Those lectures

I mentioned in my previous post that I've been listening to quite a bit of Fr. Thomas Hopko lately while running (OK, really just jogging) in the summer evenings. Some of my favorite lectures come from a three part series on Teaching Doctrine In the World We Live in Today. They are from a lecture given last June at the Met. Andrey Sheptysky Institute in Ottawa. I've been really convicted to rethink my daily life by these podcasts. Fr. Thomas talks in detail about how we can't teach (or learn) our theology and doctrine without first committing to really live Orthodox lives. This, I think, must be the way we should be educating our children about their Christianity.

I'm on an email list on which lately the conversation has centered a lot on the question of how to teach in an Orthodox home. There has been a lot of discussion about what might be the proper model. The Classical model? Or is that too Western? Some other model? To some degree, it's worth discussing these things. Of course, the concern is that we give our children an appropriate worldview: one that is centered on Christ and teaches them to love the Church and it's teachings.

But really, according to Fr. Thomas, there is only one way to do this. We have to live it. As I apply his lectures to my family's life, this is what I find. On some level, it doesn't matter what textbook we use, what educational model we use, what foreign language we learn, how much art or music we include. Those things are good to consider, but in the end, using something that helps them learn academics is fine. If we want to teach our children an Orthodox Christian worldview, we have to do it by living an Orthodox Christian life. It doesn't really matter which book we read about the Crusades or how many Roman Emperors' names we memorize (or don't memorize). What matters is how we live our life each day. This means reading our Bible daily, praying daily, living a chaste life, caring for others, loving others, confronting our addictions, fasting, and many other things.

In some ways this is so freeing. I feel both liberated and overwhelmed to embrace this approach. I don't have to panic about whether I've chosen the correct spelling textbook, or ever the right children's bible. I'll just choose one and go with it. But I do have to worry about whether my children ever see me pray. I do have to worry about whether I'm reading the scriptures. I do have to worry about whether I was kind to my husband this morning when I woke up too early.

But anyway, Fr. Thomas says it best. Here are the links to the podcasts. He's talking specifically about Teaching Doctrine in seminaries and for catechism, but it really applies to any kind of teaching, and more than that to LIVING.

Teaching Doctrine, Part 1

Teaching Doctrine, Part 2

Teaching Doctrine, Part 3

Enjoy!