People of Order

Editor’s Note: In May 2021, Elizabeth Ochoa, the 11th/12th-grade Lead Instructor, gave the following speech at the Graduation Ceremony:

Let us begin with a quote from a book called, Not the Way it’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.:

“In the literature of Scripture, wisdom is, broadly speaking, the knowledge of God’s world and the knack of fitting oneself into it . . . In the biblical view, the wise are righteous and the righteous are wise: these are people who love and fear God, affirm God’s world, live gladly within its borders, and make music there according to divine time and key signatures. The wise are always “in order.” Insofar as they live right, they also live well.”

The phrase that captures the attention is: “The wise are always ‘in order.’”  I have had the privilege of spending time among various Christian communities, and I feel that the time I’ve spent alongside people who live in accordance with a true assessment of reality has given me a keener awareness of people who live from a place of internal “disorder.”  There is a certain instability in the thought patterns of those in disorder that leads to a general level of relational chaos in their lives.  They seem to trip over themselves constantly, turning normal, everyday interactions into instances of misunderstanding, overreaction, and conflict.  They are guided by vague principles that change with the ebb and flow of cultural opinion.  They are generally unaware of the emotions that are influencing their reactions.  They don’t know why they are angry, or sad, or jealous.  They don’t stop to ask why so many of their relationships are in disarray. They misread people, mistrust kindness, misjudge intentions, misuse gifts.  And while there are certainly people of this kind of general disorder, we can all relate to areas of disorder in our own lives. 

How is it, according to Plantinga, that the “wise are always ‘in order?’”  How does one live a whole life out of stability and peace?  And most importantly what can be offered to guide students to a stable path of rightly-ordered fruitfulness?

Consider two Biblical contrasts between order and disorder.  The book of Romans speaks about this contrast as both life vs. death, and spirit vs. flesh.  So we have two general categories: order, Spirit and life, on the one hand, and disorder, flesh, and death on the other.  A reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians is a passage in which he addresses the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit.  According to the epistle, “. . . the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do . . . Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

When we pause to consider just a sampling of these works of the flesh, namely, jealousy, fits of anger, drunkenness, sensuality, it’s not difficult to imagine how they easily lead to disorder in a person’s life.  And when left completely unchecked over the course of a life, we can imagine them leading to death.

In contrast, Galatians tells us that the fruits of the Spirit are evident in these: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  It is easy to understand how patience, peace, kindness, and self-control are stabilizing, order-creating influences in a person’s life. They cause flourishing both for the one who practices them and for those who receive the outworkings of these characteristics from the one who practices them.

Students, my advice to you as you embark on the next phase of your journey, as you seek out mentors, friends, and community, is to ask yourself this question about the people you invite into your life: Are they people of order?  Are they governed by principles that align with God’s revealed truth?  Do they make choices that promote life and well-being?  Are they peace-making and joyful?  Do they exercise control over themselves?  Are they kind? Do they keep their commitments and demonstrate faithfulness?  Are they dependable?  Do they seek your good?  Do they rejoice when you flourish?

The opposite question is equally important: Are they people of disorder?  What governs these people?  Are they led by their own desires and impulses?  Do they believe in subjective truth and the primacy of individual feeling and experience? Do they make choices that cost other people? Are they divisive and troublesome? Do they live from a place of cynicism and negativity? Do they master their appetites, or is the reverse true? Are they unkind? Are they unreliable and excuse-making?  Do they seek your good and rejoice when you flourish, or are they apathetic to your fortunes and jealous when you prosper?

Let’s dig a little deeper.  People can also be well-meaning, affable, kind, even good, and still living out of disorder.  They can have magnetic charisma, attention-grabbing wit, and humor, organization-changing leadership ability.  Like the rain, God’s blessings are universal; they fall heedlessly over the broad swath of image-bearing humanity.  Thus, many are intelligent, many are generous, many are compassionate, many are organized, productive, constructive, kind. 

The bane of youth is that you haven’t lived long enough to see where people end up.  The benefit of age is finally witnessing the outcome of people’s choices.  Everyone looks the same in college, and life rushes toward the young in abundance.  There is a season where most of your peers, whether their choices have been good or bad, grounded in faith, or grounded in self-interest, will begin down similar paths.  They move, they marry, they get promoted, they have children.  They influence, they dress well, they motivate, they attract.  And for awhile, you struggle to hold on to the promise that, “they are blessed who keep God’s testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart.”

Consider our Romans memory work, which diverts us from thinking in terms of popular or obscure, relevant or obsolete, good or bad, but rather in terms of dead or alive, flesh or Spirit.  Jesus said a hard thing once (more than once).  He said: “Whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever does not gather with me, scatters.”  And I challenge you with this thought: the greater the unredeemed giftedness, the greater the scattering.  Some of the most effective influencers in the world have inspired mass genocide.  Some of the shrewdest financial minds have bilked thousands out of their life savings.  It isn’t enough to have all the appearance of goodness.  There is a deeper substance demanded.

Galatians reveals that the life-giving characteristics already mentioned are fruits of the Spirit, arising from His influence, an influence that is exercised over a person who has submitted their very nature to the fundamental order of the universe: the order of the soul that is regenerated through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ.  

Attach yourselves to people of fundamental order.  Be yourselves people of fundamental order.  Gather with Christ, and seek out those who gather with him.  Order yourselves and grow in the fruits of the Spirit.  Be prepared to be different from the world you are heading into.  Don’t be surprised when your choices bring temporary loneliness or derision.  It is easy to be disordered.  One could say it comes naturally.  It is hard work to be ordered.  But that is where life is found, real life, true life, life that continues into eternity.

Keep God’s Word as the guiding light of your life.  Seek His wisdom in all matters.  Surround yourselves with people who encourage you in your faith.  Look beyond the glint and glitter of the latest influencer.  Measure everything against the Truth.  Don’t be afraid to stop and think.  Consult your conscience.  Grow in discernment.  And remember that, “the wise are always in order.”  Thank you.

Elizabeth Ochoa

11th/12th Lead Teacher

Why We Go Outside

“Every walk should offer some knotty problem for the children to think out –– 'Why does that leaf float on the water, and this pebble sink?’ ” (Charlotte Mason. Home Education. Vol. 1, pg. 153-154.)

I can’t imagine that anyone standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon wonders, “Oh my, the wonder and majesty of erosion!” No, when people enter into those ineffable natural spaces, the mind is drawn into the sheer magnitude and utter beauty of all that we can’t quite take in. Hopefully, those moments take us a step further and we enter into worship, not of the depth of the canyon or its various coloration in contrast with the bright blue sky, but of the Creator, who brought it into existence.

Our high school students recently stood on that very threshold, gathering up all that their finite optic nerves could translate. We orchestrate big trips like this for many reasons, but one of them is the cultivation of humility. You see, the natural world, as the expression of God’s mind, is infinite. We can not come to the end of it as we are drawn further and further into the detail of every element, both on macroscopic and microscopic terms. This is important because it teaches us to live life outwardly, rather than inwardly, and when we live in such a manner, we live humbly.

In the age of video games; on-demand, series binge-watching; TikTok, YouTube, and social media, living outwardly is becoming more and more scarce as people turn inward for answers, and, consequently, a humble appreciation for the gift of life is showing itself less and less. In short, our cultural, collective conscience tends to look inward for answers, for entertainment, for comfort, for wisdom, for truth; we worship economy, science, and industry, all seemingly derived from ourselves and our finite vision of the world, therefore displacing eternal God and enthroning our limited selves.

As parents and teachers, we are obligated to reverse this trend. As summer plans are made and time together is mapped out, plan to get outside often and in meaningful ways. We can all use a healthy dose of the infinite, that our hearts and minds remain connected to the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Russ York

Head of School

Nature Walks

Every walk should offer some knotty problem for the children to think out –– ”Why does that leaf float on the water, and this pebble sink?” (Charlotte Mason. Home Education. Vol. 1, pg. 153-154.)

“I know that many parents feel handicapped…by their own defective education in nature knowledge…they must dismiss from their minds any idea that it is the quantity of knowledge acquired that makes a nature student. It is rather the particular habit of mind induced in the act of acquiring such knowledge which is of the most value to us and our children.” (Alfred Thornley, PR 19, p. 722)

A nature walk is simply stepping outside to marvel at God's creation. It can be a walk in your backyard, a walk in your neighborhood, a walk to a local park, or a planned and special nature excursion to a state park. If possible, a daily walk should take place, but for some families, perhaps once a week, or every other week. There is not a set parameter, but time in nature be customized for each family. The idea is to stay consistent and keep up a habit of nature walks so they may become part of your life.

Charlotte Mason believed that children should be familiar with the common species of plants that grow in their own neighborhood.

Sometimes, it is wise to go alone with just your immediate family, and sometimes it’s fun to go with a small community of family and friends! Occasionally, take a small walk around the pond or take a long half or full-day excursion. There are no hard and fast rules.

An extension of the Nature Walk will be to come home with a specimen and watercolor the objects found and observed. We can learn so much from common objects such as twigs, wildflowers, leaves, acorns, rocks, or bark.

It is a good idea to have the children self-direct the walk. Adults are more of a guide than a teacher. Let nature be the teacher. One thing that makes Nature Walks successful will be the parent and teacher attitude toward nature. As we marvel with curiosity about nature and God's beauty, so will our children!

“As soon as he is able to keep it himself, a nature-diary is a source of delight to a child. Every day’s walk gives him something to enter: three squirrels in a larch tree, a jay flying across such a field, a caterpillar climbing up a nettle, a snail-eating a cabbage leaf, a spider dropping suddenly to the ground, where he found ground ivy, how it was growing and what plants were growing with it, how bindweed or ivy manages to climb.’” (Charlotte Mason. Home Education. Vol. 1, pg. 54.)

From A Delectable Education

Randi Tatsch

Editor/Fourth Grade Teacher

Attention

"Of course, the most obvious means of quickening and holding the attention of children lies in the attractiveness of knowledge itself." (Charlotte Mason. Home Education. Vol. 1, pg. 145.)

From Home Education by Charlotte Mason

What is the natural consequence of work well and quickly done? Is it not the enjoyment of ample leisure?

Good marks should be given for conduct rather than cleverness - they should be in everybody’s reach: every child may get his mark for punctuality, order, attention, diligence, obedience, gentleness. As a matter of fact, marks of any sort, even for conduct, distract the attention of children from their proper work.

First, we put the habit of Attention, because the highest intellectual gifts depend for their value upon the measure which their owner has cultivated the habit of attention. Attention is the act by which the whole mental force is applied to the subject at hand. This act, of bringing the whole mind to bear, may be trained into a habit at the will of the parent or the teacher, who attracts and holds the child's attention by means of a sufficient motive.

Let him know what the real difficulty is, how it is the nature of his mind to be incessantly thinking, but how the thoughts, if left to themselves, will always run off from one thing to another, and that the struggle and the victory required of him is to fix his thoughts upon the task in hand. It is impossible to overstate the importance of the habit of attention.

It is to quote words of weight, “within the reach of everyone and should be made the primary object of all mental discipline”; for whatever natural gifts of the child, it is only in so far as the habit of attention is cultivated that he is able to make use of them.

The child who has done well gains some natural reward (like that ten minutes on the garden) which the child forfeits who had done less well; if the mother equalizes the two children she commits a serious wrong, not against the child who has done well, but against the defaulter, whom she deliberately encourages to repeat his shortcoming.

Randi Tatsch

Editor/Fourth Grade Teacher

Living Books

Characteristics of Living Books

"Ideas must reach us directly from the mind of the thinker, and it is chiefly by means of the books they have written that we get into touch with the best minds." (Charlotte Mason. School Education. Vol. 3, pg. 177.)

From Living Books Library: Characteristics of a Living Book

Favorite living books inspire students to request chapter after chapter after the lesson is finished. They are the type of books that help them to retain the facts, details, and storyline, often many days, or even weeks, after we have read it. Teachers are often surprised at the extent of what is remembered. A living book allows learning to take place; not just learning is happening though, a lifelong love of learning is also fostered.

Literary Power: When the language itself is worthy of notice, the words are so perfectly chosen, the mind takes hold and images are created —true literary power. Charlotte Mason said that a book without literary power was like having beautiful pictures painted that you could not see because your eyes were covered or being introduced to people who do not live and act in your thoughts—lack of literary power is crippling for our intellect because it lacks the “Beauty Sense.”

Living ideas capture the imagination by planting a seed that germinates in the mind, causing one to continue to wonder and ponder it, and to pursue further knowledge about the subject. There are so many books full of living ideas, and what is even more wonderful is that different ideas in the same book grab hold of each of us in different ways.

Living books are those that exemplify virtuous living. The characters, like us, struggle to make the right decision, but ultimately do, or dire consequences occur. Characters don’t always make the right choice or emulate virtue in every circumstance.

Living books are inspiring when the author is passionate about their subject and they transmit that passion to the reader. A passionate author does not water down or pre-digest their subject as they write it for the reader, they want to pass on their own knowledge and do it in such a way that their interests become ours.

When we think of books that are narrative we think “books told like a story.” This is indeed the case of many excellent living books, both fiction as well as non-fiction. The use of wonderful language and imagery can evoke such vivid pictures in our mind’s eye that we see what is being described and understand it better than if all the facts were just listed. When narrative quality is present we are able to comprehend, organize the material we just took in, and relate previous knowledge and experience to it, and then are able to tell others about what we read or heard.

Finally, living books are generational because they are enjoyed over and over throughout life and from one generation to the next. Most classics got to be called such because they have been enjoyed by people over and over throughout history. They speak to us because they contain a bit of the truth of the human condition, and so different details like dress and technology don’t stand in the way. The essential truth conveyed in the ideas remains ever relevant to us.

All of these six tests of a living book can be distilled into the one overarching principle: Living Books capture our imaginations. We are changed and moved by these books so that after reading one, we are never exactly the same again.

Randi Tatsch

4th Grade Teacher/Editor

A Servant's Heart

From: In the Name of Jesus by Henri J. Nouwen

“In all truth I tell you

When you were young you put on your belt and walked where you liked;

but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands

and somebody else will put a belt around you

and take you where you would rather not go."

(John 21: 18)

These words touch the core of Christian leadership and are spoken to offer us ever and again new ways to let of power and follow the humble way of Jesus. Jesus has a different vision of maturity: It is the ability and willingness to be led where you would rather not go. The way of the Christian leader is not the way of upward mobility in which our world has invested so much, but the way of downward mobility ending on the cross.

The downward-moving way to Jesus is the way to joy and the peace of God, a joy and peace that is not of this world. Here we touch on the most important quality of Christian leadership in the future. It is not a leadership of power and control, but the leadership of powerless and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest. I am speaking of leadership in which power is constantly abandoned in favor of love. It is true spiritual leadership.

Powerlessness and humility refer to people who are so deeply in love with Jesus that they are ready to follow him wherever he guides them, always trusting that, with him, they will find life and find it abundantly.

As servant leaders, we will become dependent on the positive or negative responses of those to whom we go and thus be truly led where the Spirit of Jesus wants to lead us.

The Christian leader thinks, speaks, and acts in the name of Jesus, who came to free humanity from the power of death and open the way to eternal life.

How are we to become more like Christ as a servant leader?

Randi Tatsch

4th Grade Teacher/Editor

Maturity

A Passage from Ann Landers

"There is nothing which a mother cannot bring her child up to." (Charlotte Mason. Home Education. Vol. 1, pg. 105.)

At Ambleside, students are gently guided in the direction of developing maturity and growth. Growth is the fulfillment of living things. It is what is intended for us as human persons. Physical growth is seen through height and weight differentiation; whereas, intellectual growth, spiritual growth, and relational growth are seen through changes in behavior and thinking. They result in skill development, in the ability to talk and write about a subject, and in the pursuit of further knowledge.

Maturity is many things. It is the ability to base a judgment on the big picture, the long haul. It means being able to resist the urge for immediate gratification and opt for the course of action that will pay off later. Maturity is perseverance - - the ability to sweat out a project or a situation in spite of heavy opposition and discouraging setbacks, and stick with it until it is finished.

Maturity is the ability to control anger and settle differences without violence or destruction. The mature person can face unpleasantness, frustration, discomfort and defeat without collapsing or complaining. He knows he can't have everything his own way every time. He is able to defer to circumstances, to other people -- and to time.

Maturity is humility. It is being big enough to say, "I was wrong." And, when he is right, the mature person need not experience the satisfaction of saying, "I told you so."

Maturity is the ability to live up to your responsibilities, and this means being dependable. It means keeping your word. Dependability is the hallmark of integrity. Do you mean what you say -- and do you say what you mean?

Maturity is the ability to make a decision and stand by it. Immature people spend their lives exploring endless possibilities and then do nothing. Action requires courage. Without courage, little is accomplished.

Maturity is the ability to harness your abilities and your energies and do more than is expected. The mature person refuses to settle for mediocrity. He would rather aim high and miss the mark than aim low -- and make it.

Maturity is the art of living in peace with that which we cannot change, the courage to change that which should be changed, no matter what it takes, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Source: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-07-17-9907170129-story.html

Randi Tatsch

4th Grade Teacher/Editor

A student's view - Children as Persons

A child is a person in whom all possibilities are present -- present at this very moment.

-Charlotte Mason

I began attending Ambleside in second grade. Now, as a junior in high school, I can look back at my time at Ambleside and recognize the impact it has had on my life and my character. One of the key parts of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education is treating children as persons. Mason says in her book, Ourselves, that “Boys and girls, youths and maidens, have as much capacity to apprehend what is presented to their minds as have their elders; and, like their elders, take great pleasure and interest in an appeal to their understanding which discovers to them the ground-plan of human nature.” At Ambleside, children are treated as persons, not as children, who as such, lack the ability to know. Each student at Ambleside is treated with respect and taught responsibility, and are thus given the freedom to make their own decisions of whether to do right or wrong. Being treated as a person and being given many responsibilities has helped me mature and become a better version of myself.

In Mason’s book, School Education, she talks about the rights that children should have as persons. These include being responsible for their own work, choosing their own friends, using their spending money however they choose, and being given free reign in their play. Each of these things help them in different aspects of their life. For example, Mason says that many parents and teachers “do not let children alone enough in their work. [They] prod them continually and do not let them stand or fall by their own efforts.” She goes on to say that in our society, we are always prodded to do our work, and that we are too lazy to do it the first time. From being at Ambleside, I have developed an excellent work ethic because my teachers hold me responsible for completing my work on time. This was developed from a young age by learning how to pay attention in class, and taking initiative to listen to the reading in order to narrate. As I get older, there is more responsibility involved with my schoolwork. But because I was expected to be responsible as a young child, I am conditioned to pay attention, complete my work as best as I can, and not to procrastinate. By giving children responsibilities earlier in life, they have more opportunities to choose between what they should do and what they should not do, which is what Mason means by discovering “the ground-plan of human nature.” When they learn to have responsibility like adults, they can make mistakes (which are inevitable) and learn from them before the consquences become detrimental.

Another right that Mason says children should have to be treated as persons is for children to be able to form their own opinions. By letting a child hold their own opinion instead of forcing it on them, Mason says that “a child [can] be trained ‘to refer his conscience as his king.’” During my years at Ambleside, I have learned to form my own opinions while discussing topics in Literature, History, Citizenship, Spiritual Classics, and many other subjects. When we talk about moral issues, the teacher doesn't give us their opinion, the students develop opinions from the truth of the text and then discuss what was found. This has helped me develop and mature so that I am able to inform and defend my beliefs, whereas others without this education might not have a well-developed conscience capable of forming a grounded opinion. Mason wants us to know that children and young people can form opinions and discuss and defend them, and they should be allowed to do this because they have the capacity to understand truth.

Ambleside has given me so many opportunities to be more responsible in my young life. From the time that I was in fourth grade, I was entrusted with a “little buddy,” a student in a grade younger than me. During chapel on Wednesdays and at all-school lunches, I would be responsible for my younger buddy. During this time, I would sit with my buddy and show them the proper way to sit, listen, eat, and have a polite conversation. I would also need to remind them what to do if they were talking or misbehaving. This experience helped me become more responsible by caring for a student younger than me, but it also helped me to be reminded of what I needed to do.

There are many advantages to treating children as persons. Everything that a child is held responsible for prepares them for adulthood, and to be a hardworking and strong adult as well. Every small detail that goes into treating children as persons will have an impact on their later life. Because of the experiences I have had during my time at Ambleside, I can say that the way my teachers treated me has helped me to become a mature, respectful, and responsible person, and I am grateful.

Emily Ashman - 11th Grade