Let Peace Dwell Here, Let Love Abide Here
Dear Members of The Waldorf School of Santa Barbara Community,
During recess on a recent foggy morning a bookmark fell from a tree. Looking up we saw a child at the top of the tree reading a thick book. When the bell rang signaling the end of recess we watched the boy slowly climb down. As soon as he hopped to the grass, he resumed reading his novel, walking to his classroom in that amusing foggy way of walking readers.
Small miracles of this sort happen daily around here. “We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children,” says Emerson, “that makes the heart too big for the body.” Yes, indeed.
At the end of each weekly faculty meeting at WSSB, the faculty and staff recite this verse:
This is our school.
Let peace dwell here.
Let the rooms be full of happiness.
Let love abide here.
Love of one another.
Love of mankind.
Love of life itself.
Let us remember that as many hands build a house,
So many hearts make our school.
These are dizzying fractious times. We all feel it. The stress of the world is felt at a local level. Local stress radiates out into the world. Here at The Waldorf School of Santa Barbara we counteract the dizzying fractiousness—the stress and discord; the feeling of being at once churned up and exhausted—by habitually grounding ourselves in ennobling words like the ones above.
Such words return us. Such words clarify us. Such words remind us why we’re here. They remind us of our common cause and common wealth: these children whom we love. The boy reading his novel about giants and witches in the mulberry tree; the girl singing a silly song as she plays wall-ball; the aspiring actress nervously running through her lines before the play; the soccer-playing boy delirious with joy after scoring two goals. For the sake of these children we work. For the sake of these children we pray weekly for a happy school full of love for all humankind, a school full of peace.
The Waldorf School of Santa Barbara seeks (as our mission statement declares) to not merely reflect society but help guide and shape it. But what does that mean? One answer to that big question is this: If we, in some small but real way, counteract the dizzying fractiousness of this historical moment by fostering love and holistic flourishing in the children and ourselves, the effects will ripple out into the world. And isn’t this what we want? Don’t we want a loving world knowing that our children are in this world?
Words from a great American, Congressman John Lewis, come to mind. Congressman Lewis reminds us: “We are one people, one family, one house, and what affects one of us affects us all."
Heart to heart,
The Admin Team
PS The Thought of the Day is from Rudolf Steiner:
"Love is higher than opinion. If people love one another, the most varied opinions can be
reconciled…This is one of the most important tasks for humankind today and in the future: that
human beings should learn to live together and understand one another. If this human fellowship
is not achieved, all talk of inner development is empty."
PPS The Second Thought of the Day is from Pattiann Rogers (from her essay "Cradle"):
"I cannot think of anything more important for the future of the earth than that we have loving, diligent mothers and fathers caring for our children. Nothing. We can write books and make speeches and conduct research and discuss data and theories and hold seminars and establish educational programs and pass laws and levy fines and set aside wilderness areas and protect endangered species, but none of these will make much difference to the future well-being of the earth unless we have children entering adulthood who are confident enough of their own worth to be able to love generously, to give to others, to make sacrifices, to restrain their desire for possessions -- adults who understand how honesty, loyalty, justice, and benevolence come into being only through personal action."