The Fort of Patrick

Patrick hearing voices in his head…
here is Victor, the angel, who tells him to leave for Ireland

Today we went to Downpatrick. The Class and myself. It is always funny to listen to the kids as they natter away in the car when we go anywhere. I tell you teachers also need to take the vow of silence sometimes. They stuff they come up with. Anyway, i had been asking them to think about questions to ask the man in Downpatrick about Patrick.

When did Patrick die?
Did he like chicken nuggets?
Did he like lasagna?
Did he go on dates?
Did the boy who succeeded him become a saint as well?
Did he really turn into a deer?

And so on and so forth. The man in the centre could not answer most of these questions. Later we went to the cathedral and they did not want to leave. They were full of questions about this and that again. What is that? they asked pointing to the organ. How do you get up there? They wanted to walk around the altar. They sat in the choir, asking questions about the stained glass windows. They counted the apostles. I have now learnt that it is always a good idea not to tell children everything. Allow them to experience the wonder of the world - that is how something new comes about. After they have had their own experience, you can then see if you can fill any blanks they may have. Later they can then discover things for themselves or discover something completely new, as you can see from the long list of left of field questions. We were given the Christ before me, Christ behind me, section of the Breastplate of Patrick to read out. I felt oddly moved by it.

On the way back, one of the children said, really, i thought i would be bored, but i wasn't. Also another one said, i am having such a good time but i do not know why. This was echoed by i also do not know why by another child.

Ah 4 am. I love these quiet morning times. Last night i fell asleep at 9 pm. Which is normal. But now not drinking and with the light returning it feels amazing. I am organising a Dawn Chorus over the next two weeks. All stops will be pulled out.

I now take people for a walk round the school. It is interesting because i get to do the chit chat about Steiner education. In the first seven years of a child's life, they understand the world as good, so even if they see bad things they will think it is good. In the next seven years, the world is beautiful, so even if they see horrible things they will understand it as beauty, or rather their souls will be impoverished with the lack of beauty, finally from 14 to 21 the world is true. This means that they will want to know the truth about the world.

I think that perhaps the world is full of pain now because our children are brought up in environments which do not encourage any of these qualities at these particular times in a child's life. We brutalise rather than nourish each other. I am also glad to see that the Waldorf movement is garnering lots of interest. For me now, in the last year or so, seeing it up close, i am really moved by the amount of dedication and interest that goes on in the school. From teachers as well as parents. There is a sense that we all work together for a common good.

I think that later on today i may just go around the school to take some photographs of the place since it is looking so well. Hopefully it will come to look even better with time. But to be honest, i don't really worry about these things anymore. What i do is just do what i can. I do what i can to the best of my ability. And sure if that's not good enough i know that i did try my best. And i have also learnt that everyone, no matter what happens, is ALSO trying their best. Even if they are behaving like shits, they are still trying their best. So it goes. I think that i may make that my motto…So it goes.