Teaching Christian Ethics is a bit problematic. First of all, I am not a moralist. I share Bl. Carlos Martinez' view that the idea that "The common idea that the “Christian is one who reveres Christ and tries to adjust his or her actions to the moral teachings and examples of Our Lord" is greatly shortchanged; it misses the essential, the indispensable; moreover, in certain circumstances it may be altogether false."
The Project
To help my students understand what the moral life of the Christian is requires more than what I can say in class and what they can read from those writers who are responsible for my Christian education. To wit, I tried to put together a project in the second quarter that would bring together some of my ideas in a different way. I asked my students to arrange themselves in small groups and read a short-story with a moral theme. Upon reading it, they would need to organize a discussion (I suggested over dinner) with a varied group of invitees to discuss the themes in these stories and bring the moral discourse of our classroom together with their lives, friends and families, and to help them understand that Christian life is something more akin to this project than what we have in our classroom.
The Controversy
Now, I will be attending all of these discussions and therein lies the controversy. Out of the best intentions (I am sure in good faith) some people in my school found this problematic. I'm a new teacher and this is a very different project than has been done in my school by anyone, in any department. They want to be sure that I am careful about being with my students in a way in which my reputation cannot be harmed and the students are safe. But they are also concerned, because many of my students are from financially challenged situations, that they will feel this is a burden on them that they "have to do," because it's my project. To reassure the detractors that no student should have to feel imposed upon, I came up with an alternative paper that could be written (only 3 students chose it) and offered them the school's resources to host their discussions if they preferred this to hosting them at their homes (none have chosen this). The controversy reached such levels that one teacher approached me about the fact that my students asked him if he was one of the teachers who thought my project would be a "complete failure."
So a project that I was very excited for became a bit heavy. I was worried that all of the nay saying would prove to be right. I was worried that I had overestimated my student's capacity for this project and the school's openness to the project. I spoke with my principal and he seemed to like the project so I went forward trusting in his judgment against the common mentality (I follow him, after all). Still, I could not help but feel a little burdened when I approached the door of my first group last Tuesday.
The Event!
The first group chose "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The themes are evil, the impact of evil on the world, the problem with our perceptions of things, and the pervasive wickedness of the moral inconsistency of everyone in the world. It was a challenging story to hold a discussion on, but the whole night was really great. Despite my showing up 30 minutes late (I got lost) and the complete initial uncertainty of everyone invited as to whether this would be a terrible flop, I left that evening completely moved by the event that took place.
First of all, my students love for me was evident from the first moment I walked through the door to the moment they saw me to my car. They were completely happy to have me there, to spend the evening with me, and they seemed little concerned with whether the project would go well or not, they were confident it would.
Second, the fact of having many different people and perspectives offered us plenty to talk about. Most of it was tangential to the story, but it did not matter. They were talking with adults and peers about what mattered to them about life, about what it means to grow up, and about what they value and whether it was the right thing to value. Grandma (who was present) and Dad had plenty to say, sharing as each species is prone to do, their valuable wisdom. The kids were never bored nor did they seem to hold back their true opinions. There was a freedom that was absolutely palpable. In front of a desire to build something (a constructive evening) my students were audacious and responsible. They took everything seriously.
The night lingered, well past 3 hours. We talked about everything. There were tears, there was laughter, there was seriousness, there was everything. The whole time I kept thinking over and over in my head, "Jesus, you really are great." I don't think I could say that my students were particularly aware of his presence in the room, but I was. The whole night was truly exceptional, it corresponded so much more than I ever expected. I left that evening changed by the fact that He answers my desires. I left that evening certain that all of reality really is for me.
