“A child’s mind is no mere sac to hold ideas; but is rather, if the figure may be allowed, a spiritual organism, with an appetite for all knowledge. This is its proper diet, with which it is prepared to deal, and which it can digest and assimilate as the body does foodstuffs”
Charlotte Mason - Preface to the Home Education Series
It’s fall, and at Ambleside that means butterflies! There are swarms of butterflies all over our campus, representing at least 24 species and still counting. This is one of the most wonderful seasons at the school because the Lord’s design for transformation is ever before us, and if we look closely we might discover important parallels to our own journey. For example, I recently learned that during the larval stage, when the future butterfly is in the form of a caterpillar, it is mainly charged with eating, and eating, and eating. In fact, most caterpillars eat so much that they grow up to 200 times the size they were when they first hatched. That kind of growth requires the right kind of food, and an abundance of it, so butterflies are very selective about where they lay their eggs as they know the larva will need plenty of good food to grow to maturity. Interestingly enough, the nourishment that a caterpillar gets during this part of the life cycle feeds special cells that are used to fuel the energy needs of metamorphosis and beyond, as the adult butterfly lives primarily on stored energy left over from the larval stage. Similarly, our hearts and minds are formed by the ideas and thoughts that we entertain and consume. At Ambleside, you often hear us talk about the pursuit of the good, true, and beautiful, primarily because we are called to be highly selective of the kind of mind-food we and our loved ones consume.
Like the caterpillar, what we take in today will provide the well-spring of life for tomorrow, but unlike the caterpillar, we have to choose what we eat! We were hatched in a thorny patch of earth where we must decipher between that which we are meant to consume, and that which would leave our hearts malnourished. We were made to engage the mind of our creator and to do so we must seek Him out in all that we do and observe. We must select for ourselves and for our children that which will nourish and sustain them for a life lived well. The good news is, we have a Guide, for Jesus left us, not alone, but inhabited with the Holy Spirit to lead us in that which we were made for. Our job is to listen and obey. I hope you hear from the Creator and Sustainer a good word regarding the selective feast of ideas that you must choose to take in for yourselves and those you must select for your children.
Russ York
Head of School
