Salted with Fire
Inspiration
Some days we feel particularly enthusiastic about life. People could well say ‘we are fired up today’. And we probably are. But what ‘fires us up’? My experience suggests that working in certain environments can cause us to become excited about where we are and what we do. Perhaps it is an inspiring leader or colleague, or the current events that excite us.
This is a story about inspiration in education and in community, inspiration that emanates from a God who loves us, a God who shines through other people and through certain events. It takes place in the ordinary, in the everyday of each of our lives. It builds on the past, considers the present and looks to the future. It suggests inspiration can and does change our world.
Jesus provides us with our key inspiration. Many across the ages show us a way to be with and like Jesus. They educate people of their own time, as they can educate us today.
Inspiration through Education
Patrick
Patrick (389-461), for example, took Christianity beyond the Roman Empire for the first time. He founded a Church in which monasticism became central. Patrick was one of the first people in history to speak out against slavery. One could imagine Jesus doing that. Born in England, Irish pirates seized Patrick when he was sixteen and took him off to be a slave in Ireland. Put to work as a shepherd, Patrick became inspired by God. After six years of slavery, he escaped and eventually returned home to England. A vision-like dream, however, convinced him to return to Ireland to begin his missionary endeavours.
At that time, the Irish were deeply committed to paganism, worshipping water, trees and the sun. Theirs was a Druidic religion, involving animal and human sacrifice. However, Patrick won over the people teaching them to read and write. As well as educator, Patrick is recognised as the first poet of the English language.
In his inspired way, when Patrick introduced Christianity to the Celts around 431, he highlighted the many similarities between their beliefs and those of the Christians, such as the existence of an afterlife. Seeing the parallels, the Celts were easily converted. Their conversion brought to Christianity a fresh perspective to that of the Romans.
While Patrick’s thirty years as a bishop in Ireland are wrapped in legend, the scope of his achievements is a matter of historical record. Within ten years he had established the Archbishop’s see of Armagh and a network of churches and monasteries throughout the country, all in the hands of a native clergy. He personally baptised tens of thousands of people and ordained hundreds of priests. Although he was not alone in his ministry of evangelisation, Patrick’s work has earned him stature as a patron of Ireland.
Brigid
Also in Ireland, towards the end of Patrick’s life, a slave woman gave birth to Brigid (453 – c525), known as Mary of the Gaels. As a young woman, she founded a famous monastery in Kildare, one of the first to serve both men and women. A pivotal figure in Celtic spirituality, Brigid skilfully weaved into a distinctly Celtic expression, associations with the Virgin Mary and the Druid goddess Brigit, the patroness of midwifery, poetry, smithcraft, and the hearth.
Martin Luther King
On 28th August, 1963 a more contemporary educator, Martin Luther King delivered his now famous ‘I have a dream speech’. His words ignited the civil rights movement throughout America and across the world. Here we have a man who shared his belief in attaining a better quality of life for black people. His oratory was persuasive and his words inspirational so much so, that they have made a lasting impact.