Just keep going they say; it’ll be over soon. Encouraged to count the days and hours till freedom, moments trickle through fingers that only hold on to the good, the pleasant and the prosperous. Eyes glaze over from seeing His glory, as they only look towards one goal.

When we make the goal everything, the journey is vaporized; it becomes nothing. The eyes of the world tell me to seek nothing but to achieve. That my time is without purpose, if it is not certified by pen and paper. But I want to experience what it really means to be educated; to be made perfect and whole.

‘And he said unto her, Daughter, your faith has made you whole; go in peace’ – Mark 5;23

‘Paideia’ is a greek work that means the consciously shaping the young to understand and appreciate “the beautiful and the good” ,always pursuing “excellence” or “virtue.” All throughout Greek literature the end goal (telos), is to become a whole-person. Education is understood as the satisfied life of flourishing, that the mature (teleios) alone can experience. This goal (telos) and state of maturity (teleios) are both important Greek words that appear in the Bible, often translated as “perfect” and “perfection.”

“Christ is the true educator. Christ not only is the teacher that ‘guides to develop the capacity to know, but also makes you pure and capable of retaining the revelation of the Word”
– St Clement of Alexandria.

Though it may seem I am stepping on firey coals, eager to jump from one coal to the next, He is purifying my heart with every step. So sometimes that means letting the fiery embers singe the bottom of my feet so that I can one day run free. The world says run from the pain and hush it to silence till the season passes. The world says winter will soon pass, and the summer’s sun will soon crack open the hardened skies with its rays. But I say how soon is now? Because every season is for a purpose. The naked branches in winter are just as beautiful as the full leaves of summer.

The truth is, I will say; ‘wait on the Lord, be of good cheer, the Lord will strengthen your heart’ one hundred times before I say ‘I have overcome, I have run the race.’ Let us stand steadfast in the strengthening. As we turn each page of the book, let us rejoice in knowing that each turn is a step into faithfulness and a step into living fully right where we are.

“Be entirely engaged in the process of your work, and be entirely disengaged in the outcome of your work.
You can’t determine outcome but you can determine to come and put in everything you have.
Let your joy be in doing the work, not in the outcome of the work
The journey not only maters more than the destination the journey actually becomes the destination”
– Ann Voskamp

If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.
Luke 16:10

The greek word for “disciple” is (mathetes). The word means a student, a learner, the follower of an educator/pedagogue. Whether in the Jewish rabbinic tradition or the many forms of ancient Greco-Roman paideia, an educator gathers disciples/students and trains them to maturity of mind and soul. At the fundamental level of our identity Christians are called disciples, students. And one unmistakable—but often overlooked identity of Christ—Jesus is our Great Educator.
So in this season of studying, I will let Christ be my teacher and I will let the each day studying be lived fully.

The way of Jesus is a journey, not a destination.
“Don’t ever be concerned with failing, only be concerned with failing to keep going”
– Ann Voskamp

“Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward & learning to enjoy whatever life has –and this requires transforming greed into gratitude”
– St John Chrysostom