What we do with free time communicates much about how we enjoy God. Let me illustrate. This July, during a time of vacation and rejuvenation with my dear Robi, I discovered the marvelous affect years of liberal pursuits have had on my enjoyment of life. Late in the afternoon, we drove off the ferry onto San JuanIsland greeted by temperatures in the high 60s. FridayHarbor, dotted with fishing boats, excited whale watchers, kayaks and pleasure craft of every size and affordability, bustled with lazy joy. We were already entering Island time. As we drove over the hill toward Sunset Point toward our cottage, we began to listen to a story on CD that would accompany us on each of the upcoming jaunts of our adventure. The Rage of Achilles, more commonly named the first book of the Iliad and the Odyssey, began in the middle of the action. You see, there is no 80-page ramp up into an Epic Poem. No wonder every Greek boy memorized large portions of this exciting story. Thoughtfully my wife, a teacher and lover of literature, selected it six weeks prior, hoping this great story for boys would crowd out some of the worries of life and open a new world to me. We overlooked Smugglers Cove. Now local lore had it that a certain briefly forbidden substance was brought ashore here or that undocumented Chinese workers were slipped onto the Island to work the limekilns. The bright white of a bald head suddenly appeared as claws stretched to grasp a snag. The Kingfisher hovered and dove, and hovered and dove, while the Double-Crested Cormorant succeeded with each pitch of the beak into the teeming waters. What is that lump on the rocky reef? A harbor seal, no two—no six, with two pups. Still edgy and not yet fully engulfed by Island time, I suggested we begin exploration of all of San JuanIsland. Achilles raged on near the walls of Troy. Thunk. The jet black, orange beaked Oyster Catcher landed ten feet away as we strolled on the barnacled beach. That night General Picket told the story of his own life at the community theatre. Included were amazing details of how Kaiser Wilhelm mediated a settlement for the Island averting war between the United States and Great Britain over rights to the San Juan Islands. Wiley Athena, Aphrodite, cunning Hera and Zeus all conspired to make the life of Trojans and Greeks alike impossible to predict. While breakfasting on granola -- the diet does not take a vacation – a sudden shriek of delight jerked my head to attention in time to see, and then hear, the splash. Then another eight-ton Orca leapt, tail nearly clearing the calm salt water, then another, each in parallel. Eighty-nine in three matriarchal pods plied the waters feasting on plentiful Chinook Salmon. “And Hector, the breaker of horses died.” Arghh -- he seemed to me the only noble one!! As we drove off the ferry at 9:30 a.m. it was but 58 degrees. In Seattle, it was a humid 75; then we arrived at DFW that much richer for the experience.
A classical education, including the natural sciences, epic poems and drama, will free your children from the boring freneticism of modern life giving them endless joy and the tools for a lifetime of Christian influence.