Happy November!
October flew by - filled with full days of learning and more opportunities for our families to come together. We are extremely grateful for the many ways our parent community is again engaged in the life of the school. From recess and picture day volunteering, to once again being able to gather for our fall parent socials, and welcoming Lower School families back into the classrooms for our first Lower School Showcase of the year, it is a blessing to be able to see so many of our families much more frequently this year.
As November begins, we have launched our ILS Month of Service. This annual tradition gives our entire community an opportunity to intentionally reflect on our vocations and the opportunities we have to love and serve our neighbors. We invite families and friends to participate in our variety of service opportunities throughout the month.
Our admissions season is now in full swing, and we enjoyed meeting many prospective families at our first in-person Admissions Open House in nearly two years. If you missed that opportunity to visit, please consider joining us on Friday, November 19th for our next Open House.
At Immanuel, we truly believe that parents have the primary role in the education of their children. This is why we fundamentally believe that the relationship between home and school is so vital in the education and nurturing of children. It is a joy and a privilege to work so closely together with our families as we share in this important endeavor. Together with you we engage in the work of shaping our culture at school and at home. Each month, we compile a "What we're reading..." blog post with a small selection of articles that our faculty and staff have found recently to be inspiring, intriguing, encouraging, or thought-provoking. We always love to hear your thoughts on these or other things you’ve been reading as well.
Thank you for your continued partnership, and for engaging with us! Please feel free to share a link in the comments to email us any time!
Sermon: Reformation Day - Pastor Rogness, Rogness on Tap
“As a child, I absolutely feared cemeteries, especially around Halloween or All Hallows Eve. The cold, damp air, the constant thoughts of being watched, the absolute darkness – it caused my heart to race, my breathing to become shallow and rapid, and my mind to succumb to paranoia.
What is the paranoia that causes fear within your life? What wraps you into bondage? Is it the lack of power and control? Is it the thought people are watching you or the belief they are out to get you? Is it a present darkness that no one knows besides you, darkness that seizes your heart and won’t let go?
Our fear is what gives birth to sin and the things that continue to haunt us throughout this life.
Martin Luther was also haunted as you; he would be driven by the torments of this world to confession for hours at a time. The voice of Satan would whisper into Luther’s ears seeds of doubt – are you genuinely sorry enough for your sin, have you enumerated every sin, have you stopped sinning?
All this is enough to enslave a man in their sin and drive them mad.
But, where all this madness eventually drove Luther was to read the Holy Scriptures all the more, to pray feverishly, and to confess what is true and right.”
Technology and Church Music - Mrs. Marie Greenway, Prelude to Postlude: CPH Music Blog
“We live in a world dominated by digital technology—technology that majorly affects our modern musical world. Although digital technology can offer us a wealth of music we might otherwise not have access to, digital recordings lack the inherent risk of live performance—a risk that lends live performances a certain sense of humanity. This humanity reflects the reality of our lives, including the reality of salvation through Christ. Although digital technology in the musical world is a great gift, it is a worthy endeavor to continue to pursue live musical performances in order to experience the wonder and beauty of music that we must take as is in all its imperfection.
God’s Gift of Digital Technology
Technology, particularly technology concerning music, has a significant place in the Church. Today, the word technology can have a negative connotation. We love to blame technology for all sorts of societal ills. However, technology allows us to attend live concerts, spend time practicing daily, provide for our families, and have access to the world’s greatest music and musical performances on demand.
In the Church, not only are the instruments we play a form of technology, but specifically, digital technology provides us with clean and edited sheet music written on computers, printed, and distributed at low costs. Furthermore, many churches unable to house or fund a pipe organ rely instead on electronics to deliver the audio of that instrument with an electronic organ. Thanks be to God we have such wonderful and accessible options!
Additionally, digital options like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube give us access to fantastic performances of practically any music selection we choose with the tap of a finger. No longer are concerts reserved for the aristocracy at the availability of live musicians. Instead, one recording can grant the music of the masters to the layman and his family at any time. I can even “attend” a live concert while nursing my newborn from the comfort of my own home. All of these options open a world of musical literacy to everyone.”
The Tools of Memory, Part I - Rev. Luke Davis, Classical Learning Test Blog
“I would argue that the craft of memorization—especially memorization of key, enduring sources and magnificent texts—is part of what fashions an educated person, an intelligent community, and a more human existence for our students and ourselves. When we devalue memorization, we do so at our peril.
Memorization is critical, because when you engage wholeheartedly in that discipline, you are creating new worlds in your mind and soul, worlds of truth-storage. You are depositing glorious details within yourself for the “A-ha!” moments to come, and they will come. Another piece I have my students memorize is Theodulph of Orleans’ medieval hymn “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.” Students can be quick to recognize that the lines refer to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and—with some prodding—they can recall that a few days later, Jesus faced humiliation and death. I then share with them that Theodulph was a bishop who was well known for educational reform under Charlemagne, but after the king died, Theodulph was falsely implicated in a conspiracy against his successor. Banished to a monastery at Angers, France, he wrote the words of the hymn, finding solace in his own trials that Jesus faced anguish after others had lauded him.”
People are the Point - Kate Deddens, CIRCE
“Could there be a primary criterion used to best evaluate the educational vision, methods, and curricula for students? With so many choices currently available in such a variety of formats, how can we determine which we most want to embrace in our homes and in our schools? Surrounded as we are by a multitude of approaches, programs, and techniques – all clamoring for our time, attention, and purchasing power – we need to focus on one vital truth: People are the point.
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What matters to Christ? That we love: “[Y]ou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength…[and] You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12: 30-31).
In other words, second to the love of God, it is the love of people – of others – that is the point. What does this love look like? It looks like bearing one another’s burdens, doing hard things for each other, for the sake of the other and not for the sake of the self. It is only this love that consistently sustains such bearing of such burdens. No amount of affirmation, status, or profit can effectually guarantee it; only this love engenders it.”
Sermon: Trinity 19 - Pastor Rogness, Rogness on Tap
“The Gospel today is one of the most explicit texts you’ll hear regarding the forgiveness of sins.
The Christian Church is centered and grounded in forgiveness, secured for you by Jesus Christ upon the cross. From the cross, the forgiveness of sins proceeds; it proceeds through the liturgy of Church – through the absolution, the Gospel, the Sermon, the Lord’s Supper – and then flows into your lives, the paths, and conversations you encounter throughout every day of each week.
Yet, this article of faith is one of the hardest for Christians to truly exercise in their lives. To forgive is often seen as a form of surrender; it’s the end of a battle and conflict, it’s to admit a wrong or a perceived wrong. The old Adam residing within your hearts can’t afford this form of humbleness before friends and foes. Thus, this hardness of heart we live with paralyzes and renders you immovable in your lives and relationships.”
Always Ready for a Party: On Authentic Hospitality - Fr. Derek Sakowski, Spiritual Direction
“Authentic hospitality is one of the greatest human experiences. There is the literal hospitality of receiving and hosting a guest with a sense of delight and dignity and belonging. More importantly, there is the day-to-day openness to the experience of receiving and being received, the surprising delight that can arise in encounters that cause us to feel more authentically human and more authentically Christian. You just never know when a small foretaste of the heavenly wedding feast might unexpectedly manifest itself! But we easily miss the moment if we are not abiding in love and truth.
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Planned gatherings are fun enough, but the best moments have been the unexpected parties. I’ve learned to ensure that I have a few things on hand to be up for the occasion. As I sometimes quip, I like my living space to be ready to go “From Zero to Party in 10 Minutes.” People have appreciated the gesture more than once.
Truthfully, though, I am still very much learning the height and breadth and depth of human hospitality. There are various versions of it, not all of them equally great. There have been times where my hospitality was more about projecting an image or feeling the pressure to perform, rather than simply “being with” the guests. There have been times where it was more about subtly grasping at my own unmet needs than about serving those I was hosting. And there is my frequent tendency to get disengaged, to check out of the present moment or withdraw emotionally into my own space of isolation – and then my connection with others is diminished or lost.
Speaking more universally, when it comes to hospitality of the heart, being open and receptive to unexpected “Jesus moments” with others, I cannot truthfully say that my heart is always ready. It’s one thing to think ahead and have a few items stocked up in the pantry. It is so much more challenging to abide in love and live wholeheartedly in the present moment.
Jesus was a human being who knew how to experience hospitality – how to receive it and how to give it. There is a great vulnerability in authentic hospitality, a tender willingness to enter into intimacy. We cannot give well if we have not learned how to receive. We don’t often ponder this point, but Jesus was quite willing to receive hospitality –from the very beginning.
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How Artificial Intelligence Completed Beethoven’s Unfinished Tenth Symphony - Ahmed Elgammal, The Conversation, Smithsonian Magazine
“When Ludwig von Beethoven died in 1827, he was three years removed from the completion of his Ninth Symphony, a work heralded by many as his magnum opus. He had started work on his Tenth Symphony but, due to deteriorating health, wasn’t able to make much headway: All he left behind were some musical sketches.
Ever since then, Beethoven fans and musicologists have puzzled and lamented over what could have been. His notes teased at some magnificent reward, albeit one that seemed forever out of reach.
Now, thanks to the work of a team of music historians, musicologists, composers and computer scientists, Beethoven’s vision will come to life.”
Monograms, Christograms, and Initialisms - Edward Riojas, The Lutheran Witness
“Christian symbols have been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Most are pictures condensed into a simplified form. Some, however, are simply stylized initialisms, also known as monograms. This emphasis on words should not surprise us.
“In the beginning was the Word.” While it is impossible to wrap our human brains around the idea, our Lord is the Word, and Holy Scripture makes that Word manifest among us. Therefore, many Christian symbols are based on the words of Scripture. They have been boiled down into initialisms and can serve as “captions” as well as the main focus in designs and artwork.
Christograms, monograms of Christ’s name, were among the first symbols to appear in Christian artwork. The Roman Emperor Constantine the Great brought the Chi-Rho, a fusion of the first two characters in the name “Christ,” to prominence, though the symbol pre-dates him.
The Iota-Chi appeared at the same time as the Chi-Rho. It used the first characters of each word in “Jesus Christ.” We sometimes miss this symbol when viewing older pieces of Christian art because it often looks like the spokes of a wheel, and even more so when the symbol is circumscribed by a laurel wreath or decorative circle.
A common monogram in Eastern Orthodox iconography is “IC XC.” It serves the same purpose as the Iota-Chi, but includes the last letters in the name “Jesus Christ.” Artists often place a short bar or decorative “squiggle” above each set of letters to denote them as monograms, as when we add a period to an English abbreviation. It is also common to see this Christogram separated — usually by a depiction of Christ — with the abbreviation “Jesus” (IC) on one side and “Christ” (XC) on the other.
The most common but perhaps least understood monogram often appears in Lutheran churches in the chancel or on the altar itself: “IHS.” It is simply the first three Greek characters in the name “Jesus.” Through the centuries, this monogram has been given different meanings, including “Iesus Hominum Salvator” (“Jesus, Savior of Mankind”), “In Hoc Signo [Vinces]” (“In This Sign Thou Shalt Conquer”), or even the English initialism, “In His Service.” These last three are incorrect and were developed by fringe groups who sought to impose their own meaning on the simple symbol for “Jesus.””
Setting the Bar - Christopher Stevens, CIRCE
“If you put a pull-up bar in the gym, students—more boys than girls—will line up to try it. Many of them will fail, and many will not be able to do very many or as many as the boy who did the most. Some may not even be able to reach the bar but will have to jump for it to have even a chance. Nevertheless, they will try – and try repeatedly.
Many academic settings deny boys this experience. The “pull-up bar” in the reading classroom is put very low so boys can do it easily and so that the differences in ability and effort go unnoticed. Despite the way boys respond to challenge, teachers dare not put the bar high so as to challenge the boys, allow them to struggle or fail on the first try, or demonstrate how they are different from each other.
Education has to be a balance, and in our day, we need more of the pull-up bar experience in the classroom.”