Sure, Latin is hard... but few students would deny its rigor and intellectual demands.
Rev. Ryan J. Ogrodowicz
Nov. 4, 2022
Most GLS Latin students would quickly spout that the definition of libero is “to set free.” Many (not all!) would also express a degree of distaste for the language, spewing all the tired arguments for why it’s a waste. Liberty, then must mean lax academics free from strenuous conjugations, declensions, and frustrating translations!
“Liberty” is a slippery word because its definition is fluid. Many equate it with sensuality, a gratification of the flesh without boundaries. Less school means freedom from work. A liberal education seeks to set man free but not to indulge in whatever whim and pleasure of the imagination. It’s precisely the opposite. It frees us from vulgar self-interests and self-destruction. It frees us to soar in intellectual heights, to see the big picture as we rise above carnal desires and propaganda. Sure, Latin is hard and no job requirement unless teaching the classics. But few students would deny its rigor and intellectual demands. It may seem like a prison when immersed in a classical education forging minds in the fires of rigor and work, when what seems like slavery is a hard path to true freedom, freedom to think and speak, read, and write. It’s a freedom to rise and explore, contemplate, and speak to a world in bondage.
“Sensuality” isn’t liberty but the shackles of sin hanging on every sinner. We like easy things, the road most traveled, comfort and leisure, screens, and entertainment. Our endeavors to improve are tempered by deadly sloth. Pagans know Latin but not Truth Who speaks “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Liberty becomes objective and concrete in Christianity. Scripture teaches it’s a gift from the One Who died to free us from destruction and grant us not only peace but contentment. And so, with educated minds we pray for educated hearts, hearts of faith, hearts that despise sensuality but seek liberty in the One Who gives it, the One Who still promises weary, tired sinners struggling with sin “you shall be free indeed.”
In Christ,
Rev. Ryan Ogrodowicz
Associate Pastor and Headmaster at Grace Lutheran Church & School
1212 West Jefferson | Brenham, Texas | 77833