Looking beyond the surface of January

January in Indiana can usually be summed in one, maybe two or three words: cold, snowy, and bleh. And that is certainly the case if you only look at the surface of things. But here at Concordia, we try to get students to look beyond the surface, to really explore for themselves what the meanings of things are. So January? Let’s look at it from an exploratory perspective, and get a little deeper into what we can take from this month:

January - the first month after the celebration of Christmas. Yes, the presents are opened and the trees are (hopefully!) all down, but the feeling of joy that the season brought us doesn’t have to leave.

January - only four months until Easter, when we celebrate the sacrifice and rising of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Might seem like a long way off, but this way we have time to save up to buy those eggs we will need.

January - a chance to start over. Maybe grades weren’t the best first semester, maybe the sport you played has ended, or maybe you just are ready for a change in viewpoint. Resolutions have been made (and maybe already broken) and we have the opportunity to remake ourselves in a new way, be it physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

And finally, January - A cold month with a bright promise. Without the winter season, we would have no rebirth of spring. Without spring we would have no vacation in summer. Without summer we would have no crisp evenings of fall to look forward to. And without fall, well, we would have no cold and snowy Januaries to celebrate and view in a slightly different perspective next year.

Andy Morris,
Social Studies Teacher