4.2.25 - This amazing year

-

Things are settling now. Feeling whole lots of better.

School was good yesterday. Forest School even better. 

I was so happy to see children who struggled find each other. That they are drawn to each other and to play with each other. Gentle artistic souls who have found a place in the forest and in play. Children should be allowed to play. Why don't we let them do this? When did childhood become a preparation for the tyranny of an adulthood which is not theirs? Serving time to be the vehicle by which their parents derive a sense of self from them. We are all guilty of this, but a fake value system which crushes the abilities of children is by far the worst thing you could dream up and we have dreamt it into existence.

In Steiner education we are the warriors and protectors of childhood. We stand between the craven world and say no, you will not touch our children, no you will not pollute their childhood. No, you will not be able to exploit them and bring them to their knees - to break them so that you may use them. We do not do this. We will not do this.

This is how we will protect children - by giving them the space to experience their humanity the most - the most of all.

What happens in the hereafter, it does not matter. What is the MOST important thing is that you loved, you have the template for love, for the flow state, for when you were happiest. That you fell in love with the world. That is what we give you. That your souls were not corroded. That your spirits are allowed to shine. And we fight for that space. We fight for that possibility.

that is what I remembered watching the children play yesterday. Life is good.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Geylang sepaku Geylang

-
Image
Geylang Serai is the place i feel most at home in Singapore. Possibly because a vast majority of the population are still Singaporean and i speak the language they speak there - Malay. Also, it hasn't changed that much. OK, it has, but i'd like to think it hasn't. We ate at the new market there which used to be a little better than an open sewer. But it was our open sewer and we loved it. Geylang was heaving with people getting ready for Ramadan. On the table we have sup kambing, otak-otak, nasi padang and rojak. Drinkswise we have lime juice, Kickapoo and teh. It is hot - really hot. We are all pespiring and we can feel our clothes stick to our skin and bellies and thighs. Our hair is continuously in our faces, dripping and sticking too. The only thing that brings relief is a soak in the pool or a shower and an airconditioned room. No wonder when the boys came back, the first thing they said was, ah, it's great to be back in th cool weather again!. Singaporeans love th...
Read more

19.3.26 - 74 - Eulogy: What will survive of us is love

-
Image
I wrote and read this for Pa at the service. It was in long hand, but I have it here typed out now. It is peppered with verses from the New Testament, because I was asked by the priest to refer to Jesus occasionally, so I made that concession. Big shout out to Ben and the Christian Community whom I spent many a delighted evening reading and discussing the Bible during Bible study class. =========================== Thank you everybody for coming here to honour the life of husband, father and legend which is Eric Sim Chin Seng. Pa crossed over on the 16th of March at 7.30 am. He went peacefully and gently. He breathed his way slowly past this life and on to the new one, leaving his bark, his body, which carried him and his indomitable spirit and endless capacity to love, for 81 years, to say farewell to one last time. This tribute is to you, for you, Pa, who always walked in the sacred steps of Jesus Christ and lived the best life which could be lived. Part I: John 1:14 "The word be...
Read more

6.6.26 - 152 - -70

-
I should try and love Singapore. And I have really tried to love it. Really. But life in Singapore is not real life. Sadly. The only thing which is real about it is my relationships with my family. I understand we lead very privileged lives. We live in a beautiful house and we live in Serangoon Gardens. I get to swim everyday. We never worry about where the next meal's coming from. Very importantly, we have our health and we have each other. These are all very good things, nothing to be sneezed at. But Singapore itself ... that's a different story. Where to begin? I cannot complain because we actually live in a very nice part of Singapore. It's it unique in all of Singapore. There is no other place like it. In fact the government should slap a preservation order on the place. It is an actual village. Ring fenced by the houses and the roads, it was possibly designed by the British Army as a defensible position. Maybe they didn't mean to do it, but it is that way neverthe...
Read more