The gift of the present
06 January, 2021, Dr Kathryn Wright
In my last blog I wrote about looking back and looking ahead… today I want to talk about the present! During the Christmas holidays we watched as a family the first Kung Fu Panda film, it is one of my boys’ favourite films even though they are now older teenagers. There is a line in the film when Master Oogway says,
‘Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift… that’s why they call it present’.
At the moment with shifting sands beneath us, changing rules and criteria, living in the present is all we can do. Tomorrow is very much a mystery I think at the moment. It can be hard though to see today as a gift. For many Christians around the world gifts are at the forefront front of their minds this week too as they celebrate Epiphany. Whilst the festival has a complex history[1], the root of the word epiphany is in the Greek ‘to reveal’ or ‘manifest’. So perhaps a way to think about each day at the moment is to consider what it might reveal or show us? What does each day give or offer to us?
For example, what can a new piece of reading reveal to us about a shifting paradigm from RE to Religion and Worldviews?
What can a new blog or article reveal about a new classroom or home learning strategy to use?
What can we learn from someone else through online learning, CPD or conversation?
And on the flip side, what can we gift to others? Can we share our experiences to encourage others at the moment? Can we offer support through social media networks? Can we share a helpful resource?
At Culham St Gabriel’s we are trying to see each day as a gift at the moment. We are thinking about what we can learn from our ever-changing context as well as continuing to give our time and resources to support all those working in education and beyond. Do get in touch to chat through how we can support you at this really challenging time.
[1] https://www.reonline.org.uk/festival_event/epiphany/ Read more about the history of Epiphany here.