Accountability

Marking Holocaust Memorial Day 2024, Mr Daughton told a story which illustrated the concept of a ‘Moral Imperative’ (Kant), a strongly felt principle that compels us to act without justification, simply because it is the right thing to do.

Mr Daughton told us that the Holocaust was the systematic rounding up of Jews across Nazi occupied Europe with the sole purpose of exterminating them; he explained that six million people were killed in four years with camps specifically created to destroy human beings as efficiently and swiftly in as large a number as possible. Of those murdered, Mr Daughton told us, 1.5 million were children, some younger than the students at Queenswood School. Mr Daughton explained that there are few survivors of the Holocaust left, the youngest being 86 years old having been sent to a death camp in the final days of 1944. Mr Daughton also explained that there are still Holocaust deniers who claim that the accounts are fabricated and that the Holocaust never happened.

Mr Daughton told us that we are at an inflexion point in history and that soon there will be no one left to tell us ‘they were there’; therefore, we have a responsibility to ensure that the story of the Holocaust continues to be told and is never forgotten, otherwise humanity will begin the slow inexorable march to allowing it to happen again.

‘To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time’ (Wiesel) Mr Daughton told us, which is why Holocaust Memorial Day is held every year and why it is our moral imperative to remember what happened and to continue to talk about it.

Kindness

In our Act of Worship this week, Amy S (9H), Funke O (8W) and Isla B (8W) read from the Gospel of John (chapter 2, verses 1-11), following which the Chaplain explained that John’s Gospel was written that ‘you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing, you may have life in his name’ (John 20:31); and, the Chaplain added, not just any old life but a life of abundance (John 10:10). The Chaplain drew our attention to the seven signs in the Gospel of John which illustrate that Jesus is who he says he is, and explained that the story of the wedding in Cana is the first of these signs which point us to something important beyond the story of Jesus performing the miracle of turning the water into plenty of good quality wine. What happened in the story, the Chaplain explained, can be summarised in a simple equation (Atkins):

Everything – Jesus = Nothing
Nothing + Jesus = Everything

The Chaplain explained that there are a number of wedding stories in the Bible and in each of these stories what happens at the wedding is symbolic of the Kingdom of God; at the wedding in Cana, the Kingdom is depicted as being transformative, unexpected and abundant. As such, Jesus teaches us, in the power of his example, to be agents of change and people of generosity.

The Chaplain referred to the new ethos statement through which we challenge our community to learn, live and work together in kindness, honesty, integrity and accountability. The Chaplain then read from Ephesians, chapter 4: ‘…..be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you’ and invited us to practice kindness, not just on some days, in some situations, but on every day in all situations, even the ones where we might find it hard to be kind.

In closing, the Chaplain quoted Bob Kerry who wrote: ‘unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly and most underrated agent of human change’ and invited us, for our community and the Kingdom of God, to be the agents of change and people of generosity God calls us to be by practising to be kind in unexpected and abundant ways.

Please join us in prayer this week:

Loving God,

Help us to be agents of change and people of generosity
That our community may be inundated with unexpected and abundant acts of kindness to ourselves and each other.

Amen

Looking ahead:

The Stamp Family Service for students, teachers and families of years 7 and 8, will be on Friday 16th February 2024 at 3.30 pm in the Chapel. Parents and Guardians of Year 7 and 8 students are invited to confirm their attendance here.

Reverend Kate Douglas
Chaplain