From Religious Education Curriculum
.... PEACE & GOODWILL
Wishing everyone in our Lumen Christi community a peaceful Christmas and rejuvenating holiday break.
During Advent I am receiving daily reflections from Common Grace, an ecumenical Christian organisation including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian leaders, which has a focus on promoting truth telling and respectful relationships. A recent reflection emphasised the importance of communication, especially at Christmas time, in striving towards peace.
“Violence is learned behaviour - we’re born to connect in relationship. In fact, in ‘Parenting for a Peaceful World’ Robin Grille says psychologists can predict the peacefulness (or otherwise) of a society based upon the dominant child-rearing practices of the generation earlier. So, if enough of us can imagine a life without violence, and raise our children accordingly, we can help the Kingdom come.
This is non-trivial though. Peacemaking activist Shane Claiborne says: “Peacemaking doesn’t mean passivity. It is the act of interrupting injustice without mirroring injustice, the act of disarming evil without destroying the evildoer, the act of finding a third way that is neither fight nor flight but the careful, arduous pursuit of reconciliation and justice.” To raise a generation of children up to this task we’ll need lots of discipleship and the Holy Spirit.
The theories bout how to make peace are the same interpersonally and internationally – and they’re all about communication. This Christmas let’s make sure our kids know that Christmas is not just about toys and gifts, and it’s not even just about Jesus! It’s also about joining the Kingdom by learning how to communicate, how to resolve conflict, how to bring peace.
Let’s help our kids have conversations about making friends, about how to cope when we make a mistake, about finding forgiveness and fighting fairly. Let’s reimagine peace on earth by raising a generation of kids who can imagine living in the Christmas Kingdom.”
Our emphasis on Restorative Practices this year and the development of a Reconciliation Action Plan are two examples of how, as a College, we engage in meaningful dialogue; understanding that our students need us to both challenge and support them in a way that recognises their individual human dignity, as well as that of their peers.
The importance of the relationship between your home and our College cannot be understated - thank you for your support of your children, their friends, the staff, College events and for keeping open the lines of communication as we work together to build a more peaceful society.
Susy Lee is the prize-winning author of ‘Raising Kids Who Care: Practical conversations for exploring stuff that matters, together.’ After studying Psychology and Theology, she gained a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies. Teaching from Kindergarten to University, she’s also had state and national education and consultancy roles in Aid and Development.
