The School of Life
by Rev. Dr. Thomas F. Capshew •Fredericksburg, VA

Back to School. It’s amazing how three little words can evoke the full spectrum of human emotion. From the eager anticipation of a mind open to learning, to the relief of a parent worn down by the demands of an active summer, to the triggering of a past trauma unspoken and unhealed, we each have a complex relationship with this late summer/early fall event. Just as all of life, “back to school” is a human construct that mirrors the patterns of the creative force of the universe. Our human lives are a holographic microcosm of the macrocosm. The physical life we live out is a reflection of the spiritual life we live in.

In our human created world, the school year stretches from late summer of one calendar year to early summer of the next. While we can trace back to historical reasons for this traditional school cycle arising from the need to maximize agricultural labor availability, there are also spiritual reasons for this cycle. As spiritual beings, all of us have experienced the surge of energy in the springtime of spiritual growth, that time when a new awareness breaks through the crust of dried and dead ways of being. In the summer of our new spiritual growth, we play in - and with - the new awareness, just like spending the summer learning to swim or to ride a bike. As the days go by, we become more and more proficient in our new awareness, moving it from idea to identity. We no longer look longingly at others riding bikes, we become a bike rider. Play leads to proficiency. Because to live is to grow, either externally or internally, proficiency does not remain the end result, but becomes the building block for the next cycle of growth. Because we have the creative force of the universe coursing though us, proficiency leads us back to school.

As we prepare to go back to school spiritually, we need to set about getting our spiritual school supplies. When we gather what we anticipate needing for the upcoming year, we estimate our needs. Not every pencil may be used, but the act of gathering builds our intention to open our minds and hearts to the process of learning. We are saying “yes” before we get in the door of the schoolhouse. For the upcoming spiritual school year, books, art supplies, a journal, all may need to be ready at hand for the assignments we are given. Supplies support our focus on the lesson, and searching for supplies can distract us from learning.

When we progress in school, the curriculum becomes less and less structured by others and more and more self directed. While it is true that the creative force of the universe sets our individual spiritual school curriculum, we each have some say in what we hope to learn. Asking “What is the next step for me to learn in this upcoming spiritual school year?” puts us in relationship with the curriculum, whether it is viewed as internally or externally defined.

Perhaps the most profound question asked by eager hearts at the beginning of a school year is “What will my teacher be like?” We all know good teaching. It is proficient in the material, inviting in the presentation, and encouraging in the attitude toward the student. Learning and growth come from the same source. Just as growth happens when the conditions are right, learning happens when the conditions are right. Good teaching simply creates the conditions for learning to happen. In the upcoming spiritual school year, our teachers will be all around us, perhaps masquerading as a child, or a homeless person, or a bully. In the upcoming spiritual school year, the lessons may appear harsh, like the loss of a loved one, or transcendent, like a drop of dew on a leaf. Engaging life with the eyes of a student opens our hearts to the lessons however they appear. Even though each of our lessons may appear unique, they all have the same core curriculum: love. Love life, love yourself, love each other, love the Mystery. Love.

As we prepare our children for the physical back to school, let us mirror those attitudes and actions in our spiritual back to school. Have a good school year! Study hard!