Ahead of Her Time

Charlotte Mason never ceases to amaze me with her forward thinking.

In response to the "great idea" of her time, evolution, Charlotte states:

If parents take no heed of the great thoughts which move their age, they cannot expect to retain influence over the minds of their children. If they fear and distrust the revelations of science, they introduce an element of distrust and discord into their children’s lives.

Like a seer, she goes on to paint an accurate picture of what we now struggle with in the 21st century: Post Modern Thinking, which appears to be the "great idea " of our time:

If, with the mere neophyte of science, they rush to the conclusion that the last revelation is final, accounts for all that is in man, and, to say the least, makes God unnecessary and unknowable, or negligible, they may lower the level of their children’s living to that struggle for existence––without aspiration, consecration, and sacrifice––of which we hear so much.

At the dawning of this idea, she succinctly describes consequences of Postmodernism . That is exactly what our culture deals with: a struggle to live because everything is relative and nothing really matters. God and His ways are irrelevant to our Post Modern society. This mentality infects our culture like a plague; leaves many in hopeless despair. No longer thinking of heavenly things, people look to and imitate the natural world often relying upon mere basic animal instinct to sustain existence. Relationships and Community are fantasy ideas because without the example and standard of the Trinity we have no example nor standard.

But, wisely, Charlotte has a remedy:

If, lastly, parents recognise every great idea of nature as a new page in the progressive revelation made by God to men already prepared to receive such idea; if they realise that the new idea, however comprehensive, is not final nor all-inclusive, nor to be set in opposition with that personal knowledge of God which is the greatest knowledge, why, then, their children will grow up in that attitude of reverence for science, reverence for God, and openness of mind, which befits us for whom life is a probation and a continual education. So much for the nutriment of ideas laid on the table of the world during this particular course of its history.

Remembering that God is the Sovereign creator and Ruler of the universe liberates Christian parents and teachers to recognize His hand in everything from Science to Literature and everything in between. Knowing God and His truth is the only way to thrive in a world that doubts and rejects His throne.

How refreshing!