God's "Opus"

As a part of a project, HCA Junior Max Hammons came to my office recently and asked, "What is God doing at Heritage?"  I told him that is best answered by looking at the lives of our students and listed some of the ways in which our students have been serving the Lord even during this year.  Many of the posts on this blog are answering that question.

But as I reflected later on that question, I was reminded of one of my favorite movies, Mr. Holland's Opus.  In the movie, Richard Dreyfuss plays the part of Glenn Holland, a musician and composer who takes a teaching job to pay the rent while, in his 'spare time', he can strive to achieve his true goal - compose one memorable piece of music to leave his mark on the world.  "Life happens" and he never completes his opus.  However, in the final scene, band geek-turned-governor Gertrude Lang reminds Mr. Holland that his students are his 'opus', not a piece of music.  The last few minutes of this movie are found in this clip .... especially note minutes 3-5 where Gertrude is addressing Mr. Holland.



I am reminded of Paul's words in II Corinthian 3:2-3:  You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all.  And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

So what IS God doing at Heritage?  His 'opus' is found in the students who faithfully partner with Mission Southside.  It is found with the students who stepped up to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  It is found in the Kindergarteners who know that "God is in my heart."  It is found in orphanages in Haiti that were built because God honored the vision of an HCA student.  It is found in our Junior Class working to sell "Go Jammies" to help raise money for the Global Orphan Project.  It is found in the graduates of HCA who are serving God in their lives.  Last Saturday I sat at a ball game and talked with at 2003 graduate who is serving on the staff of a church here in Olathe.  He was part of the first senior class that I took on a missions trip for their Senior Trip.  Three of the members of that class are currently serving in the pastorate.  I spoke earlier this week with a pastor of a church in Fort Scott who is considering another of our graduates as a youth pastor.  We have graduates who are pastors, missionaries, attorneys, physicians, nurses, teachers, engineers and more ... many serving the Lord faithfully, raising a Godly 'heritage', actively serving in their local church.

THAT IS WHAT GOD IS DOING AT HERITAGE!