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Details: By Marie MacPherson; Created: August 1, 2024

This presentation was given at Session 12 of the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education Conference (XXIV) in Seward NE on July 25, 2024. The accompanying resource document can be found here.

“Like her sisters Truth and Goodness, Beauty has also been mistreated and shunned by this materialistic, secular age. With few exceptions, artists openly defy her while architects no longer strive to pleasure her. Others strive for fame and originality while openly embracing ugliness and nihilism. But even though society tries to turn away from Beauty as it plunges deeper and deeper into barbarism, ordinary people still thirst for her: the world’s greatest cathedrals are filled with tourists, massive crowds flock to art museums filled with religious painting, and there is perpetual demand for the music of Bach and Beethoven. It seems that as our age becomes uglier, so that Beauty is more openly marginalized, she becomes more important, more necessary than ever.”

So writes the Reverend Adam Carnehl in an article entitled “Toward a Lutheran Theology of Beauty” in Issue 11 of Christian Culture, a Magazine for Lutherans.

Carnehl touches on a vital point for educators today: Beauty is often overlooked in our homes and schools, whether intentionally or not. As classical educators, we are intentional about truth and goodness, but sometimes beauty gets pragmatically pushed aside. As Lutherans who understand that all true beauty is from our Lord, we have been given a precious stewardship to share beauty with our children and students. Sometimes teaching can feel like a nurse performing triage: you may feel overwhelmed with standards, whether they are from the state, the school, or yourself. There are never-ending lessons to plan, papers to grade, classrooms to clean. There’s religion, reading, literature, history, science, mathematics, and sometimes even Latin! But in the words of Sarah MacKenzie in Teaching from Rest, “What if, instead of trying to make the most of our time, we worked harder at saving it? What if we were more intentional and lavish with our time and more detached from our checklists?… [What if we viewed each child] not [as] a project to be managed, but a soul to be cultivated[? This] doesn’t mean we aren’t planning ahead, and if definitely doesn’t mean we are lazy. It means we are doing one thing at a time, and we do that thing with all our heart.”

The purpose of this session is to encourage each educator here to carve out time daily to reflect upon and receive the great works of Western art and music. We’ll discuss a brief philosophy of beauty, brainstorm specifics for building a “morning meeting” that will work for your students, and share practical resources for implementing that vision. Finally, before dismissing for Vespers, we’ll join in discussion to support one another in a daily dose of beauty.

First: a philosophy of beauty. We’ll discuss the thoughts of the ancients on beauty, marvel at how all beauty is from the Creator, and reflect upon the objectivity of true beauty. As an aside, when I refer to art in a general sense in this presentation, I mean “the arts” in the broad sense—music, visual art, poetry, etc.

Author Stratford Caldecott, a Roman Catholic, published a fascinating book several years back entitiled Beauty for Truth’s Sake. I’ll be sharing several quotations from this book throughout the hour. As a classical educator, Caldecott explains, “The key to [the ancient codification of the Seven Liberal Arts] was [the concept of] beauty as cosmic order, an order that is simultaneously aesthetic, harmonious, symbolic, mathematical, and sacramental” (132). He goes on, “At the heart of any culture worthy of the name is not work, but leisure, schole in Greek, a word that lies at the root of the English word “school.” At its highest, leisure is contemplation. It is an activity that is its own justification, the pure expression of what it is to be human. It is what we do. The ‘purpose’ of the quadrivium was to prepare us to contemplate God in an ordered fashion, to take delight in all truth, beauty, and goodness…” (90). We can see in these quotations that while beauty is a trifecta with goodness and truth, it is also closely related to both education and creation. In fact, the medieval mind considered art (in the broad sense) to be God’s grandchild: God created man, man created art—therefore art is the grandchild of God.

In his book Serpents in the Classroom, Dr. Thomas Korcok describes the relationship between classical education, beauty, and God:

“The ancient Greeks looked at the universe as a unified whole designed to draw one closer to God. By understanding the interconnectedness of all things, a person could begin to grasp the things of God. Medieval Christian teachers continued in this tradition. Truth, goodness, and beauty were worth learning because they were expressions of the oneness of God. Goodness described what God was like, but so did beauty and truth. There wasn’t a multiplicity of truths or goods or beauties any more than there was a multiplicity of gods. While they are distinct, the three were intertwined. Truth interpreted beauty and goodness, goodness gave insight into truth and beauty, and beauty informed truth and goodness. Each described one aspect of the whole. It was similar to the way the Athanasian Creed describes the Trinity…” (78).

As such, we can see that not only is beauty a gift from God, it is a reflection of God Himself, and cannot be separated from truth and goodness. The absorbing and reflecting on beauty fits naturally with a classical Lutheran education. Nor is beauty some postmodern concept that cannot be analyzed or understood. Instead, beauty is objective and teachable.

Aristotle posited that beauty was directly related to order, symmetry, and proportion, none of which is subjective. Different eras of art, architecture, and music have ordered their tools and media differently than one another, they have used symmetry and balance in different ways, but beauty is design, not accident. Stratford Caldecott describes a number of questions one might ask when deciding between two objects, to find which is more beautiful, including: which of these two objects would you rather present to God or possess for eternity? (32). He also argues, “Who will not admit that harmony is more beautiful than dissonance, health more beautiful than sickness, kindness more beautiful than cruelty? [If you push the postmodern relativist], you will almost certainly be able to get an admission that he would prefer to look up at a gorgeous sunset than down into the latrine” (31). When considered in that light, we find that perhaps beauty is not simply in the eye of the beholder, after all.

If we as parents and teachers are to gather the most objectively beautiful things that we have inherited from Western Civilization, what then would we proceed to do with them? We would want not only to share them with our children and students, but also to have them imitate those works in their youth, and later, invent based on what they have received. The Wiley Online Library describes,

“In Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, mimesis referred to how written and visual arts mimicked or imitated the world. The term, and its Latin equivalent imitatio (“imitation”) ... meant an author's conscious use of features and characteristics of earlier works to acknowledge indebtedness to past writers [and artists]. Imitation can be found in nearly all works by Greek and, especially, Roman authors. Ancient theoretical discussions of imitation agree that good imitation required more than simple copying. An imitator was expected to emulate many models, join imitated material seamlessly to his own, reshape and vary it for its new context, and improve upon it.”

Today’s modern government schools place too much emphasis on invention, not imitation. Placed into a context of classical learning, the grammar stage of imitation of beautiful art and music comes first—first the “copying” by learning music theory and artistic terminology and skills. Later in the dialectic and rhetoric stages—after the mastery of the basics, students are then ready for that true emulation of the greats, which takes what they have learned from the masters, and incorporates their own ideas and skills into it.

All this waxing eloquent about beauty begs the question...Is it ever acceptable to expose our children and students to bad art, art that is anything but beautiful? Human beings learn to be comfortable with, and eventually love, that which is familiar. Therefore, I want to surround my children with the good, the true, and the beautiful, so beautiful, true, and good things seem like "home" to them. I aim to listen to or look at something beautiful each day in order to specifically kindle an appreciation of beauty as an attribute of God, but also to normalize true beauty in general. Yet, there are situations in which it may be appropriate to expose older children to small doses of the bad, the false, and the ugly as they prepare to live in the world, but not of it.

It’s actually pretty easy in modern America to find bad art and awful music! Especially after your students have had a decade or so of normalizing the beautiful, finding and sharing negative examples of art in pop culture can be a helpful talking point. There are also two interesting movements, among others, in visual art history to explore with your children and students. One is called Memento Mori, and the other Vanitas. Those of you who know a little Latin perceive that Memento mori means "Remember you must die," often using skulls or skeletons to make its point. Vanitas is a genre of art using objects as symbols to demonstrate Solomon’s Ecclesiastics: the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. The idea of vanitas may appeal to teen students, draw them in, and turn them toward the Light when we teach in Christian schools and homeschools. We are surrounded by a culture of death with abortion, transgenderism, and suicide running rampant. Knowing that the idea of death has been wrestled with by mankind since the beginning helps one feel not so alone in one’s pain. Looking to and examining memento mori art, I feel, can help us connect to students, so long as we are also able to present the Solution (with a capital S) to death, and continue to normalize that which is truly beautiful.

Now that we’ve developed a philosophy of beauty by looking to an ancient standard of objectivity which reflects the Trinity, I’d like to share some ideas for building a morning meeting in your home or school.

What is morning meeting? The irony of morning meeting is that it doesn’t even have to take place in the morning. It’s simply a planned meeting in your educational day in which you intentionally take time for wonder, awe, marvel, amazement, and contemplation. Sarah MacKenzie describes: “It’s simply a daily meeting incorporating subjects that are very important, but which often get shuffled out of the schedule for logistical reasons. Based firmly on the idea that the purpose of education is to teach our children [and students] to love that which is lovely, it is time set aside for contemplation and discussion that offers an opportunity for [parents/teachers] to connect children directly with beauty, art, poetry, and the ideas that feed and nourish the soul.” It’s meant to be a predictable liturgy of love and beauty in your home or classroom. MacKenzie continues, “It can be twenty minutes or two hours. … Read Scripture, recite poetry, read from a classic. Look at a piece of great art and talk about it, then choose another book, and read that. Drill your catechism. Discuss what you read together. Diagram a sentence together as a family. … The key is that it happens regularly and takes priority over everything else.”

Morning meeting, whether it’s in the morning or another time of day, is a time to observe, absorb, and take in beauty. Homeschool parents can do this as part of their curriculum, classical school teachers can incorporate this as a moment in the school day (perhaps in the afternoon after recess if you are blessed with daily morning chapel), and parents whose children attend school can also incorporate this into their daily routine at home, like personal care or family devotions. My objectives for morning meeting include a time for quiet contemplation, looking at something visually beautiful, examining primary sources, incorporating all ages who contribute in various age-appropriate ways, being exposed to the dates and eras of history, and incorporating what Stratford Caldecott describes as the basic skills of education and humanity: remembering, thinking, and speaking.

Now that I’ve shared some definitional ideas for Morning Meeting, let’s also consider what Morning Meeting is not. It is not specific content that must be covered, or a recipe that must be followed. It is not a time for drilling, covering content in depth, or for thorough instruction in a topic. It is not a replacement for religion class, hymnody, or memory work, though those can certainly be incorporated. It is not multum optimum—more is better, but rather multum non multa—much, not many. We don’t want to let our ideas get the best of us so that we explore so many areas of beauty on the surface, but not dive into any of them richly.

With these overarching ideas in mind, let’s explore some possibilities for a beautiful morning meeting.

I start with a theme for the year or a monthly theme, often keyed to the historical period we are studying. Often, I have had a composer of the month, and we listen to a CD of the composer’s “best hits” during Morning Meeting throughout the month, after first giving it a careful listen. You might instead consider organizing your school months with themes of the Seven Liberal Arts, the Nine Muses of Greek mythology, the Seven Cardinal and Theological Virtues, or a particular artist each month.

With an overarching theme in mind, as well as the needs of my children and students, I like to incorporate some sort of recitation into the beginning of Morning Meeting. Sometimes that has included prayer requests for the needs of others. Other times, we have recited timeline facts, periods of art or music history, math facts/skip counting, memory work or hymnody, or poetry recitation.

As recitation comes to a close, I transition into visual beauty each day. I used to look at a new piece of visual art daily, but have moved more into a philosophy incorporating about one new piece weekly, in order to facilitate deep observation rather than a quick surface glance at the art. In the past, I would choose pieces of fine art keyed to the time period we are studying in history. For instance, when we were studying the middle ages and the Reformation, each day we’d look at an art card of a piece of art featured in the Vatican. The year we focused on American history, our daily dose of visual art came from an American artist, such as John Copley, Currier and Ives, Winslow Homer, Grandma Moses, Frederic Remington, and Frank Lloyd Wright. I introduce the picture with as much information as I have in a compact way: name of the work, name of the artist, date of the work, and the name of the particular school or genre. We try to simply be quiet and look at the work. “Silence is rare,” Stratford Caldecott notes, and “entertainment is all-pervasive, the pressure to consume-and-discard is almost irresistible” (19). The practice of simply sitting quietly and observing serves as an antidote to a consume-and-discard society. After some time, maybe 20 or 30 seconds, I invite the children to share something they observed. I want to be clear that this is an invitation, not a requirement, and I leave the object of their observations open, rather than asking specific trivia-like questions about what happens to be in the picture. I find it refreshing to hear what the children have noticed—often it’s something I didn’t! As we have time, I might share something I notice about the composition, colors, or style of the picture. For cycles through ancient or medieval history, you could consider looking at pictures of different genres of architecture, famous cathedrals or buildings, or stained glass windows. A discussion of classical art and sculpture really wouldn’t be complete without some wrestling with the idea of nudity in art. The sets of art photography I have ordered over the years often include classical nudes. On the one hand, as an adult, I appreciate the beauty and order of the human form, and do not find myself tempted toward lust while viewing these classics. But I also want to follow the advice in Song of Solomon to not “awaken love before it desires” (8:4). I’d like to share a philosophy of nude art written by Mr. Kyle Janke, teacher at Highlands Latin School in Kentucky and creator of Memoria Press’s high school curriculum “Classical History of Art.”

“[S]tudents should live according to the fullness of their humanity, finding pleasure in what is truly beautiful, as defined by the created nature of man and not the fallen. The potency of classical art to inspire this has made it an object of adoration throughout the history of the West. ...Yet the adoption of pagan values has always posed a problem for Christian educators: An earnest study of classical art includes nudity. What are we to do with the nudity of Greek art? In addressing why the Greeks carved nudes, we should begin by asking why we are clothed. As Scripture makes clear (Genesis 2:25), we are not clothed according to our creation but according to our fall. Our garments signify our imperfection. Of course, we cannot go naked and deny our wrongs, yet we can deny no less our longing that those wrongs should be made right. This is the desire expressed in art—in all art, whether nude or otherwise—that we should be what we once were: naked and unashamed. And while Greek sculpture, being made of stone, cannot perfect the flesh, it can provide an illustrative image of our perfected state. ... [Modern art] emphasizes our material nature, rejecting classical assertions and stripping the human form of its divine image and its supremacy over the beasts. It reduces man to matter, which is nakedness indeed. Conversely, classical art...comes much closer to our true nature as image-bearers of our Creator. One who sees in such work only its literal nakedness fails to acknowledge its figurative sense and stumbles into the same rut that mires modernity. We were created to be naked, unashamed, and deathless. Nudity is immortality made visible. While Goodness and Truth lead us to life, it is Beauty that makes us follow. ... Some works degrade our humanity; others elevate it. Classical art is our powerful ally in teaching the greatest virtue, that of proper love.”

As I teach in my home, I strike a sort of compromise: I hold the nude art card quite a distance from them as I explain the history, the artist, and the background of the piece, and then pass the card around, allowing them the option not to examine this card in detail. (Almost always, the boys awkwardly and quickly pass it around the table!) When I am teaching at a church or public co-op, I first crop nude art and state that different families have different opinions, and I choose to be as conservative as possible so we can all appreciate the art together, but if children would like to see a fuller version of the work, they should talk with their parents at home. I hope this gives you some ideas as a springboard for a philosophy of nude art.

Although most of my years doing Morning Meeting incorporated traditional art and painting, this year, my definition has expanded. We looked at pictures of various breeds of birds instead, and studied God's artistry in creating birds. I think expanding visual art into the realm of what we might consider that nature and science have some great potential: think of looking at different types of trees, gemstones, cloud formations, or flowers for an entire quarter or semester, keying the visual arts with integration with science, not just history. We can spend time reflecting quietly directly on God’s creation, as an option for morning meeting, too. After all, Stratford Caldecott reminds us, “The animals, plants, and minerals, the stars and elements, were universally thought to “praise” their maker, either simply by their very existence, or when called upon to do so by man (who gives them a voice they do not possess in themselves)” (107).

Although you may have already shared the joy of singing during morning meeting during the recitation portion, there are a number of different options for incorporating music into your daily routine. Younger children might easily absorb music theory with clapping rhythmic patterns, or learning to recognize a pitch of the week on a staff. Nearly all children enjoy participating in rhythm instrument exercises, or learning to read notes with elementary handbells. You could study different composers, if you haven’t already done so as an overarching theme for Morning Meeting. However you might incorporate it, music brings so much joy and beauty into daily life.

I like to incorporate recitation, visual art, and music each and every day into Morning Meeting, and I generally tack on one other subject at the end each day of the week. Perhaps on Mondays, we study a poem in depth, again, usually keyed to our historical period. Perhaps on Tuesday we study and draw a world landmark or geographical phenomena in our notebook. On Wednesday, we might diagram a sentence from the Bible together. Perhaps on Thursday, we work on copywork, practicing our best handwriting on a beautiful piece of paper to share with someone who would enjoy it. Copywork has myriad venues for beauty—the content of the verse or quotation can incorporate beauty as well as the writing and paper aesthetics, as we practice mimesis of that which is beautiful. Generally on Fridays, we complete an art theory lesson, as well as a project, often aiming to imitate a beautiful, well-known work of art. Other ideas for a once-a-week inclusion in Morning Meeting might include the study of Greek or Latin root words, biographies of famous people—especially the artist or composer of the month, or even mathematical concepts. Although the idea of incorporating mathematical concepts to Morning Meeting is quite new to me, I’m convinced of the idea after reading Beauty for Truth’s Sake. The author writes, “Since the Logos is love, and since all things are created through Him and for Him and are held together in Him, we should expect the logic, the rationality, the intelligibility of the world to usher in the delight that beauty bestows. … The beautiful meaningfulness of a numberly world is most evident in the perception of harmony, whether in music, architecture, or physics…” (7-8). Whether you bring in the symbolic associations of natural numbers, symmetry, mathematical formulae, or concepts like Fibonacci’s Sequence, ideas that introduce math as beauty to our children are … countless… :)

The Morning Meeting topics that rotate by day of the week seem to change each year as I reflect on what is important to me, what my children and students would benefit from exposure to, and what I have time for. Time, both for planning and executing Morning Meeting, is finite. Whether your schedule allows a lot of time, or only a little, we can, as Sarah MacKenzie writes, “recognize all the small moments throughout our day for what they are—the makings of a cathedral of timeless beauty, the planting of seeds that will bear fruit in their season.” When incorporating a Morning Meeting into your day, not only do you have however long that session lasts to dwell upon beauty, you can also look forward to next week, next month, next year, and the rest of eternity to delve into God’s beauty each and every day.

To the end of giving you some concrete ideas for how morning meeting has worked for my family in the past, here are some sample schedules. Although I give times for the various activities, these are approximations and one activity flows into the next naturally, rather than according to the clock.

2020-2021: American History Morning Meeting—8:00-8:45 a.m.

8:00—Prayers; Recitation of Memory Work; Poem of the Week Recitation
8:05—Learn a Greek or Latin root word; review
8:10—Pass Around Art Card by the American Artist of the Week; Ask for Observations
8:15—Play the CD of the Composer of the Month (Paine, Ives, Stravinsky, Copland, Sousa, Joplin, Rodgers, Shore)
- Monday: Read an artist or musician biography while children color a picture of the composer from the internet.
- Tuesday: Study the week’s poem in depth, including analyzing meter and rhyme scheme
- Wednesday: Sketch out the continent of the month
- Thursday: Diagram some Bible passages together
- Friday: Art History and Skills, concluding with a project based on the artist of the week

2022-2023: Ancient History Morning Meeting—10:00-10:45 a.m.

10:00—Prayers; Recitation of Memory Work
10:05—Pass Around Art Card featuring Architecture; Ask for Observations
10:10—Listen to the Bach Cantata for the week of the church year
10:15—Featured Weekly Activity:
- Monday: Read Weedon’s Celebrating the Saints and do a saint-related activity
- Tuesday: Complete a landscape painting project
- (Wednesday: Activities outside the home)
- Thursday: Read about a world landmark; draw and write in our landmark notebooks
- Friday: Read and analyze our poem for the week

We’ve just discussed a variety of good ways to build your own Morning Meeting. Next, let’s identify some practical resources for implementing your vision. I’ve created a webpage you can visit with direct links to many of these resources. Hopefully these resources whet your idea appetite as you consider a morning meeting!

Today, we’ve discussed a philosophy of beauty, brainstormed ways of implementing a beautiful morning meeting in your home or school, and looked at some resources for doing so. I hope and pray you have come across some inspiring ideas you will consider implementing after listening to this presentation. If instead you feel inadequate or overwhelmed, shift your attention away from the burden of YOU creating beauty in your home and classroom, and instead onto the One who has created you, and calls you beautiful. More beautiful than anything we can implement in our homes and classrooms, is that of the Heavenly Wedding. As I began, I will now finish, with a quotation from Rev. Carnehl in his Christian Culture article.

“In our Lutheran churches today (and I would add our homes and schools, as well), we have a unique opportunity to re-anchor beauty in God in a three-fold sense (which corresponds to our Creed). The first is that we must remember that beauty is objective in the sense that all truly beautiful things participate in God’s beauty. So things are only beautiful insofar as they reflect the splendor of God’s truth and goodness. … The second thing to remember is that beauty is not merely in the eye of the beholder, but that we are in the eyes of the Beholder: He who sees all things also makes them beautiful in their time. God looks upon us as his beautiful bride, though we deserve nothing at all. Finally… the Holy Spirit makes all our vocational works beautiful, though they are often ugly in the eyes of the world. … As we contemplate the beauty of God’s creation and embrace the beauty that God gives to us, we also bear the beauty of the Lord in our works and duties. [You] are precious in His eyes, and He makes [you] into a crown of beauty, a royal diadem before all nations.”

Marie K. MacPherson is a wife, mother, and baptized child of God. She is a CCLE certified educator, writer of curriculum, and author. Marie has published Meditations on the Vocation of Motherhood, Volumes 1 (2018) and 2 (2023), Mothering Many (2016), and Lutherans for Life/Concordia Publishing House booklets The Story of Baby Shalom and Teaching Children Chastity for Life. Her Bachelor’s Degree is in Elementary Education, with a specialty in Communication Arts and Literature and Synod Certification, from Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN. A life-long learner, Marie enjoys graduate courses from Memoria College’s Great Books program, and coaching speech team students in the progymnasmata and rhetorical devices. Her husband Ryan teaches at the collegiate level and also is the president of The Hausvater Project. Together, they home school their seven children. Visit their website at www.intoyourhandsllc.com

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Details: By Marie MacPherson; Created: June 28, 2024

Based on the model of Bloom’s Taxonomy, here are some ideas for questions to ask students
when studying paintings (particularly with landscapes in mind). I don’t recommend trying to ask all of
these questions in a single sitting; rather, they offer ideas to cycle through, especially with multiple
views of the same painting.

The Lake, Petworth Sunset, Fighting Bucks, 1829 - J.M.W. Turner

Memory/Knowledge

1. What colors do you see? Which color is strongest? Is the palette warm or cool?
2. Which objects or geographical features do you notice in the picture? Do you recognize any particular flora?
3. What basic shapes stand out?

Understanding/Comprehending

4. What media does the artist use? Why might the artist have chosen this?
5. What is the weather like in this picture? In what environment or ecosystem is the landscape set?

Application

6. Which art movement or genre might this work be classified as?

Analysis

7. What is the artist hoping to communicate in this work?
8. Where is the light source? How does this contribute to the mood of the work?

Evaluate (Research may be necessary.)

9. What do you suppose is the purpose or end for this work?
10. When in the artist’s career or development was this work created? How might knowledge of this contribute to the viewer’s appreciation of the work?
11. Describe the provenance and history of this piece of art.

Creation/ Synthesis

12. Think of a poem, story, or work of music which melds well with the overall aesthetic of this piece of art. Share your reasons for this.
13. Make a piece of art including some aspect of this work. Be prepared to share with others the inspiration from this work that you included in your own.

You might also like "Resources for a Beautiful Morning Meeting"

Details: By Marie MacPherson; Created: June 28, 2024

This is an outline for a presentation to be given by Marie at the CCLE Conference XXIV, in Seward, Nebraska on July 24. Abstract: When an excerpt of Dante’s Divine Comedy is presented to students, it is often from Inferno. This presentation will detail why Lutheran teachers might prefer Purgatorio instead. In light of scholarship positing that Dante’s purgatory is a metaphor for a Christian’s life on earth and specifically The Divine Service, there is a redeeming quality to an otherwise heretical teaching. Purgatorio delves into some beautiful Biblical teachings, including repentance, inspiration, angels, the two kingdoms, and more, that propel thoughtful class discussion. In comparison to Inferno’s grueling biographies, base humor, and vengeful punishments, if nothing else, the songs of the liturgy featured throughout Purgatorio make this classic worthwhile.

I. Introduction

A. Lutherans Reading about Purgatory?!

B. Definitions: Purgatory vs. Purgatorio

C. Humility

D. Augustine: Truth belongs to its Master

II. In Defense of Purgatorio

A. Purgatorio’s Narrative Allegory: The Divine Service?! The Christian Life?!

B. A Historical Introduction to Purgatory

C. Evidence from Dante’s Correspondence

D. Evidence from the Text of Purgatorio

1. The Second Kingdom

2. Cleansing

3. Songs of the Liturgy

4. The Location of Purgatory? Earth!

III. Background Information

A. Dante’s Life

B. Language and Translations

C. The Comedy’s Literary Form

1. A “Cathedral”

2. Three Canticae; 100 Cantos

3. Terza Rima

D. Inferno and Purgatorio Compared

1. Music

2. Autobiographies

3. Art

4. What about Paradiso?

IV. A Climb Up Mt. Purgatory

A. Its Context after Inferno

B. Discussion Points (Canto.Lines)

1. Bodily Resurrection (I.72) and Repentence (III.121ff)

2. Can Pagans be Saved? (VII.7-8ff)

3. Humility and Prayers to the Saints (Cantos XI-XIII)

4. Mercy and Free Will (Cantos XV-XVI)

5. The Two Kingdoms, and Dante as Proto-Reformer? (XVI.127ff)

a. Professor Scott Warns Against This!

b. Magdeburg Confession

c. Augsburg Confession

6. Love (Canto XVII, and the Middle of the Poem)

7. Temptation and Christ: Avarice’s Opposite (Canto XIX)

8. How is One Saved? Through The Aeneid, or The Holy Ghost? (Canto XXI)

9. The Terrace of Lust, And a Really Bizarre Aristotelian Tangent (Canto XXV)

10. Through Fire to Earthly Paradise (Canto XXIXff)

a. The Procession of the Church Triumphant

b. Beatrice’s Holy Eyes: Something More? (Canto XXXI)

V. Conclusion

VI. Questions and Comments?

Resources:

Note: Please use wisdom and discretion when accessing these resources. Not all websites have been perused thoroughly.

Works Cited:

“The Augsburg Confession.” Book of Concord. https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/#ac-preface-0002 Accessed 05 October 2023.
A Beginner’s Guide to Dante’s Divine Comedy. Jason Baxter. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018.
Dante's Purgatorio. Translated by Robert and Jean Hollander. New York: Anchor Books, 2003.
“The Magdeburg Interpretation of Romans 13: A Lutheran Justification for Political Resistance.” The Hausvater Project. https://www.hausvater.org/articles/336 Accessed 01 Oct. 2023.
Understanding Dante. John A. Scott. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004.

You might also enjoy Resources for a Beautiful Morning Meeting

Marie K. MacPherson is a wife, mother, and baptized child of God. She is a CCLE certified educator, curriculum developer, and author. Marie has published Meditations on the Vocation of Motherhood, Volumes 1 (2018) and 2 (2023), Mothering Many (2016), and Lutherans for Life/Concordia Publishing House booklets The Story of Baby Shalom and Teaching Children Chastity for Life. Her Bachelor’s Degree is in Elementary Education, with a specialty in Communication Arts and Literature and Synod Certification, from Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN. A life-long learner, Marie enjoys graduate courses from Memoria College’s Great Books program. Her husband Ryan is Academic Dean at Luther Classical College and also is the president of The Hausvater Project. Together, they home school their seven children in collaboration with Mount Hope Lutheran School. Visit their website at www.intoyourhandsllc.com

Details: By Marie MacPherson; Created: June 12, 2024

The following is a list of recommended resources from a presentation given in Seward, NE for CCLE XXIV entitled Table Talk—Classical Morning Meeting: A Dose of Daily Beauty.

Description: In a busy day filled with excellent literature, captivating history, linguistic pursuits and more, it can be difficult to carve out time to reflect upon and receive the great works of Western art and music. Bringing together all ages and disciplines, a brief “morning meeting” incorporating classical art and music can set a beautiful tone that rings true the whole day long. Join Marie as she shares her vision for a classical morning meeting, explore how she has adapted it throughout her years in her home and co-op, and brainstorm how such an idea might serve your students.

Art Cards/Daily Visual Art

Simply Charlotte Mason Picture Study Portfolios
Memoria Press Art Card and Posters
Memoria Press Classical History of Art Flashcards
Postcard Sets (Search by Artist
The Louvre Art Deck
The Vatican Art Deck
The Online Stained Glass Photographic Archive
The Great Courses (DVDs featuring beautiful churches and the history of cathedrals...wait for a sale!)
Create Your Own Art Cards from Art in the Public Domain
Create a Customized "Coloring Book" by Printing Pages from Famous Artists
Questions for Visual Art Observation by Marie MacPherson available on Lutheranhomeschool.com

Art Projects

Music

Classics for Kids with printable worksheetsf for composer study
Beginner Handbells
Beginning Handbell Music from The Inspired Instructor
Musical Eras and Composer Poem Download by Marie MacPherson, available at Lutheranhomeschool.com
Rhythm Teaching Sheets by Jeff Waggoner

Geography

100 Landmarks of the World
A variety of geography curricula by Marie MacPherson, available at Lutheranhomeschool.com

Poetry

Poems for Lutheran Homes and Schools, compiled by Pastor Andrew Richard
Christian Poets and their Poems curriculum by Marie MacPherson, available at Lutheranhomeschool.com
American Poets and their Poems curricululm by Marie MacPherson, available at Lutheranhomeschool.com

Other:

Saints Celebrations curriculum available at Lutheranhomeschool.com
Here is a blogpost I wrote featuring Art and Music Educational Resources

Marie 39

Details: By Marie MacPherson; Created: August 11, 2023

Mothering Many

Into Your Hands, LLC is giving away a free book, celebrating our newest book Meditations on the Vocation of Motherhood: Volume 2: New Testament!

Meditations on the Vocation of Motherhood

To Enter:

To enter the Book Giveaway Contest before 11:59 PM MT on Saturday, August 19, 2023:

Share our website’s Meditations on the Vocation of Motherhood: Volume Two webpage on your personal Facebook wall with a personal note to your friends.
Visit Into Your Hands LLC's website Contact Form.
Send a note to the publisher with your mailing address, saying, "I shared MVM2!"
If your entry is randomly selected as the winner, a free copy of Meditations on the Vocation of Motherhood will be shipped to the address provided. We will announce the winner on our Facebook page.
We’d appreciate if the winner could do an Amazon book review!

Official Rules and Disclosures:

Sponsor: This contest is sponsored solely by Into Your Hands LLC, www.intoyourhandsllc.com. Participants agree that the owners of Into Your Hands LLC shall not be held individually liable for any complaint pertaining to this contest.
Eligibility: Entrants must be U.S. citizens, eighteen (18) years of age or older. Family members of employees or owners Into Your Hands LLC are ineligible.
Deadline: Entries must be made by 11:59 PM MT on August 19, 2023. The contest will close at that time.
Prize: One randomly selected entrant will receive one free book, valued at $13.95. The winner will be selected randomly by the author’s 6th child (who does not yet read). The winner will then be notified by email. Please note that neither the author nor the publisher are responsible for undelivered prizes due to incorrect information provided by participants.
Odds: This is a contest with an unforeseeable number of applicants; odds are unknown.
Legality: This contest shall be governed by Wyoming state law and is void where prohibited by law.
Facebook is in no way associated with this giveaway.

Details: By Marie MacPherson; Created: August 5, 2023

This presentation was given by Marie at the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education Conference in Seward, Nebraska on July 20, 2023.

Part 1: Introduction

He was a shepherd, turned giant-slayer, turned king, used for God’s purposes. Even so, he struggled throughout his life, burdened by the Philistines, long weeks of deprivation as a soldier, and familial fighting as an adult. But, God turned his weeping into joy, using his struggles for our encouragement as he penned the words of many of our psalms, the hymnbook of the Old Testament, still used in our liturgy today. King David, the king of the Golden Age of Israel, wrote these words which inspire us, in our own struggles and weakness, even today:

“To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; ... On You I wait all the day….Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart have enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses! Look on my affliction and my pain, And forgive all my sins. Redeem Israel, O God, Out of all their troubles!” (Selected verses from Psalm 25)

In today’s presentation, I want to focus on the redemption God gives us—first and foremost through the blood of His Son Jesus. But also, how God in Christ redeems our trials and struggles to bring glory to Him as we serve our neighbors—even as homeschooling parents! Although homeschooling, and the Christian life in general, can be full of joy, we shouldn’t be surprised at the bumps along the way. Christ tells us “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Further, He warns us “in the world you will have tribulation.” But, He doesn’t stop there: “Be of good cheer,” He says, “I have overcome the world” [John 16:33]. Homeschooling parents have the vocation to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord [Eph. 6:4], and may face challenges doing so. Whether those trials are for the parents, children, or extended family, whether those trials are short-term or long-term, all challenges can remind us of when Jesus’ disciples asked Him why a man was blind from birth. He explained that this burden had been placed on the man, not because of his sin, but that “the works of God should be revealed in him,” [John 9:3]. As we reflect today on the works of God being revealed in our struggles, let’s first consider some foundational principles and then some practical suggestions.

Part 2: Theological Foundations

He was a legal expert, turned monk, turned reformer, used for God’s purposes. Even so, he struggled throughout his life, burdened with folks who misunderstood his theology, with depression, and the difficulties that come with having a price on one’s head. But God turned his weeping into joy, using his trials as a blessing to us as he penned the words of the Small Catechism, still used by Lutherans today. Martin Luther, the great reformer of the Church, wrote these words, which encapsulate our beliefs, in our own struggles and weaknesses, even today:

“The Seventh Petition: But deliver us from evil. What does this mean? We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.”

In this section, I’d like to point to four areas of reflection. First, where should we focus when times are tough—and even when they aren’t? The priority for all of our lives, and especially in our homeschooling families, is to focus on the Word of life, as found in Scripture, the Small Catechism, and the hymns and liturgy. Any and all Scriptures are useful to the soul, but when I am struggling, my go-to Scriptures are the Psalms. Of course, many of the psalms and Scriptures are reflected in the liturgy of the Church, and I find that these words repeated weekly in the Divine Service can quickly and easily find their way to my tongue. “Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O Lord!” Some other favorite verses for me to recite or read to the children during hard times include Ecclesiastics 3—A time for everything, Lamentations 3—Great is His faithfulness, and John 16—You will have sorrow, but your hearts will rejoice.

A few moments ago, I read some words from the Catechism. Words memorized and inwardly digested in Catechism class many years ago, still give expression to the truth we need repeated in our lives. Even the word catechism comes from the Greek to echo. Especially in times of distress, echoing the words from the Catechism fills our hearts with truth instead of lies.

The hymns of the church combine the truths of Scripture with poetry and music, and often, they dig their way deep into our souls. In times of trouble, a hymn in a minor key can allow for the expression of grief that is very real in the human experience, all the while, pointing us back to God’s Word. I’d like to share the lyrics of two lesser-known hymns that have been a comfort to my family over the years, which we have memorized and sung at nap times and bedtimes literally thousands of times.

This first one is a medieval traditional hymn from the city of Prague, which has seen many tumultuous times over the centuries.

God, my Lord, my Strength, my place of hiding And confiding

In all needs by night and day;

Though foes surround me And Satan mark his prey,

God shall have His way.

Up, weak knees and spirit bowed in sorrow! No tomorrow

Shall arise to beat you down;

God goes before you And angels all around;

On your head a crown!

The next hymn was written by a real Princess-- Princess Eugenie of Sweden in the 1800s. It holds special significance to my family because we memorized it during COVID lockdowns. At first, we had plague and death on our minds, and later we had government overreach and religious persecution on our minds as we sang. Here are some verses.

My heart is longing to praise my Savior

And glorify His name in song and prayer;

For He has shown me His wondrous favor

And offered me all Heaven with Him to share.

O blessed Jesus, what You have given,

Through dying on the cross in bitter pains,

Has filled my heart with the peace of heaven;

My winter’s gone, and spring is mine again.

O Christian friends, let our song ascending

Give honor, praise to Him who set us free!

Our tribulations may seem unending;

But soon with Him we shall forever be.

Soon we are home and shall stand before Him;

What matter then that we have suffered here?

Then He shall crown us, while we adore Him;

So death and all our pains will disappear.

Both of these hymns can be found in the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary. I also have a PDF I compiled available with several hundred verses of hymns which deal specifically with depression and anxiety. Please email me if you are interested in receiving a copy. Scriptures, the Catechism, and the hymnody of the church are excellent remedies to soothe the pain of our daily trials in our vocations.

Whether short-term or long-term struggles are your lot, another area for reflection is vigilance. We know that God is with us through our trials and is working all things together for good [Romans 8:28], but Satan wants nothing more than to tempt us to sin that we would ultimately fall away from faith. There are three common temptations I find that Satan confronts me with when times are hard. The first is my feelings. I pray that God reminds me, and I frequently remind my children, that our feelings do not determine truth. God’s Word is truth. Another sin I struggle against is anger. Many a time, I have prayed for the Lord to provide additional help with a burden that seems impossible. It feels as if God has not answered my prayer, and I am angry my burden remains. However, with the gift of time, I can look backward, at least somewhat, and realize that although God has not answered my prayers in the ways I might have imagined, but He has answered them in the very ways He knows I need.

One final temptation that Satan may use during trials is that of focusing on one’s self, and looking internally for satisfaction. When we focus inward, rather than looking to the cross, we likely find one of two extremes: pride, or despair. The Devil wants your eyes to be on yourself, and anywhere but on the Triune God. Under the shadow of the cross, however, look not in, but up.

Your specific weaknesses and temptations may be different than mine, but I pray that in your struggles, you can “Be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” [1 Peter 5:8-9]. And when you struggle with temptations, cling to the gift of your baptism and the forgiveness of sins given you through Christ’s body and blood.

Giving thanks is a third focus for anyone undergoing trials. Being thankful during a trial may seem counter intuitive, but Paul commands from God, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks” [1 Thessalonians 5:16-18]. Yes, we look for blessings that occur side by side with our challenges, but we can also give thanks for those very challenges, for through them, the Lord shapes each of us, stretching and growing our faith through our struggles, as we rely on Him. In fact, not only do trials give us the opportunity to give thanks to God, all throughout the New Testament we are told that trials give us reason to rejoice! Some of these passages include Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 12:10; and 1 Peter 4:12. These point the suffering Christian back to the joy and thanksgiving of Christ’s cross.

Humility is another focus for anyone undergoing trials. Parents should not feel ashamed to admit their struggles and reach out to the Church and community for help. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul tells us, “[L]et this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Though he was by nature God, he did not consider equality with God as a prize to be displayed, but he emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant…. [H]e humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” [2:5-8]. While asking for help from your pastor, Church, and the homeschooling community are good places to start, you may also have some untapped help under your own roof. Moms and dads might be conscious to not burden their own children and make them “grow up too soon,” as some may say. However, it could be that God is calling your children into a new vocation of service to the family. Most of us want to protect our children from something like this, but having a child take on a new role, even imperfectly, might be an idea to open your heart to. Sometimes, it’s what humility might require.

We’ve discussed some big-picture ideas such as prioritizing God’s Word through Scriptures, the Catechism, and Hymnody, as well as being vigilant against Satan’s attacks when we are vulnerable, and finding ways to give thanks and ask for help. All of this gives us a theological paradigm for practical ideas.

Part 3: General Practical Ideas

He was a theologian, turned pastor, turned poet, used for God’s purposes. Even so, he struggled throughout his life, burdened with his country’s war, his steadfastness against compromise, and the death of his wife and the majority of his children. But, God turned his weeping into joy, using his struggles for our encouragement as he penned the words of many hymns we treasure even centuries later. Paul Gerhardt, the “sweet singer of Lutheranism,” wrote these words, which inspire us, in our struggles and weakness, even today:

“Why should cross and trial grieve me?
Christ is near With His cheer;
Never will He leave me.
Who can rob me of the heaven
That God's Son For my own
To my faith hath given?

Though a heavy cross I'm bearing
And my heart Feels the smart,
Shall I be despairing?
God, my Helper, who doth send it,
Well doth know All my woe
And how best to end it.

God oft gives me days of gladness;
Shall I grieve If He give
Seasons, too, of sadness?
God is good and tempers ever
All my ill, And He will
Wholly leave me never.”

I suspect these words may be a different translation than what most of you are accustomed to. But I cannot confirm this, because I just moved, and my LSB is presumably somewhere in a box in my new house. I trust you can cut me a break for using the ELH, however, since I’ve only been LCMS for a week!

In part three of this presentation, I’d like to suggest changes the homeschool teacher might make before or during struggles. Note that these ideas are a simple springboard. I appreciate the God-given differences of each of our families. We are not all the same; both preferences and needs may dictate different ideas than my suggestions. Take what might be helpful to you and tuck it away. Leave the rest.

Before I get into some specific practical ideas, I’d like to tackle the ideas of school, as well as homeschool legal compliance.

Let’s first call out the “elephant in the room”: Is school the solution to homeschooling families who are struggling? As much as I am an advocate for the benefits of home education, when it comes to the idea of school, I want to emphasize that it is not a “homeschool failure” to send your child to school. If you are considering ending your time of homeschooling, pray about it. Talk to your pastor and other Christian mentors. Luther even explains in the Large Catechism, “Where a father is unable alone to educate his...child, he employs a schoolmaster to instruct him; if he be too weak, he enlists the aid of his friends and neighbors.” But, he also warns, “I advise no one to place his child where the scriptures do not reign paramount.” It could be possible that God is allowing a trial in your life in order to tear down your reliance on your own parenting. The role of homeschool parent is a good and blessed role, but even it can become an idol.

While a Christian school may be a God-pleasing choice for your child, it’s not quite that simple. Whether your child attends school or not, you are still a home-educating parent in early mornings, late afternoons, evenings, nights, weekends, holidays, and summers! Parents considering a switch to school need to be realistic: There is a huge learning curve that comes with school enrollment, investing the time to teach your children new daily routines, committing to checking nightly homework, and so on. Perhaps you could brainstorm ways for your church and school to support you in your endeavor to home educate.

It could be that during a crisis or family struggle, continuing to homeschool within the laws of your state might actually be easier than school enrollment. Check out HSLDA.org, which will have a link to your state’s specific laws. When you read the requirements, it’s likely that your own family’s standards are much higher than what the laws require, and you can scale back on your expectations for a season as you weather challenges. The laws are written this way because many people recognize homeschooling’s value for families and communities, as well as its positive outcomes for producing intelligent and valuable citizens. Give thanks for the flexibility that homeschooling offers and embrace it. Although I think a classical education is the pinnacle of educational models, for the short-term, unschooling may have a place.

For states tracking monthly or weekly hours, consider expanding your definition of educational hours to include outside playtime (physical education?!), crafts (fine arts!?), board games (math and economics?!), nature videos (science?!), audio books (literature!?) and chores (life-skills training?!). Examine your conscience within your state’s framework for homeschooling as you consider how to make changes that work for your family.

Now, on to some practical ideas for streaming-lining the homeschool. Like all vocations, the home educating parent does his or her duty not because it is easy, but because the task has been given to do. What aspects of home education are vitally important? What can be simplified or skipped for a season? Since we are all gathered here at the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education, it’s apparent we all value Lutheranism, the Classics, and education. So, let’s sort some practical ideas into those categories.

First, and most important in the homeschool, is faith. Jesus tells Martha in Luke 10:42 that only one thing is needful, and this is true in home education, as well. Every other subject can be put on hold for a time, but our families’ growing souls need the bread of life to survive each day, especially when the normal routine is out of sorts due to illness or stress. I’m not even talking about “religion class” here, but specifically reading the Bible and having family devotions. This is my top recommendation for homeschooling under the cross. By prioritizing God’s Word in your home, you send a signal to your children about your priorities for this life, and also for the life to come. But, more importantly, you redeem the time, allowing the Holy Spirit to work through the Word each and every day in your children’s lives. There’s no more important subject than this One Thing Needful.

For some, the idea of continuing a classical education during a challenging time might seem like “too much.” Trying to pile on Latin and Logic to an already full curriculum might seem overwhelming. However, there is a way to preserve the fundamentals of classical learning, even without the extra commitment to these wonderful and worthwhile subjects. Classical proponents have long advocated the three levels of learning, and these are excellent ideas for the homeschooling parent who needs to streamline. The first level is the grammar stage for young children, from around preschool to middle school. Parents can take advantage of the natural bent of the child to memorize and repeat by emphasizing flashcards and other quizzing-types of curriculum that can be self-taught. In the logic stage, students around junior high age seem to naturally enjoy discussion and evidence. Parents can capitalize on this by engaging in dialectic conversation and sharing apologetics resources. Third, young adults of high school age are ready to share their opinions with eloquence and persuasion in speech and writing, and much of their time and energy can be devoted toward these ends. By following the three levels of classical education, curriculum can be streamlined and tailored to individual children to fit these natural developmental milestones. Rather than teaching every subject, focus on these stages.

Another concept in classical education is reading the great books and the primary sources of history. Even if your children are voracious readers, like mine, they will not exhaust the classics in a single school year, so simply assigning a pre-made reading list of excellent literature can be an easy way to preserve a classical approach in times of difficulty. I’ve created a number of print and go literature guides for K-12 available for purchase on Mary Moerbe’s website Lutheran Homeschool.com. And, there are dozens of excellent reading lists available online for free!

Classical education, fundamentally, is looking for big answers to big questions. I find that reflecting on Biblical answers to these questions during times of trial is important, including a focus on that which is good, true, and beautiful. Surround your children with excellent literature, inspiring music, and elevating art. Consider the things of God. Look toward Heaven.

We’ve now discussed ways of preserving faith and classics in the homeschool. Now let’s talk about some venues for educational support.

Galatians instructs us to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. First, we can look within our own household for help. In challenging times, perhaps the spouse or extended family members of the main teacher would be willing to take over a certain subject or time of day or day of the week. It can be helpful to think outside of the “school box” with this, as well. Homeschooling doesn’t need to take place between 8am and 3pm. Some families need to do their school subjects primarily in the evenings or on the weekends to have support of another parent. Having those conversations with your spouse is crucial. As a mom who has faced some challenges in homeschooling, and having talked to other parents in similar situations, I find that wherever your natural bent might be, you may need to swing to the other side of the pendulum to muddle through. For instance, a very organized, scheduled homeschool might need to tolerate unschooling for a season and a casual homeschool might need more order and detailed schedules. Your spouse can help you sort through these shifts. Whatever shuffling of homeschool responsibilities takes place, I frequently reevaluate those changes with my husband, and put it on our calendar to touch base. That way, if the burden that was the impetus for change ramps up or cools down, the responsibilities can shift similarly, which is healthy for both our children, and our marriage.

There are many ways your own children can take hold of their learning, and manage the home. Personally, I prioritize curriculum choices that are, for the most part, self-taught after grade three, including Saxon Math and Hake Grammar. We also do a lot of family-style learning for subjects that need not be grade-level specific, like history and science. This cuts way down on the number of “classes” I need to supervise each week and the amount of time I need to prep. I have many recommendations for curriculum on my blog, which is listed on your handout. I find that simple checklists on a whiteboard for schoolwork and chore charts taped to the fridge work well for my children. These home and education routines not only lighten the load of parents, but they also give children specific ways to live out their sanctification by serving their families.

However, sometimes even the extra support from the family isn’t quite enough to keep our homeschool thriving. While the online education offered by public schools during COVID was less than ideal, we can thank God that this venue has grown by leaps and bounds. Parents still need to vet the education coming through their computer to their child, but what a blessing that there are so many opportunities available online, while our children are physically safe in our homes. Wittenberg Academy offers a full curriculum for children in middle-and high-school, and we have been so pleased with them for two of our children. They are a vendor here at CCLE, and I encourage you to visit with them and consider their amazing options. You might also consider hiring a caregiver, tutor, or mother’s helper for a season in life, either to help with home tasks and free your time for school, or to help educate your children while you focus on the home. You might find folks from your church, homeschool coop, or even students at a local college to help. And don’t forget to share your challenges with your pastor. Aside from serving you with the Word and Sacraments, he might also be willing to assist you with religious education and language study.

Part Four: Personal Practical Ideas

She was a depressed teen, turned professor’s wife, turned special-needs homeschool mom, used for God’s purposes. Even so, she struggled throughout her life, burdened with anxiety, the anguish brought by the death of two children and her mother, and the simple, every day struggles of motherhood. But, God turned her weeping into joy, using these struggles to encourage others as she penned the words of this presentation for this very moment in time. Yes, Marie MacPherson has struggled, just as David, Luther, and Gerhardt struggled. And, just as we all struggle in various ways in the shadow of Christ’s cross while we pilgrim here on earth. I share my struggles with you, not for pity, but rather for praise: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” [2 Corinthians 1].

With twelve years of homeschooling experience, and one high school graduate under my belt, I’d like to share with you some specific examples in my life, in the shadow of the cross, and how the Lord has directed our family to make changes in our educational experiences.

When I had three living children, I began our homeschooling journey. I was pregnant with my fourth little one, Selah, but this child did not live to birth. I suffered subsequent hormonal issues and raging anger. There was a time when I had gathered the children around me on the couch to teach them science, and it was not working out. I lost my temper, screamed, and kicked over a big vase. After things calmed down and I had asked for forgiveness from my family, I still felt I could never teach Science again. My husband lovingly took on science in our home, and continued until just last year. It hasn’t just been that his taking on science has saved me time, but it is more the feeling that we are a team, together responsible for the education of our children. So, I’d encourage everyone to try to find a way the other homeschooling parent can invest in their children’s education.

Another struggle I faced was interpersonal issues with a particular child, who had special needs. How does one live the philosophy of homeschooling, but simultaneously feel they cannot stand to be in the same room as a particular child? As both my daughter and I worked on some communication skills, my husband took her to his office a few afternoons a week, and we hired a tutor who met her there and worked on social skills. Over the years, we’ve also hired babysitters and caregivers for various preschool-aged children a few times a week, and even swapped babysitting to save money. In one of these instances, I was reluctant to have a babysitter due to pride, but my husband insisted, and my submission to his wishes ended up being a great blessing. Imagine that!

I’ve birthed several babies without family nearby to help. Minnesota’s homeschooling laws have no prescription for homeschooling during particular months or for a certain number of days. We took advantage of this and just took a month off of our curriculum after a new baby, and finished up into the summer. With my most recent babies, my older children have been incredible blessings to me, taking over both household and homeschool duties with the younger children, allowing me to rest and recover.

After my fifth child was born, I experienced bone-numbing exhaustion. I saw a natural health practitioner and was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue. After some labs came back, I was told my stress and cortisol level had been so high for so long just living my normal life, that they had burned out and stopped functioning properly. If I rested, I might recover. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t. Definitely not an ideal diagnosis with a brand new baby! Well, needless to stay that homeschooling that year had to be streamlined. And I mean it was quite minimal. I managed to read a lot of good literature from the couch. And I love literature, I do not love sweaty children climbing all over me all day, fighting just to see the next picture! At this time, my husband and I also worked with one of the children to cook breakfast every morning, so I could sleep a little longer. Those of you who know my children know that that year did not negatively impact them in the long run. They are all incredibly gifted individuals, and so there’s hope for you and your children if you need time off, as well.

While I was organizing in preparation for our move, I came across a letter written to me by an older lady from church during this trial of exhaustion. I had completely forgotten about it. She wrote that she couldn’t help with the children because of her age, and she didn’t trust herself to cook for me with my food intolerances, but she could do this one small thing, a basket of laundry each week. This woman picked up a basket of laundry from me each week, washing, drying, and folding it, while she prayed for me. Praise the Lord for how He provides, even in ways we don’t see, or imagine, or perceive.

When I was in my early twenties, and my mom was in her early fifties, she was diagnosed with early-onset dementia. I could dedicate an entire presentation to living under the shadow of this particular cross. But for the purposes of this presentation, you should know that my mom came to live with our family long-term on a few different occasions, and toward the end of her life, I was her primary caregiver for several months. By this time, my older children were working independently quite a bit for school, and I delayed starting formal schooling for my younger children. However, all of my children learned a lot. One thing they learned was how to do laundry. They took over. And I haven’t really done a load since! They also learned about compassion and empathy, about communicating love when words didn’t work. Life was about singing her the same “I am Jesus’ Little Lamb” that she sang to me when I was a baby. We wouldn’t trade those months for anything in the world. Later, my mom needed 24-hour care that I couldn’t provide. She was moved to a memory care unit 6 hours away from us. And while homeschooling went back to “normal,” we were forever changed.

My mom was safe in a nursing home. Meanwhile, my dad’s liver was failing. Fast. He was on a transplant list, but it required that he have a 24-hour caregiver available at any moment after his release from surgery. Without his wife to care for him, this responsibility fell to me. So, there I was. Six children and a homeschooling mother. I wanted to be there for my father. But realistically? Could I really give it all up at a moment’s notice and go care for him indefinitely? I pondered my vocation and prayed for the Lord’s direction. There seemed a solution: school. I contacted our local Christian school, explained the circumstances. The principal said he would try to work with us. I didn’t like this idea. I didn’t want to give up homeschooling. But, it seemed to be where God was leading, and I prayed He would change my heart to follow. In the end, my father was indeed blessed with a transplant, and I was there for a few days afterward. However, some minor complications followed, and he was actually hospitalized for the entirety of his recovery, and needed no caregiver by the time he returned home! The Lord brought me to confront the idol of what I thought my life should be, helped me to trust in Him, and blessed me through it.

A few months later, we got a call that my mother would soon be entering her heavenly home. I brought my sons along for the car-ride and indefinite stay, hoping beyond hopes that we would make it in time to give her one last hug, and sing her to Heaven. While preparing to go, I told my sons to pack their math curriculum, not because they needed to keep up, but because math is certain and predictable, and the journey we were embarking on was anything but. Needless to say, those days in the nursing home were not the most academically productive days for us. That being said, we learned more spiritually that week than we likely will learn during any future week of homeschooling. After my mother’s death, I truly believe that homeschooling allowed us to grieve on our own schedule, to pause and talk about Grandma and memories.

So, I’ve had a few struggles along the way. But, through all of these experiences, nearly without exception, my husband has led our family in daily Scripture readings for devotion, the foundation of our homeschool and of our family. I am truly indebted to him, and thank the Lord for His picture of Christ to me through my husband, reminding me of God’s faithfulness each new morning at devotion.

David, Luther, Gerhardt, myself, and now you… all of us are used for God’s purpose, even with our burdens. Each of you, each of your children, has a story, used for God’s purposes, and through your trials, God’s glory will be revealed—perhaps not in this life, but certainly in the life to come. I pray He will turn your weeping into joy, and I welcome you to reach out with prayer requests.

Part Five: Conclusion

She was a college grad, newlywed, and now expecting! It wasn’t an easy pregnancy by any means, though: so much morning sickness. Except that it wasn’t morning sickness at all. My friend’s son was delivered by C-Section at 28 weeks, so she could begin stomach cancer treatment as soon as possible. She had a few months with her son and husband before she left this world, and thanks be to Christ, into the arms of her heavenly Father.

My friend was safely home. What about her little boy? Family, friends, and the community came together to help the father and lift him up in his difficult vocation, all the while still mourning for that beautiful dream. Before long, God provided a new wife for this man, and a new mother for his son. I recently saw this lovely family with their active 11-year-old son, several other siblings, and another baby on the way.

During her medical ordeal, I checked my friend’s Facebook page frequently for updates. I talked to fellow church members to hear if there was any news. I hugged my own children a little more tightly. And I realized that I am dispensable. Wait, what?

As Lutherans, we’ve got a lot of good theology going for us, including the Doctrine of Vocation, the theology of the cross, and the roles of men and women. We posit that children need both fathers and mothers and that mothers have a unique and irreplaceable role in raising their babies. So, why would a speaker who believes all that call a mother dispensable?

God grants the blessing of children. He handpicks parents for children. He chooses to provide for the young and the old primarily through their families. But He can and sometimes does choose to bless our families in creative and unique ways.

As homeschooling parents, we have all had situations where we just couldn’t do it. There was a project we couldn’t accomplish. There was sickness which made us incompetent. There was a failure that let down our loved ones.

The fact is: we can’t do it all. In Eternal Treasures, Mary Moerbe explains: “God does not depend on parental competency in order to raise a child [or serve our families]. ... We might feel like we need to be in control, but a beautiful, gracious thing is already at work, helping us and raising our children: God’s Word” (p. 99).

God doesn’t leave us in our sins. He promised a Savior, and he fulfilled that promise. This was no project He couldn’t accomplish; no sickness left Him incompetent; no failure let us down. He provided justification through the obedience, death, and resurrection of Jesus, that through Him, we may have life more abundantly (John 10:10).

I learned so much from my friend, in both life and death. Her trial and death taught me that even if I die, God will continue to care for the physical and spiritual needs of my children. Doesn’t it follow that He will also care for them and their education if I’m just not as capable as I hoped I would be, or even if I feel I can’t continue the homeschooling path that I imagined? There will be cycles of times in our lives when we as servants to our families can’t do what we are “supposed” to be doing. But, despite our inadequacies, God can still provide in creative and merciful ways.

Take heart! God planned for your presence in your family in this moment, even if it means homeschooling doesn’t look how you want. Even if your family must serve you in this season. Even in the last dark walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God can and will provide for your children and family, both educationally, physically, and spiritually, with or without you. Your children (and you) are baptized into Christ. Nothing can snatch you out of His hand!

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