Verse for America
May our feeling penetrate
Into the center of our heart,
And seek, in love, to unite itself
With the human beings seeking the same goal,
With the spirit beings who, bearing grace,
Strengthening us from realms of light
And illuminating our love,
Are gazing down upon
Our earnest, heart-felt striving.
~ Rudolf Steiner
In these confusing and uncertain times, it can be a struggle to engage in the world and with each other. The balmy temperatures these past days affirm in many of us an eerie sense that our world is off kilter. It can be hard to believe that that the weeks have passed so quickly, and that we find ourselves already in the month of November, preparing once again our lanterns, singing our seasonal songs and getting ready for our school’s annual Martinmas celebration this Monday, November 11 at 4:30pm. We encourage you to join us and to experience the sublime and nourishing impact that the act of sharing time and space, walking quietly into the woods as the dark descends, can bring.
As part of our pageant, the students in Grades 1-3 reenact the story of St. Martin of Tours, a story so old and yet so timeless. We hear about a Roman soldier who pulls himself out of the rank and file, showing selflessness and care by famously cutting his woolen cloak in half and sharing it with a total stranger, with one who is in need. Martin’s deeds live on in us to this day as a powerful archetype for compassion, reminding us of our human power and duty to serve the other, whenever we can, and in whatever way we can. The lanterns that we make to provide light into the night give another reminder to kindle our inner light so that we might illumine not only the ever-increasing outer darkness in nature as the winter approaches, but also so that we may recognize the power and duty to direct this light towards each other.
St. Martin sharing a cloak with a stranger in need at the 2023 Martinmas pageant.
Less often mentioned in this story, yet fundamentally important, is not only the symbolic cutting of St. Martin's red cloak so that another human, shivering with cold, may be warmed, but what happens before this deed: St. Martin notices the suffering of a fellow human. It might sound simplistic and obvious, but we should take note of the fact that the mere act of observing and noticing the other, is a tremendously challenging and--at the same time--a quiet, humble, and necessary deed. If we do not train ourselves to open our senses and see each other, we are not fully present nor fully human. What are we tasked with in our daily life? How effectively do we notice each other in our community and beyond? Are we awake enough, in our daily routines, to notice that someone is suffering? Only then can we weigh what our response will or should be.
As teachers and parents, we are in a unique position to notice slight shifts in the moods of our children. This is a powerful and important act, but how can we learn from this intimate relationship and expand this ability applying it to people with whom we do not have such a close bond? If we learn to tap into the power of our own heart forces, we expand the power of love, and we might begin to view everyday interactions and situations with a greater imagination, something that is particularly difficult and potent in an age such as our own. Using images to unearth what a person might be experiencing behind their outward expression, can over time create a shift, a warming, in how we perceive the other, the unknown.
If we learn to tap into the power of our own heart forces, we expand the power of love, and we might begin to view everyday interactions and situations with a greater imagination, something that is particularly difficult and potent in an age such as our own. Using images to unearth what a person might be experiencing behind their outward expression, can over time create a shift, a warming, in how we perceive the other, the unknown.
Who exactly is that person driving too close behind you who, in your mind, seems to be clearly hurrying you along for no apparent reason? Who is that person you want to glower at, the person who fails to step in or to step up to help with something you could really use a hand with? Who is that person who voices angry opinions that seem so contrary to your own? Practicing the act of imagining is a powerful human response that allows us to experience more deeply and to make more sense of the world. That tailgating driver could be imagined as a nervous horse, needing reassurance and steadiness. The non-volunteer might not be selfish but could be a donkey overloaded with baggage already on his back. When we go to sleep fostering such compassionate images about people or about situations that initially elicit irritation, we practice the subtle art of noticing. The surface behaviors that we encounter each day trigger antipathy, but we can move beyond this and begin to discern how another person's light might have been dimmed or depleted and how they might actually be in need of help to light their lantern.
Festivals are a central part of Waldorf education for they provide us a chance to pull out of the bustle and distractions of everyday life and to intentionally imbue a given moment with more focus. They nourish us by allowing us to relate outside of our rational intellect with the soul of each other, a community of individual humans sharing space and time on the earth. Another way that we practice this very vital skill of imagination, observation, and focus is through our performing arts. The recent eighth grade play, this week's fifth grade play, and next Monday’s Martinmas Pageant all aim to develop empathy and understanding by providing a context to explore the emotional life of the other in a more genuine way. The power of love is profound—it awakens in us as we expand our compassion and our awareness of people's complexities and our own relationship to being a servant to truth, beauty, and goodness in the world. Furthermore, when we move and sing together in unison, the everyday dust of life is swept away, and we are lifted into a realm of a strong feeling of unity, all touched by the light of the other.
The power of love is profound—it awakens in us as we expand our compassion and our awareness of people's complexities and our own relationship to being a servant to truth, beauty, and goodness in the world. Furthermore, when we move and sing together in unison, the everyday dust of life is swept away, and we are lifted into a realm of a strong feeling of unity, all touched by the light of the other.
May we tap into that universal bond as we walk through our beloved forest once again, guided by our common light. May we tap into that universal bond as we gather by the comforting stillness of the pond while we sing together and look up into the night sky, releasing this light into the world. The time is right to come together.
~ Anna Harris, Lower School Co-Chair & Hickory Program Coordinator
When I heard the learn’d astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.
~Walt Whitman
