 12.4, 12.8 and 0.08, said "The results were beautiful, clear and convincing. It was one of those rare and completely satisfying experiences that scientists yearn for".
Arthur Kornberg said of the way biochemicals are used in the body "What fantastic natural poetry".
Kekulé worked out the structure of the benzene molecule in 1865. He wasn't ashamed to address the Royal Society meeting as follows:
"I was sitting writing at my textbook, but the work did not progress; my thoughts were elsewhere. I turned my chair to the fire and dozed. Again the atoms were gambolling before my eyes. This time the smaller groups kept modestly to the background. My mental eye, rendered the more acute by repeated visions of this kind, could now distinguish larger structures of manifold conformations; long rows, sometimes more closely fitted together; all twisting and turning in snake-like motion. But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of his own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes. As if by flash of lightening I woke; ....... I spent the rest of the night working out the consequences of the hypothesis. Let us learn to dream gentlemen, and then perhaps we shall learn the truth."
Similar experiences have been recorded by poets, musicians and artists, a transcendent beauty above any reality previously known.
And what are the circumstances associated with these experiences? One person might be looking at a piece of sculpture or a painting, another at a sunset or listening to a piece of music; yet another may have the feeling whilst walking alone on the moors and hills; some people may find the reality through friendship or love. Whatever or whenever the experience, for that moment, time is suspended; nothing else matters.
The point I want to make is this: although these experiences are so nebulous, so ephemeral, so frustratingly hard to explain to others - yet they are real and profoundly important to the individual. For Enya, the frustration is indicated at the end of each verse: "Close to home - I cannot say Close to home - feeling O so far away".
We can't hold on to these experiences any more than we can hold on to dreams; we must simply enjoy them while they last and treasure them, trying not to forget. I believe these experiences are available to everyone, irrespective of conventional religious belief.
So like yesterday, I've tried to describe a way in which "Man transcends man". People experience realities which are beyond their own comprehension. Of course, our 20th century assumptions overemphasise comprehension, analysis, explanation. So often explaining is seen as explaining away, and consequently we lose a proper sense of awe or mystery. Those people who admit to such feelings are often seen as weak or insecure. But it might just happen to you, if your lucky, that you experience one of those rare and deeply satisfying insights through one of your school subjects. I hope so.
I'll finish by reminding you of those words by the scientist, August Kekulé:
"Let us learn to dream, and then perhaps we shall learn the truth."
When the evening falls - Enya
When the evening falls and the daylight is fading
from within me calls - could it be I am sleeping?-
For a moment I stray, then it holds me completely
Close to home - I cannot say
Close to home - feeling O so far away.
As I walk the room, there before me a shadow
from another world where no other can follow
carry to my own, where I can cross over
Close to home - I cannot say
Close to home - feeling O so far away.
Perhaps one of the reasons I like listening to a wide variety of music is that music has the ability to express feelings I find very difficult to express in words. Music describes what words can't.
In this song, Enya describes an experience, perhaps in the quietness of evening in her bedroom, alone, late at night, an experience when she isn't quite sure what is real. Is she awake or is she dreaming? She's striving to make contact with reality - not the trivial reality of ordinary objects around her, the table and chairs, wardrobes and mirrors - but something much deeper, something of much greater significance and meaning.
Now, in the third verse, she indicates she has memories of such moments of insight, that contact with a deeper reality. She knows the experiences she's had are very special to her; her worry appears to be that in the hurly burly of so called "real life" she'll forget those rare moments of delight, those moments of vision or understanding when everything seems to fit into a fuller, a more profound perspective.
From my own experience, I know that this sort of contact with reality often takes one completely by surprise with its force and brilliance. Moreover these experiences cannot be manufactured or reproduced. They creep upon you and catch you off guard. All previous experience has to be reappraised in the encounter.
I read of scientists, you might describe them as professional sceptics of such experiences, but even they have similar experiences, often associated with notable discoveries. Pretty soon afterwards, the discoveries were taken for granted, yet the discoveries were always treasured by the scientists themselves, not least for the joy associated with them. These examples have been quoted in other assemblies, but they bear repetition.
Yanofsky, speaking of the measurements 12.3, 12.4, 12.8 and 0.08, said "The results were beautiful, clear and convincing. It was one of those rare and completely satisfying experiences that scientists yearn for".
Arthur Kornberg said of the way biochemicals are used in the body "What fantastic natural poetry".
Kekulé worked out the structure of the benzene molecule in 1865. He wasn't ashamed to address the Royal Society meeting as follows:
"I was sitting writing at my textbook, but the work did not progress; my thoughts were elsewhere. I turned my chair to the fire and dozed. Again the atoms were gambolling before my eyes. This time the smaller groups kept modestly to the background. My mental eye, rendered the more acute by repeated visions of this kind, could now distinguish larger structures of manifold conformations; long rows, sometimes more closely fitted together; all twisting and turning in snake-like motion. But look! What was that? One of the snakes had seized hold of his own tail, and the form whirled mockingly before my eyes. As if by flash of lightening I woke; ....... I spent the rest of the night working out the consequences of the hypothesis. Let us learn to dream gentlemen, and then perhaps we shall learn the truth."
Similar experiences have been recorded by poets, musicians and artists, a transcendent beauty above any reality previously known.
And what are the circumstances associated with these experiences? One person might be looking at a piece of sculpture or a painting, another at a sunset or listening to a piece of music; yet another may have the feeling whilst walking alone on the moors and hills; some people may find the reality through friendship or love. Whatever or whenever the experience, for that moment, time is suspended; nothing else matters.
The point I want to make is this: although these experiences are so nebulous, so ephemeral, so frustratingly hard to explain to others - yet they are real and profoundly important to the individual. For Enya, the frustration is indicated at the end of each verse: "Close to home - I cannot say Close to home - feeling O so far away".
We can't hold on to these experiences any more than we can hold on to dreams; we must simply enjoy them while they last and treasure them, trying not to forget. I believe these experiences are available to everyone, irrespective of conventional religious belief.
So like yesterday, I've tried to describe a way in which "Man transcends man". People experience realities which are beyond their own comprehension. Of course, our 20th century assumptions overemphasise comprehension, analysis, explanation. So often explaining is seen as explaining away, and consequently we lose a proper sense of awe or mystery. Those people who admit to such feelings are often seen as weak or insecure. But it might just happen to you, if your lucky, that you experience one of those rare and deeply satisfying insights through one of your school subjects. I hope so.
I'll finish by reminding you of those words by the scientist, August Kekulé:
"Let us learn to dream, and then perhaps we shall learn the truth."
Dreams 2
Song "Wild West Hero" - Moody Blues
I wish I was - a Wild West hero, and don't you?
The songwriter is expressing a day-dream, a dream of a sort of Wild West equaliser - a person who sets the record straight. Within these words, there's a theme common to most people, a theme familiar from almost all Western's, but also the same theme as in most fairy tales, many books and nearly all television drama - the desire for justice, of setting the world to rights.
The theme is so common it ought to be a cliché. Good wins in the end, and the mediator of justice is the hero, whether that be John Wayne or Robin Hood or Luke Skywalker or Superman or the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella.
But is that our own experience of life? Can we say that good always triumphs over evil? In fact, most of your experience at school is probably far less clear-cut; you play sport, netball, hockey or football; you go to lessons, you do your homework, you play in the orchestra or watch television, you hack on computers or whatever. But where is justice to be found in all that? Where is justice to be found in our everyday experience? There doesn't seem to be a clear-cut right or wrong for most of our lives most of the time.
And even when issues of right and wrong are raised, people of equal integrity sometimes end up on opposite sides. Let's think of some topical issues. Should health care be freely available to all in this country, or should those with more money have the chance of better and quicker operations? Should the perpetrators of crimes against children be locked up forever or released into the community with support and counselling? Should the railways be sold to private investors or left belonging to the whole country? Should rules about school uniform be more relaxed, stricter or left as they are?
On all of those issues, each of us holds some sort of view. But is there an obvious right and wrong in any of them? Probably not. We live in a world where justice seems unclear and continually compromised.
There is a discrepancy between the "greyness" of real life and the clear-cut, "better life", noted in the song. This discrepancy was recognised by the songwriter. No wonder he says he wants "to lead a better life", a life "away from all we know". What he wants is for right and wrong to be clear cut, and to know that he's on the side of right. Perhaps the song-writer recognises he has made a mess of lots of things. He wants to make a fresh start. He wants to live by values in dreams that he doesn't practice in real life.
The song's message should strike a chord with most of us. Don't we often say
"Oh I wish I was as clever as so and so ............"
"Oh I wish I was as tall or as strong as that person............"
"Oh I wish I was better at History or Physics or English............"
and if we were a bit better at English, we might want to use the subjunctive of the verb "to be", so correcting the grammar in the song. We ought to say " I wish I were something I am not at present".
"Man transcends man". In spite of all the good things we enjoy in life, we hope for, we aspire to, something better. In other words, we have hopes and dreams, a vision for a better life. Everyone wants higher standards of justice, of fairness, of sexual morality and of social responsibility. But the uncomfortable truth is every one wants higher standards than they themselves practice. People want to be better than they really are; in the cold light of self-criticism, we all know we could try to get on with other people better. We want to be better than we actually are. "Man transcends man."
And that's where I want to leave our thoughts. Let's apply them in school today. Using words from the third verse of the song, why not spend today being a Wild West Hero, "trying to do what's right", being the person you want to be?
I wish I was - a Wild West hero, and don't you?
The songwriter is expressing a day-dream, a dream of a sort of Wild West equaliser - a person who sets the record straight. Within these words, there's a theme common to most people, a theme familiar from almost all Western's, but also the same theme as in most fairy tales, many books and nearly all television drama - the desire for justice, of setting the world to rights.
The theme is so common it ought to be a cliché. Good wins in the end, and the mediator of justice is the hero, whether that be John Wayne or Robin Hood or Luke Skywalker or Superman or the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella.
But is that our own experience of life? Can we say that good always triumphs over evil? In fact, most of your experience at school is probably far less clear-cut; you play sport, netball, hockey or football; you go to lessons, you do your homework, you play in the orchestra or watch television, you hack on computers or whatever. But where is justice to be found in all that? Where is justice to be found in our everyday experience? There doesn't seem to be a clear-cut right or wrong for most of our lives most of the time.
And even when issues of right and wrong are raised, people of equal integrity sometimes end up on opposite sides. Let's think of some topical issues. Should health care be freely available to all in this country, or should those with more money have the chance of better and quicker operations? Should the perpetrators of crimes against children be locked up forever or released into the community with support and counselling? Should the railways be sold to private investors or left belonging to the whole country? Should rules about school uniform be more relaxed, stricter or left as they are?
On all of those issues, each of us holds some sort of view. But is there an obvious right and wrong in any of them? Probably not. We live in a world where justice seems unclear and continually compromised.
There is a discrepancy between the "greyness" of real life and the clear-cut, "better life", noted in the song. This discrepancy was recognised by the songwriter. No wonder he says he wants "to lead a better life", a life "away from all we know". What he wants is for right and wrong to be clear cut, and to know that he's on the side of right. Perhaps the song-writer recognises he has made a mess of lots of things. He wants to make a fresh start. He wants to live by values in dreams that he doesn't practice in real life.
The song's message should strike a chord with most of us. Don't we often say
"Oh I wish I was as clever as so and so ............"
"Oh I wish I was as tall or as strong as that person............"
"Oh I wish I was better at History or Physics or English............"
and if we were a bit better at English, we might want to use the subjunctive of the verb "to be", so correcting the grammar in the song. We ought to say " I wish I were something I am not at present".
"Man transcends man". In spite of all the good things we enjoy in life, we hope for, we aspire to, something better. In other words, we have hopes and dreams, a vision for a better life. Everyone wants higher standards of justice, of fairness, of sexual morality and of social responsibility. But the uncomfortable truth is every one wants higher standards than they themselves practice. People want to be better than they really are; in the cold light of self-criticism, we all know we could try to get on with other people better. We want to be better than we actually are. "Man transcends man."
And that's where I want to leave our thoughts. Let's apply them in school today. Using words from the third verse of the song, why not spend today being a Wild West Hero, "trying to do what's right", being the person you want to be?
Dreams 1
Song "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas"
Ah! Isn't that nice. The topic for this week's assemblies is Vision. It's perhaps a word used relatively rarely in everyday speech. We might be more familiar with the word "dream", which is why I started with the song. I suppose if we use the word "vision" it would be in the sense of eyesight. His or her vision isn't quite right so will have to visit the optician. You might also use the word in the sense of a ghostly apparition, a spook. But in the school philosophy, it is used in the sense of imagination or foresight, a description of an ideal towards which an individual or a group is working. We had a vision in that sense, presented to us in Friday's assembly last week.
Of course vision is a key idea in the school's philosophy. It's also a key idea in management theory, along with mission statements and the like. Together these ideas give a sense of purpose and direction to an organisation. They foster better working relationships and greater efficiency through shared ideals, goals and values. Everybody in the organisation knows what they are working towards.
And what has vision to do with the school's philosophy? What is its role? Let's just think for a moment about some of the key words we've been using in our assemblies this term: Scholarship, Challenge, Commitment, Responsibility, Altruism. All of these belong very much to the present as well as forming goals for the future. But a worthwhile vision is far more forward-looking. We all want and will work towards the vision, but perhaps we recognise we'll never quite achieve everything in it. Still, we can all try, and if we do, we'll get a long way towards achieving the vision. It's got to be better than the alternative. If people don't have an aim, if they try for nothing, surely that's exactly what they will achieve.
At this time of term teachers are busy writing reports on all of you. There can be a degree of frustration from your point of view with your report. Perhaps you've worked really hard, you've tried the best you know how, and yet you get a report in which the teacher says you could do better. You might question whether it is ever possible to please a teacher. But from the other side, there's also a degree of frustration.
With a teacher's experience, often he or she can identify a particular weakness, which, if tackled, could lead to far better progress. In that sense, teachers are in the vision business; they want the very best for their students. They look for potential; they make grade predictions, for example, which are particularly important at A-level. Teachers want to equip their students for the future.
But vision doesn't belong to teachers alone. Any whole school vision is organic and dynamic. It must change because people and circumstances change. A school vision is made from the hopes and dreams of everybody in the school community. It belongs to each of us. Each of us has personal ambitions, perhaps not carefully thought out at this stage. Some of you may have particular careers in mind already. Others may not know a career but be much clearer about more general matters, perhaps working abroad or in finance or some other area. Some of our hopes may be simply trivial - a white Christmas - as in the song; some may have hopes they daren't admit out loud for fear of teasing, and some hopes are so important we tend to assume everybody holds them; things like fairness, freedom from abuse, freedom from prejudice, and so on. This week I want to follow the theme of Vision, thinking of issues in school life. But also I want to expand the horizon, to think of vision for the whole of life, not just the school part.
During the week I shall be speaking from a personal standpoint - I shall be saying things about which you can choose to agree or disagree, or change your mind or keep an open mind. I hope that what I say will be sufficiently thought-provoking to make some of you respond. I shall also be using one of Pascal's Pensés. Pascal was a French philosopher and mathematician. Amongst other writings he jotted down lots of short thoughts which, after his death, were collected into a book. One of these thoughts or Pensés connects the present with the future; it connects what we are now with what we hope we shall become. It goes like this "Man transcends man." "Man transcends man." It is so succinct it needs unpacking - a task for later in the week. Perhaps you might like to discuss what you think it means during the day.
Envy
The story of Joseph Genesis 37, 18 - 36
I guess this is familiar story to many, perhaps because of the popularity of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical. In brief the intrigue in this story comes from the brothers' envy of Joseph, and envy is the topic for this week's assemblies.
So why were the brothers envious?
1 Joseph was one of twelve brothers. Their father was called Jacob, and Joseph was Jacob's favourite son. Jacob showed this firstly by telling everybody, and secondly, by giving Joseph a multicoloured coat - a rare treasure almost 4000 years ago, when these events took place.
It always causes trouble when a parent has a favourite child, and it's often made worse if the favouritism is blatant prejudice. Hardly surprisingly, all the other children were envious and jealous. We could say that Jacob, the father, lacked good judgement in this particular matter.
2 A second reason why the brothers were jealous: Joseph had dreams: one involving sheaves of corn (the old-fashioned way of stacking the crop for drying); another dream was about stars. And the message of the dreams was plain; Joseph was more important than his brothers; Joseph had the biggest sheaf of corn and the brightest star in the sky. Worse than that, Joseph seems to have reminded his brothers time and time again of the dreams and of his own importance. His approach lacked a certain diplomacy and subtlety. So Joseph lacked good judgement, as well as his father. It's not surprising the brothers were envious.
So let's not think of Joseph as a completely innocent victim of the brothers' plot. He comes across as conceited and vain, and not a particularly nice fellow.
The brothers were angry. Joseph should not behave as he did. He shouldn't brag and boast. And the brothers were envious because it did appear that Joseph would become more important than all of them (and subsequently he did: he held the highest office in the greatest superpower of the time). And the brothers were envious of Joseph's gift of insight; they were envious that he achieved a great deal through his own hard work and they were envious of their father's blatant favouritism and most of all, they were envious of the coat.
Their envy and anger led them to the point of murdering Joseph, only in the nick of time selling him into slavery. Envy led them into telling lies to cover up what they'd done. The brothers tore up the expensive coat, dipped it in goat's blood and told their dad that his favourite son was dead.
Here we have a first class account of what envy can do to people. If you envy a person - perhaps you know someone with more brains than you, perhaps more money or more friends, more talent at sport or whatever - if you envy them you undervalue yourself. And when you undervalue yourself, you do things you wouldn't normally do, and you're easily led into doing things even worse.
So what's the point of the story for us today?
Is it simply "Be good, or else you might get into trouble"? Life would be much simpler if we could all do that, but we're human. Whatever our high ideals, all of us envy someone's lifestyle, at least some of the time.
What I want you to think about is this: know the feeling of envy within yourself. Ask yourself why you don't like a person, particularly if a person has more talent than yourself. Does that person make you jealous? If so, listen to the warning bells ringing.
Don't let one person's good qualities make you show your bad qualities.
I guess this is familiar story to many, perhaps because of the popularity of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical. In brief the intrigue in this story comes from the brothers' envy of Joseph, and envy is the topic for this week's assemblies.
So why were the brothers envious?
1 Joseph was one of twelve brothers. Their father was called Jacob, and Joseph was Jacob's favourite son. Jacob showed this firstly by telling everybody, and secondly, by giving Joseph a multicoloured coat - a rare treasure almost 4000 years ago, when these events took place.
It always causes trouble when a parent has a favourite child, and it's often made worse if the favouritism is blatant prejudice. Hardly surprisingly, all the other children were envious and jealous. We could say that Jacob, the father, lacked good judgement in this particular matter.
2 A second reason why the brothers were jealous: Joseph had dreams: one involving sheaves of corn (the old-fashioned way of stacking the crop for drying); another dream was about stars. And the message of the dreams was plain; Joseph was more important than his brothers; Joseph had the biggest sheaf of corn and the brightest star in the sky. Worse than that, Joseph seems to have reminded his brothers time and time again of the dreams and of his own importance. His approach lacked a certain diplomacy and subtlety. So Joseph lacked good judgement, as well as his father. It's not surprising the brothers were envious.
So let's not think of Joseph as a completely innocent victim of the brothers' plot. He comes across as conceited and vain, and not a particularly nice fellow.
The brothers were angry. Joseph should not behave as he did. He shouldn't brag and boast. And the brothers were envious because it did appear that Joseph would become more important than all of them (and subsequently he did: he held the highest office in the greatest superpower of the time). And the brothers were envious of Joseph's gift of insight; they were envious that he achieved a great deal through his own hard work and they were envious of their father's blatant favouritism and most of all, they were envious of the coat.
Their envy and anger led them to the point of murdering Joseph, only in the nick of time selling him into slavery. Envy led them into telling lies to cover up what they'd done. The brothers tore up the expensive coat, dipped it in goat's blood and told their dad that his favourite son was dead.
Here we have a first class account of what envy can do to people. If you envy a person - perhaps you know someone with more brains than you, perhaps more money or more friends, more talent at sport or whatever - if you envy them you undervalue yourself. And when you undervalue yourself, you do things you wouldn't normally do, and you're easily led into doing things even worse.
So what's the point of the story for us today?
Is it simply "Be good, or else you might get into trouble"? Life would be much simpler if we could all do that, but we're human. Whatever our high ideals, all of us envy someone's lifestyle, at least some of the time.
What I want you to think about is this: know the feeling of envy within yourself. Ask yourself why you don't like a person, particularly if a person has more talent than yourself. Does that person make you jealous? If so, listen to the warning bells ringing.
Don't let one person's good qualities make you show your bad qualities.
Thursday 6 September 2007
Being Responsible 22/9/06
The theme for this week's assemblies is "being responsible".
But before we think about this theme, I want to spend a little time studying this picture.
But before we think about this theme, I want to spend a little time studying this picture.
What have we got here? Well there's a picture of a typical blacksmith in his forge. You can see the glow of the furnace behind the smith's back, and he's holding a horseshoe in a pair of tongs with one hand while hammering the piece of iron into shape. As far as quality is concerned, it's a bit rough - look at how the floor is represented, for example, - rather simplistically portrayed in pastels, but it does convey these scene well, the man huge in the frame, the shoulders hunched with effort, the tension in his arms looking like the pistons of a steam locomotive. You can see the effort of concentration as well as the physical effort required to shape, what is, after all, a fairly small piece of metal.
But when I first saw this picture, I was drawn to it because I sensed there was much more going on than a quick glance might reveal.
As I spent time with it, I saw a new level of meaning. There are a number of large blocks of colour in the frame. There's one wall on the left, the other wall. There's the man's face plainly and flatly shown; there's the shirt; the leather apron; there's the anvil block pushing in from below. All these large colour shapes appear to be arranged around the tiny horseshoe. The position of everything in the frame depends on it; the small piece of hard metal controls this picture, the position of the smith, the angle of his body.
And if the horseshoe controls the elements of this picture, then isn't it also true that the man's physical appearance is controlled by the iron? Throughout history smiths have been renowned for their huge size and strength, their muscles responding to years of effort in the forge. And smiths are also known for their stubbornness, their immovable character - in other words, the iron is shaping their minds. Smiths have a reputation of being able to drink vast quantities of beer, again, no doubt the result of working close to the furnace daily, heating and hammering and working iron at the anvil.
And if it's true that the smith's appearance and character have been shaped by what he does, it must also be true that you are being shaped by what you do. Yes, you are being shaped by everyday actions, and incidentally, this is why the job of a teacher is so rewarding - to have the chance of helping to shape a young person's life.
Mrs Chilvers spoke yesterday about being responsible, relating the topic to diet. You are what you eat. Eat junk food, and not surprisingly, after a period of time, your body is junk. And at the Prize Giving ceremony on Monday, those who were listening may remember the Guest of Honour, Professor Caroline Gipps, said how important it was that students should become reliable. She said that there's always a job for those who do what they say they're going to do, for those who are in the right place at the right time, for those with a "can do" attitude instead of looking for excuses. And for most purposes, reliability and responsibility are virtually interchangeable words.
And this is what this picture teaches us. If you practice being responsible through days and months and years, guess what; you become responsible. The blacksmith is shaped by what he does, and you are shaped by what you do.
There is another connection between this picture and Prize Giving. There are two year 11 prizes, one for Art; the other for Art and Design. These are known as the Alastair Hart Memorial prizes.
This picture was drawn by Alastair Hart when he was 15 years old. He was a student at this school some 10 years ago, and in many ways he was much like some of you. He found most schoolwork difficult and a bit of a chore, and quite often his marks were close to the bottom of the class. But he really enjoyed both Art and Design, and he put a lot of effort into those subjects. Just a few months after drawing this picture he was killed by a car while on a school trip, crossing the road. It was a complete tragedy. Some staff still remember Alastair, and through his picture, his life and gifts speak to us. And for two year 11 students, now you know something of the background to the prize you might win.
Practice responsibility, and you will become responsible.
The original picture will be on display in the entrance hall for one week. You may like to go and have a look at it one lunchtime.
Thanks for listening.
JDE
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