Message from the Headmaster
‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends ’
John 15:13
Dear Students, Parents and Carers
One of our key issues at Shore in our Building Good Men programme is to develop insights into what it actually means to be a good man. The media, both print and social, are awash with negative examples, hence, we desire to advocate a positive version of masculinity. Mr Simon Smart, a former Shore History teacher and recent parent at Shore, is a member of our School Council. His “day job” is Executive Director of the Centre for Public Christianity. As such, he is often published in mainstream media. The following (slightly edited) article by him makes a strong connection between positive masculinity and service. It appears in our Shore Weekly Record by permission.
Article by Simon Smart, published in The Guardian 15 July 2024, titled “The inspirational selflessness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers lessons in healthy masculinity”
Horrified by Nazi atrocities, this unlikely hero saw it as a sacred duty to risk his life for the sake of persecuted others.
I once stood in the very spot in Flossenbürg concentration camp where the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged by the Nazis for his role in a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. It was an eerie experience. And surprisingly moving. Bonhoeffer, who was 39 and engaged to be married when he met his fate, had been a significant figure in providing the moral impetus for the failed plot.
Bonhoeffer’s act was an incredibly selfless one. Horrified by Nazi atrocities, he saw it as a sacred duty to risk his own life for the sake of persecuted others, at a time when many of his fellow believers had swallowed Hitler’s nationalistic madness. He once wrote: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.” That doesn’t sound all that appealing. But Bonhoeffer was highlighting a radical Christian teaching about turning away from the self and towards others.
Could this ancient wisdom speak to our self-obsessed and troubled age – regardless of our different faiths?
Putting Others First
The Graeco-Roman world of the first century that Jesus was born into was aggressive, patriarchal and brutal in the exercise of power. Against that background, he exemplified the potency of a very different way. Throughout the Gospels he sought to alleviate suffering for the poor, the sick and the outcasts.
In a society that valued personal honour and self-aggrandisement, Jesus extolled a life of humility and putting others first. He taught that if you want to be truly great, you have to become a servant. He made it clear that in God’s eyes it is loving and serving others that has eternal value. It is also a window into life itself.
Modern research tends to agree. In his book The Good Life, the social researcher Hugh Mackay summarised his findings from decades of observing and listening to Australians talk about their lives. The “life worth living” is, according to Mackay, based on our capacity for selflessness. Nothing else will satisfy like a life oriented towards others. This idea chimes with the moral philosopher Iris Murdoch’s belief: “Self is as hard to see as other things, and when clear vision has been achieved, self is a correspondingly smaller and less interesting object.”
Rethinking Masculinity
I have just finished a small book on the topic of masculinity and the place and plight of boys and young men today. The urgency of this conversation is undeniable as statistics relentlessly roll on regarding the violence men do to others and to themselves.
Insidious versions of a male response to an increasingly complex environment are alarming. As I was writing the book many teachers told me of the attraction of Andrew Tate for young boys in their classes. Tate is just one of the more obnoxious and popular versions of those who are encouraging men to take back perceived lost power and reclaim a place of dominance over women and other men.
Could it be that the Christ-inspired vision of the true and full life being one of orientation away from the self and towards others be a vital contributor to the fraught question of what healthy masculinity might look like today?
Given Christianity’s chequered history of its treatment of women, that might sound like a dubious hope. But as I consulted with experts – psychologists, educationists, philosophers and coaches – on the subject, they all end up talking about virtues that, taken together, add up to the notion of being “a man for others”. The vision is one of deploying whatever power or skill or ability you might have – whether physical, artistic, intellectual, social or emotional – in the service of other people. It’s a reimagining of agency in elevating those around us. It’s about love in the fullest sense of the word.
In a remark which was, and remains, radically countercultural, Jesus said “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
Love Your Neighbour
Bonhoeffer was hardly the image of a typical masculine hero. A bespectacled, aristocratic academic, he could have easily remained in a comfortable ivory tower. But he took seriously his master’s call to “love your neighbour” by seeking to protect his neighbour in the costliest way imaginable. In that sense he was heroic in a way few of us could hope to achieve. His was a short but full life of significance and impact, and one that remains challenging and inspiring for 21st century people, marinating, as we all are, in a culture focused on the self as the ultimate destination of our dreams, our fears and our hopes.
Shore Community
Last Saturday we saw extraordinary scenes of exhilaration and joy at the end of the First XV Rugby game. A very strong School culture was on display. The next edition of the Shore Weekly Record, which will come at the close of the Shore Winter season, will reflect on why this is so important and beneficial. For now, thank you very much to all of our staff, parents, Old Boys and students who combined together in a wonderful display of affection and support for Shore.
Deputy Head Academic
I have an update in relation to the Deputy Head Academic role. Unfortunately, Matt Leeds will not be returning to the School – having decided to resign from his employment. We will be commencing our recruitment for a new Deputy Head Academic, and in the meantime, Matt Bentley will continue to act in the role. Thank you to Matt Bentley and Doug Broadbent for their demonstrated leadership in managing the portfolio during Term 3.
I want to thank Matt for his significant contribution to the School during his time with us, and particularly his focus on professional excellence in supporting the School’s commitment to continuous improvement of teaching and learning strategies.
Dr John Collier
Headmaster