The ancient Greek word scholé has several meanings, including leisure and school. That begs the question – are school and rest synonymous? In the classical education world, they are supposed to be.
One might then be challenged to see how you can learn from rest. For the Greeks, leisure was the time for learning and pursing knowledge.
How does that work in a modern world where our time at school is supposed to be focused on college preparation and ultimately on a career?
Simply put, it doesn’t work in that paradigm.
In place of this, a classical Christian education reflects what Jesus calls us to in Matthew 11:28-30:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Jesus calls us to rest in Him. When we do that, we are then freed from the burden of sin and called to new life in Him as well.
From the classical and Christian perspective, then, we focus on the liberal arts – those that free one to a greater understanding and a greater ability to learn the things of Christ in our daily lives.
But what about school? Aren’t students supposed to accomplish a certain number of subjects, classes, books, tests, etc. during their time? Isn’t that the whole point – to prepare them?
There are quite a few questions in the paragraph above many parents wonder about often as they navigate through raising their children.
The first question deals with a quantitative concept about a number of classes, subjects, books, etc. that must be completed. For those of us in the classical Christian realm, we would not agree in whole with this concept. Rather, we see the scholé as that place for contemplation of great works and ideas grounded in our faith in Christ.
We move to the next question – isn’t all of this (school) about preparing them?
Absolutely. However, there is a missing question – preparing them for what?
For classical Christian educators, we are preparing them for life. Please note we do not mean college or career specifically, but life in Christ.
We want them to experience, to love, and to know Jesus and to know Him more fully. Dr. Christopher Perrin notes in an article about scholé some thoughts from the German philosopher Josef Peiper in his work Leisure the Basis for Culture:
The Greeks referred to “work” as ascholia which means “not at leisure.” The Greek word for leisure is scholé, from which we derive our word “school.” Astonishingly, the Greek word for institutions of learning means “leisure.” The Romans’ word for leisure is otium and their word for work is neg-otium (not at leisure), from which we get our word “negotiate.” Aristotle writes “we are not at leisure (ascholia) in order to be at leisure (scholé). Pieper also notes that engaging in the reflection of truth and virtue (the vita contemplavita) is the “highest fulfillment or what it means to be human” and thus of profound importance.[1]
Let us conclude by returning to the title – how do we learn from rest?
We seek first Christ, we rest in Him, and we ask for guidance on those things we are called to learn so we can develop greater wisdom and greater desire to learn more about the world He created so we can know him more fully.
We seek to learn to love that which is worth loving. To do that, we must slow down and approach our learning from a true place of rest.
[1] https://insideclassicaled.com/learning-and-leisure-developing-a-school-of-schole/