Friday, May 10, 2024
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Recitatio at Austin Classical School
Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city.
Just before you go on stage, that’s what you want to hear. Just before you enter a strange city where you don’t speak the language, that’s exactly what you hope to hear. Just before your wedding ceremony, you hope God has those words for you, and your spouse, sight unseen, waiting for the moment of unveiling, the walk down the aisle, the curtain rising, the drawbridge going up. God is alive, and magic is afoot!
I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. On that day you will not question me about anything. Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.
Austin Classical School, which teaches Latin recitation beginning in the sixth grade, held a recitatio last night. Every class, from pre-k through high school, stood on stage and recited what they had prepared.
Before the show the fourth grade kids had set up an historical “wax museum” of men and women from all parts of society from ancient Greek times to modern. Dressed up as Pocahontas, Queen Elizabeth, Harriet Tubman, St. Francis, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Jane Goodall, Amy Carmichael, Jim Elliot and many more, they wrote and memorized biographical speeches.
Parents and grandparents walked through the classrooms. The figures were “wax,” mute and unmoving, until one of us pushed a red button. Then Paul Revere, or Cleopatra, or Crazy Horse would come to life, look straight into our eyes, and speak their story out. It was sometimes hard to hear above the others, but each character displayed a timeline from birth to death which helped us listeners keep better track.
At 6:20 the wax museums were closed. At 6:30 we sang “Be Thou My Vision” in the big auditorium and prayed. Jasper’s pre-K class recited the bible verses and catechism they had memorized. Miles’ first grade class recited the hymn “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and began a running “timeline “ song sung to “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Each class took an era of history, beginning with ancient Greece and Rome and ending in the present day.
Sixth graders recited parts of Galatians and John in Latin. Then four high school men and women recited political and poetic speeches from Patrick Henry, Walt Whitman, Ernest Thayer and Ronald Reagan. My favorite (but it was hard to pick a favorite!) was when Miss Flannery recited “Casey at the Bat.” There was no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey had struck out!
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy; the Lord, amid trumpet blasts. Sing praise to God, sing praise; sing praise to our king, sing praise!
A little history, a lot of fun. Multitudes of kids and their families found the educational path less rocky than they expected. So much work went into this. Andi’s art classes, for example, created hundreds of butterflies and beetles to decorate a photo arch, along with photographs of kids doing their art on displays all up and down the gym.
And there were the speeches from the famous past.
And there was the wax museum.
It was wonderful.
(Acts 18, Psalm 47, Luke 24, John 16)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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