One of the tenets of a Classical Education is imitation. Imitation comes in many forms and in many subjects. With writing, we use the Progymnasmata to imitate the writers of the Great Books. We study how they structure a paragraph and their word choice and then we copy their style. In the same way, we imitate the Masters in the field of art. We study their painting, notice the brush strokes, the use of colour and light, then we attempt to copy their style. Much is learned through the art of imitation.
This form of imitation can also be used in imiating the greatest Master of all time: Jesus Christ. In imitating Christ, we have the best canvas as to paint how our life should be displayed. We can learn lots by reading about Jesus, how he dealt with the poor, the sinful, how he dealt with the Pharisees, how he dealt with His Disciples. We can learn how to deal with pain, joy, anger, and exhaustion by just looking at how Jesus dealt with it all. His life is the best portrait of all to imitate our life after.
As Easter comes upon us, I suggest we look to Jesus and pattern our life after His. Look at how he deals with those around Him, with gentleness and humility. On Palm Sunday, Jesus made his way to the city of Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. This exemplifies humility. We need to be reminded of that humility and would do well to imitate its depth in our own life.
Christ made the ultimate sacrifice by dying a horrible death so that we might have a glorious life. What a sacrifice! There are many ways that we can sacrifice ourselves on a daily basis, not to the extreme that Christ did but on a much smaller level in our marriages, and with our children. We can make those sacrifices with humility as Christ did. They call it dying to self, and it the hardest of all sacrfices on a human level. But in doing that, we would be imitating the Master of all time.
Hallelujah! He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!
Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies with her 3 children (9,8,6) attempting to give them a Classical Education. You can read more at her blog
