“‘Call upon me in the Day of Trouble, and I will deliver, and thou shalt glorify me…Wait on the Lord, and be of good Cheer, and he shall strengthen thy Heart; wait, I say, on the Lord:’ (Psalm 27:14). It is impossible to express the Comfort this gave me. In Answer, I thankfully laid down the Book, and was no more sad, at least, not on that Occasion. . . From this moment I began to conclude in my mind that it was possible for me to be more happy in this forsaken, solitary condition than it was possible I should ever have been in any other particular state in the world; and with this thought I was going to give thanks to God for bringing me to this place.”
― Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
WHEN I taught 7th Grade Literature, we would have a unit on Robinson Crusoe, and the particular thematic point we would observe was how the Lord providentially orchestrated his circumstances dramatically to give occasion for Crusoe to hear God’s voice. At Providence, our central aim is to have students grow in their wonder and worship of their Creator. We so often find ourselves with the many distractions of life getting in the way of that aim. We desire students to grow in wisdom and virtue, fearing the Lord and practicing piety, yet so many other voices are calling attention away from such growth in the students’ hearts and minds. What is interesting about this extraordinary time is that many of those distractions have been removed. Indeed, new distractions and anxieties have emerged, but still the Lord is merciful work amidst these new distractions as He is amidst the others.
For those who are less familiar with the story of Robinson Crusoe, of which the above quote is taken, it begins with the young Crusoe receiving wise advice from his father, counseling him not to seek riches, but rather to be content with a humble life. Crusoe hardly considers his father’s words and pursues a life of promised riches at sea, accruing quite the estate in the new world. As his wealth grows, so does his greed for more. On a routine voyage, he suddenly finds himself shipwrecked on a desert island as the sole survivor. At first, he hopes his time as a castaway will be short, but as years pass he begins to despair. He is then brought to rock bottom when he takes ill and is certain he will not survive the night. After waking, much recovered from his infirmity, he is certain God is the one who has delivered him, not just from the illness, but from the original shipwreck. Upon deeper reflection over the years, he discovers that his life on the island was actually a means of the Lord’s salvation of his soul. By being wrenched from his worldly pursuits and the many temptations that come with daily life in civilization, he was able to hear the Lord’s voice, be transformed, and delight in the things of God.
The unique opportunity we have now is to see students grow in the ways they only could as they sit in the stillness of isolation. As we have shifted to home learning for our Providence students, our schedule, surroundings, and general practices look a lot different than they did when we were all at school together. However, our ultimate goal remains the same. Though we are no longer assembling for our morning prayer, gathering in classrooms for lessons, or engaged in day to day life together, families are facilitating times of prayer, teachers are providing curriculum to students online, and students are taking time to read and contemplate their lessons in solitude. To be sure, many students are surrounded by siblings and parents, but even in those cases students have a new environment to be steeped in the best habits, books, and ideas worth thinking about.
Further encouragement is found as we consider our small Providence community. We are thankful to have a small group of families, allowing us to survey the particular situations of each household so we could anticipate which challenges would be before us and develop a home learning plan that would serve all families well. One of the more unique ways in which we were able to do this was setting up a triage system of the workload, labeling assignments as essential, additional, and enrichment. Though all the work provided would be considered essential under normal circumstances, as Providence does not assign busy work, this allows households that are more strained in their ability to facilitate learning times to be flexible.
In addition to the many ways the size of our community has been helpful during this time, the character of our community has been a rich blessing. Our faculty and families have collaborated well to find the best means of continuing our mission from home, each class working together to adapt the plan in a way that suits all participating. Also, faculty have been able to collaborate well on how best to use the online resources we have on hand to transfer learning to a home situation, in a way that is faithful to our curriculum and convenient for families. Finally, our whole community has been filled with much grace through the process, as it has been a learning curve for all of us.
By no means do these encouragements take away from the evil of such a disease as COVID-19, nor do we wish for this to be the long-term situation, for even Crusoe’s circumstances were only temporary. We certainly long for our anticipated return to the school building, assuming our daily routines, assembling together as classes, and practicing education in the personal way it is meant to be practiced. However, it still puts in perspective how “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). God delights to redeem circumstances such as these; we have but to seek out the opportunities that are before us to hear the voice of the Lord in a way we might have missed were we still surrounded by the noise and routines of our usual everyday life.
It is our hope that this unique season of Providence Classical Christian Academy will bring with it those particular blessings that can be found in such a time. It does not mean it won’t be a great struggle at points, nor does it mean we prefer it, but it does give us a special calling to leverage the circumstances we cannot change to experience the blessings of which we otherwise would not have access.
Mr. Chris Buckles has served at Providence since August 2013 and is now in his first year as headmaster. Additionally, he teaches upper school logic, geometry, and rhetoric. He and his wife, Lindsey, moved to Saint Louis in 2012 and worship at Trailhead Church. They have a toddler son, Scott, and infant daughter, Emilia.
