Emotional Wonder

by Adam Kronberger / Superintendent

Earlier this month over 150 CCS students and staff spent a collection of days off-campus at the annual Middle School and High School retreats. I recall spending one evening in worship and prayer as a united student body experiencing community together with our awesome God. The night included games, food, a bonfire, and plenty of laughs and joy. Halfway through the evening, I stepped out of the chapel onto the wooded 160 acre campus. A herd of deer casually trotted across my field of vision. The entire experience that day was simply magical.

But a few hours later, as the breakfast bell rung, my next morning was greeted with sore muscles, an aching back, and sleep deprived eyes. My magical evening had suddenly fallen out of the sky and landed back in reality. By the look of the slow-moving boys in my cabin, I was not the only camper feeling like an old man. While the bacon, sausage, and fresh maple bar did little for my newfound sinus infection, the warm breakfast certainly lifted my spirits. Before long, the joy of retreat found its way back into my heart, while at the same time the longing for my bed at home grew stronger.

God chose to clothe our spirits with physical bodies and a range of emotions. Our bodies and our emotions are generally on the front lines as we engage with our surroundings. The senses of our body help explain our environment, while our emotions are indicators of how that environment is impacting our spirit. Collapsing at the end of a marathon, soberly attending a friend’s funeral, or cheering for your favorite Civil War football team are all emotional and physical experiences known to us. As believers, it is often our emotions that can drive our relationship with God, as we desire to feel his presences.

The apostle Paul understood that our bodies and emotions experience a wild roller coaster ride throughout one’s life. Yet faith in Jesus Christ provides lasting transformation in all areas of our lives, not only smoothing out the ride, but providing purpose and calling. Paul doesn’t describe the path of transformation as a result of physical effort, somber reflection, or unrestrained elation. In Romans 12:2, Paul notes that transformation is a result of “the renewal of your mind.” I am thankful for a physical body full of emotional wonder and it’s God-given place in our lives. But at the top of my list of priorities in my life and the lives around me is transformation built upon faith in Jesus Christ.

The school’s secondary retreats certainly succeed in developing unity among the student body and a better understanding of the purpose of the school’s mission. But it is the renewing of the mind that takes place in the classrooms and conversations in our community that provides lasting transformation. Minds that fully grasp the majesty of our Creator, the depravity of the Fall of man, and the power of Redemption in Jesus Christ, have the ability to transform a person, a community, and a culture. Continue to pray daily for our staff, students, and families as our minds are renewed on the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
 
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– Adam Kronberger / Superintendent