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The
Lightstand Magazine
1986
• December • Reflections on the way
by Bro. Robin Lamplough
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There
is silence in the hall. A hundred heads are bowed in concen
tration. As many pens move at varying paces over the pages
of the examination books. It is November once again and another
group of senior pupils is in the process of negotiating the
obstacles of the Matric. This is the culmination of twelve
or thirteen years of schooling; of sixteen or seventeen
years of living. The end of another stage has been reached.
The road which began, perhaps, in the kindergarten with a
tiny suitcase, now branches in several directions and the
path to be taken depends entirely upon the papers now being
written.
DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE For some of these pupils I am partly
but directly responsible. They have come to my classes for
the past three years and I have prepared them for one of the
papers they will be writing. In the general preparation of
a number of others I have had a less direct role: in a junior
class, perhaps, or as a supervisor, or on the playing field,
or in the affairs of some cultural society; or simply, perhaps,
as one of a number of men who has represented authority. But
no matter what my past involvement with any of these young
people has been, and no matter how kindly I feel towards any
one of them, or how anxiously I may fret over his performance,
there is nothing now that I can do to help him. This is one
of the crises in his life which he must face alone.
If there have been any deficiencies in my instruction, he
will bear the brunt of them now. If I have fallen short in
my preparation, the shortfall will be to his account.
My day of opportunity is over. The time for exercising a direct
influence over his decisions and actions has passed. A new
stage has been reached and he must cope with the situation
by drawing on what he has learned up to now; by exploiting
and deploying his own resources.
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FAMILY
LIFE, TOO This pattern of developments, annually familiar in every
school, is to be observed in family life also. In my guardianship
of my own children, I have a limited time in which to convey to
them the things I believe they need to know. After that, I have
to take an increasingly passive role, standing as it were on the
sidelines and watching how their earlier lessons have influenced
or failed to influence their behaviour. God grant me the wisdom
to place the emphasis on positive and not on negative values while
I have the chance: and to distinguish clearly myself between eternal
and transient things, so that my teaching may be direct and unequivocal
as well as valuable. And may I be given the far-sightedness
to endeavour to teach them always how to set about resolving their
problems for themselves, while taking always into account the requirements
of the Master and their dependence upon God.
In an ecclesia, also, the pattern repeats itself. One's pastoral
ministrations, whether publicly or privately conducted, can
be of assistance to one's brethren and sisters only to a certain
limited extent. In the final analysis each brother and sister must
complete the journey alone with God. And that is how it should be,
because no man, as the Psalmist reminds us, can redeem his brother
or offer a suitable ransom for him. No man, that is, but One, and
He the only Redeemer, God-provided. For in the end, each one of
us must stand alone before Him, and give account of our stewardship.
And only if we have adopted His values now and applied His standards
in our lives, will we, by the grace of God, enter His glorious kingdom.
Let us therefore understand clearly what is required of us and,
putting aside every weight, press forward to the mark which is set
before us.
R.L.
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