Remembering on Remembrance Day

At 11.00am today, we marked Remembrance Day with a service around the flagpole at Calvin.

Our Year 9 students, led by the Humanities staff members, heard from Tyler Elliot, a Calvin old scholar who served in the Australian Defence Force in the Middle East. Tyler presented a powerful address that allowed students to see that the impact of war continues long after soldiers return to civilian life.

Our Remembrance Day event is significant in our school calendar. It provides the opportunity to step outside the all-consuming nature of the present (and 2020 has brought a bumper crop of problems!) and to focus on the sacrifices that have been made in the past. On 11 November 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent after four years of continuous warfare, and over a hundred years later, we pause to remember the 330,000 Australians who served overseas. More than 60,000 of these Australians died as a result of war, and we remember those whose lives were lost or impacted as a result of conflict.

“As a school community, we understand the centrality of remembering.”

As a school community, we understand the centrality of remembering. Many of us partake in communion in our church communities – the sharing of bread and wine known as the “Lord’s Supper” – in which we remember the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. As a staff we meet daily for worship or devotions to remind each other of the restorative nature of Jesus’ resurrection. As members of the Calvin school community, we celebrate “Heritage Day” each year to remember and celebrate why Calvin Christian School was established – to provide students with a Christian education, and the belief that parents, rather than the Government or the Church, were primarily responsible for the type of education their children received. Soon we will find ourselves immersed in the Christmas season where (in the midst of celebration and gift-giving) we remember the birth of Jesus. 

“Memory is one of the greatest gifts that God has bestowed upon us.”

Memory is one of the greatest gifts that God has bestowed upon us. Those who have seen a family member succumb to memory related illnesses know the pain felt when memories fade or even disappear. Without memory of events of the past, we may even lose our sense of self or identity. In effect, we lose the ability to contemplate the future and to effectively navigate the present environment. And perhaps, worse still, without memory we are unable to apply past learning to new situations in order to creatively address issues. 

Remembrance Day is a call to remember so that we can contemplate the future and effectively navigate the present. Christmas and Easter are calls to remember so that we can hold onto our identity in a pluralist world.  In the celebration of birthdays and anniversaries, we strengthen our sense of self within community. 

Lest we forget. 

This week we welcomed Mr Scott Ambrose as the Principal of Calvin. Scott finished his role as Deputy Principal at Southern Christian School last Friday and started at Calvin on Monday! Scott is currently receiving a handover from Ineke Laning, who will stay on until the end of the year before commencing her retirement. Welcome, Scott!

You can read more about his appointment in our Communique last term.

Bonny Moroni — Head of Secondary

Now you see it

Now you see it, now you don’t…

When the newsletter-writing roster was discussed at a senior leadership meeting last term, I was, of course, eager to write the article for this cycle as it would have been a celebration of achievements following on from our annual athletics carnival. However, as with so many other situations this year, it never came about. 

How many times have we thought that something we were planning for, or something we were expecting or something we had was a sure thing - a given, but then it didn’t happen, or it failed to materialise, or it was taken away?

When I ponder these questions, I am reminded of the Matt Redman worship song “Blessed be Your Name” where he acknowledges life’s “streams of abundance” juxtaposed with its “desert place”. When we remember how fortunate we are as a state to have had such significant shelter from the worst effects of COVID-19, it is easy to consider the abundance in our lives. We can, however, be forgiven for contemplating the things that have gone wrong – family gatherings not happening, holidays being cancelled, loved ones getting sick, jobs lost… Redman mentions that the “darkness closes in” and it is then that we have a choice.

Just this past week, I have been thinking at length about seeking out the good in all situations. As a teacher, parent, husband, mentor, coach, I try to live a life worthy of being an example to others around me and to lead by that example. I was faced with an incident this week where, whilst riding my bicycle, I got knocked by a car. Having come off at a reasonable pace, “losing some bark” as the policeman would later say, damaging my bike and the car that was involved – I was able to get up, dust off, chat to the driver, re-assemble my bike and eventually ride on.

That night, after detailing the crash with my family, we were able to pray a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s protection over me and also over the driver of the car who was visibly shaken by the incident. Is it always easy to find God’s favour in our daily situations? – NO, but when we choose to have our hearts say “Blessed be Your Name”, then we are able to recognise God’s provision and His grace and His protection.

Life happens – sometimes we can see it coming, sometimes we can’t – but what we can control, is how we deal with the messages it brings. As for me and my family, we choose to praise God when the streams of abundance flow, and we praise God when we are walking through the wilderness. 

Blessed be His name!

Ken Holloway — Director of Operations

Prayer is powerful

Here we are at the beginning of the final term for 2020. Retailers are already reminding us that Christmas is not far off, although not for the reasons we consider important!

There is much to do before we can relax to enjoy that season. The term will be busy and for many of our students, stressful. Some students are realizing that perhaps their efforts have been far from satisfactory. Many are struggling to understand the events of this year – fires, floods, COVID-19, personal issues. Our seniors have only a few weeks of classes before examinations. How do we encourage one another to face the difficulties in life?

I have been reading Overcomer by Dr David Jeremiah who pointed out (and why have I never noticed this myself?) that in Ephesians 6:10-18 which exhorts us to put on the armour of God to withstand the enemy, we are told to stand, not to actually fight. Jesus has of course already won the battle! The metaphor of the armour is helpful in reminding us of God’s plentiful provision for ‘standing strong’: His truth, our righteousness in Him, the encouragement of His peace, faith in His salvation and His Word which we can use against the enemy. The passage ends with the reminder to pray always.

Dr Jeremiah analyses David’s fight with Goliath pointing out various qualities in David’s life. He was not discouraged by others (David’s brothers sneered at him). David focused on previous victories such as the times where God had enabled him to kill bears and lions in order to give him confidence in God’s power to destroy Goliath. David ran towards the problem (Goliath) mindful that the reason for the fight was that God’s name was being mocked. The result in this story is that a mere youth overcame a giant. I would love for our students to have David’s overcoming spirit!

“ It is so very important to help our young people understand the importance of the lessons and applications of God’s Word for their own lives”

I used this Bible story yesterday in assembly to encourage our students to be overcomers. It is so very important to help our young people understand the importance of the lessons and applications of God’s Word for their own lives. We need to teach them the power of prayer. We need to encourage them to share their lives more openly with us.

Martin Hanscamp who recently went to be with the Lord spent much of his life in service to Christian education and was an influential member of our Christian Education National community. At his funeral his family mentioned a tradition they had where each member shared one good thing and one ‘other thing’ around supper in the evening. Developing this habit would encourage openness and provide opportunities to pray for each other. 

Prayer is powerful. We can leave a mark on the world through prayer; we can influence the plans of those who seem powerful through prayer; we can stand on Jesus’ victories to see strongholds overcome. There are no limits to what we can pray for but do we pray? The truth is that there is nothing that God is not sovereign over! He sees us as His people, like sheep in His care (Psalm 95:7). If He is sovereign, why are we so downcast and disquieted (Psalm 43:5)?

Ineke Laning — Acting Principal