CMER

Dawn Rhymer

by 1 Comment

Endurance

Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat
State Library of New South Wales / Public domain

May the Lord help you to do your duty & guide you through all dangers by land and sea.
May you see the Works of the Lord & all His Wonders in the deep.

On the flyleaf of Shackleton’s Bible,
given to the expedition
by Queen Mother Alexandra of England

Endurance

The order to abandon ship was given at 5 P.M.

Thus begins Endurance, Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing1. I have had the privilege of reading this book over the past few weeks in preparation for our monthly young adult book club. It is the true story of Ernest Shackleton’s attempt at a transcontinental crossing of Antarctica from 1914-1916.

The date was October 27, 1915. The name of the ship was Endurance. The position was 69°5’ South, 51°30’ West—deep in the icy wasteland of the Antarctic’s treacherous Weddell Sea, just about midway between the South Pole and the nearest known outpost of humanity, some 1,200 miles away.

Few men have borne the responsibility Shackleton did at that moment. Though he certainly was aware that their situation was desperate, he could not possibly have imagined then the physical and emotional demands that ultimately would be placed upon them, the rigors they would have to endure, the sufferings to which they would be subjected.

In God’s providence, this book has provided thoughts that burn2 in a great time of need, and it is especially the area of Shackleton’s leadership of his men in this unimaginable situation which captivated me. I began reading the book while the Coronavirus was nothing more than something that was happening far away in China. By the time I finished, our lives in the United States had been turned upside down. I struggled with what I was to do. So much was out of my control. I could do nothing more than submit to the leaders of my local and national government and hope they were making the right calls.

Or was that really all I could do? As I read page after page of Endurance and pondered Shackleton’s leadership successes and failures, an idea began to burn in my mind. While I am not a president, congressman, governor, mayor, or even an advisor, I am a mother and in perhaps one of the greatest positions of leadership a man can have. [Read more…] about Endurance

by Leave a Comment

St. Matthew Passion

(This guide was first shared in January 2017.)

Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat
Bach’s autograph score

Sometimes the depths of my illiteracy still astound me. I have shared of my past, of my disdain or great indifference toward all things beautiful, and the pride which wrapped itself around those beliefs. How could my heart, soul, mind, and body have made it so long with so little? My current, favorite verse comes from Acts 13:8. It simply states, speaking of God’s patience with the Israelites during the Exodus, “And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.” I am about forty, I have been in the wilderness, and God has so patiently put up with me. This verse both brings me to rejoice and simultaneously drives me to weep.

The project began with simple research on O Sacred Head Now Wounded for my local Charlotte Mason learning community. I came across this statement, “The tune — those of you who love sacred choral music, you’re going to immediately recognize it as the PASSION CHORALE, as a part of a very, very famous piece of music composed by one of the greatest composers of all time, anywhere in any culture, and certainly one of the finest Christian sacred choral composers ever, Johann Sebastian Bach.”[1]

I had no idea what they were talking about. What very, very famous piece of music? The search for the answer led to a consuming project which included listening to no less than twenty hours over five days of Bach’s Passio Domini nostri J.C. secundum Evangelistam Matthæum (The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Evangelist Matthew) or simply, St. Matthew Passion. The end result, inspired by Cindy Rollins’ 25 Days of Christmas with Handel’s Messiah, is A 40 Day Devotional for Worship.

The devotional spreads the listening of the St. Matthew Passion over 40 days. I highly recommend using it together with the performance by the Netherlands Bach Society. I hope and pray this devotional will be a blessing to you and your family. May God be glorified.

A 40 Day Devotional for Worship

[1] Hymns of the Faith: O Sacred Head Now Wounded, A Presentation of First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi

by Leave a Comment

CMER 2020 Plenaries

Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat
Sketch by Andrea Cunningham

This year it was our privilege and honor to welcome Art Middlekauff as our plenary speaker.

One attendee shared of Art’s plenaries,

Loved them all – very informative and easy to follow. Every one of them was both foundational and relevant and I came away having been refreshed by the reminder of what we are seeking to do in our children’s education and why, as well as having learned some new things about the CM method.

I am happy to tell you that much of what we heard* is available through Charlotte Mason Poetry.

Did you miss part of Friday because of the weather? Do you want a quote or a chart? Would you simply like to listen again? Would you like to share what you learned with a spouse or a  friend? Were you unable to join us this year? If so, you will find links to each of the plenaries below.

For those who were able to be with us, do you have a favorite take-away from each plenary? When I introduced Art, I said I had something from each plenary that had been life changing for me, but I wasn’t going to tell so as not to give a spoiler. Now the retreat is over, I can freely share.

[Read more…] about CMER 2020 Plenaries

by 10 Comments

Stressful Narrations: Whose fault is this, anyway?

(This blog was published on the original CMER site in October 2015. It is has been slightly modified.)

Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat

I hope I don’t come across as picking on parents and teachers, but I guess I am. I know our children can be lazy; I know our children can be stubborn. We are just going to set that aside for now and focus on ourselves. A main emphasis of the Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat is Self-Education. As we learn more about MIss Mason’s educational philosophies and apply them, the natural, beautiful overflow is going to be into the lives of our children.

Have you ever lost your patience with a child during a narration? Have you ever been discouraged because the narration didn’t seem good enough…too short, too long, too many missing “important” details, too many mispronunciations, or maybe a complete inability to narrate? Have you ever been tempted to “help” your child along, knowing you were violating some of Miss Mason’s principles, but, really, “just this once (or twice) it is going to be OK because we are going to LEARN from it.” I have, and I have a feeling I’m not alone. [Read more…] about Stressful Narrations: Whose fault is this, anyway?