Arts and Crafts

I’d like to say physics and chemistry but I wasn’t necessarily into these much before third-level.

Let me think – here’s a list of subjects that we did in primary school in order of preference:

• Arts and Crafts
• Religion
• History
• Geography
• Science
• English
• Mathematics
• Irish

Then, in secondary school:

• Technical Drawing
• Religion
• English
• Science
• Mathematics
• Metalwork
• Woodwork
• French
• Irish

Arts and Crafts and technical drawing were easy subjects. I appreciated religion because it related to real life, and we didn’t have exams.

One bad memory I have from primary school was getting hit with a stick because I got the Roman Catholic 9th and 10th commandments mixed up 😀. I couldn’t remember whether the 9th was Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbour’s Wife or Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbours Goods. In the Protestant version, these are both part of the 10th commandment. It’s often thought that the Roman Catholics like to merge the first with the second commandment because they want to downplay the part about making graven images 😀. The Bible doesn’t actually number them 1-10. You can find them in Exodus 20.

I do fondly remember learning about the Bible in religion class when I was 11. And in secondary school, the emphasis was on ethical debates – a little like the Moral Maze on BBC.

I found languages difficult. I did like everything else, but there was always a sense of terror. It was physical in primary school because Ireland still had corporal punishment. And in secondary school, you could end up being kept in after class or having to do extra homework. I liked metalwork, and eventually became a metalwork and technical drawing teacher for a while. Why wasn’t metalwork at the top of my list? Well, if things went wrong in metalwork, you’d have to start all over again. It was much easier to correct mistakes in technical drawing. I liked the atmosphere of the metalwork room, but I was always a little anxious there too.

It’s nice nowadays because I can study all these subjects without being terrorized by a teacher. For example, I don’t need to memorize all of Ireland’s mountains and rivers, but I still love to learn about them.

History was fun too, but it was a bit boring because much of the focus was on Irish rebellions. It was better in secondary school because there was a greater focus on European history. I remember being quite fascinated by Martin Luther and the reformation. Salvation by faith alone sounded too good to be true, until I started reading the New Testament and discovered that it was true.

Eph 2:8-9
⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Of course, the debate goes on. And you will find New Testament verses that focus on good works, but many believe that we do good works out of thanks to God, and because it’s the right thing to do rather than as a means of attempting to earn a place in heaven. How could we ever be good enough?

John 6:28-29
 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Let me close with my favourite Luther hymn. The hymn draws heavily from the imagery and themes of Psalm 46. And here’s a modern song about the goodness of God. I wouldn’t want to sing about my own goodness. I rely on God’s goodness.