October 2019: The Hope of Our Faith

Saint Augustine in his “Confessions” focuses on the topic of time as kairos, which is measured by a lifetime of meaning and purpose - God’s time, rather than kronos, which is measured by matter moving through space. He writes “…in You is no change, nor does today pass away in You. Yet in another sense in You it does pass away, for in You are all such things - they could not even have any being that could pass away unless You upheld them in being. And because your years do not pass, Your years are today, and no matter how many our days and our fathers’ days have been, they have all passed in Your undying day.” (Confessions, 1/6/10 p.8)

 

In our temporal world, we all experience the effects of time and change. At Archmere, we are completing our 87^th academic year, looking to the future as we welcomed more than 200 families to our Open House on Sunday, October 27. Enrolling the Class of 2024 certainly directs our vision forward, as we think, plan, and implement academic and operational programs that are a blend of our deep reservoir of our best practices and traditions with new ideas and technologies that enhance the Archmere experience for our students.

 

One of the points of change that will take place for us beginning with the 2020-21 school year is the successor to our Principal, Mr. Jordan. I would like to share with you where we are in preparing for this important transition as the principal search process unfolds. We have received a number of resumes for the position. We have candidates from international schools and schools around the country, as well as internal candidates. Our search committee members have been reviewing the resumes and will meet on Thursday, November 7 to select those candidates whom we would like to interview during the month of November. I have studied the resumes and read the cover letters from all of our candidates, and am impressed by the experiences and thoughtful reflections they have shared about their unique qualifications to serve as Principal.  

 

In November, we celebrate the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, and we traditionally pray in a special way for all those alumni, family members, and friends of Archmere who have died. Philosopher, Peter Kreeft, discusses Saint Augustine’s concept of Kairos – God’s time – and explains, “In God’s ‘undying day’, all our dying moments simply are, and do not pass away. Nothing is lost forever. Nothing. Here on earth we can preserve the dead past only in our memory, which is merely mental, for the real events and people of our past are past, are dead.  But not in Heaven, in eternity, in God. There, then, our past lives in God’s eternal present.” (I Burned for Your Peace, p.38) What a consoling message!  

 

I pray that we all have the faith of Saint Augustine, so that we have the confidence to be joyful in the promise of living eternally some day with all those who have been such important parts of our lives. This hope is the flame of faith that Saint Norbert found in his relentless search for truth and meaning in this life. He built the Norbertine community around the Rule of Saint Augustine and was able to carry forward this message of hope to communities around the world over nine centuries – a long time, but, in God’s time, eternally present. “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” (Psalm 90, verse 4)   

 

As the days grow shorter and the nights longer, may we all be reminded of the hope of our faith. May it sustain us in the darkest days, knowing that there will be eternal days of light!