When I Survey

Hello again! I'm back to bring you another week's worth of adventure from here at Mandala! I can't believe it's been a month since we started. While the first week felt like a month, I look back over the past thirty days and I wonder where they went. I'm so glad to be writing this journal, otherwise I would probably have lost track of everything that has happened. So what have we been doing? Well, let me start where I left off.

After I finished last week's journal, I left to socialize with the gentlemen who had found their way into our house. Soon after, Harrison, Austin, Seth, Ian, and Anna Gordon left for the Copper Lodge to continue a cut-throat table-tennis tournament they had been playing. An hour or so later, as the villa was growing dimmer in the twilight, William rushed into our house and told us to go look at the sunset. We followed him out and watched as the sun sank into the clouds on the horizon, mixing bold burnished bronze with the soft tones of a warm peach. As we stood in the fresh air, newly attuned to the ever-unique joy of nature, someone suggested we go swimming. Moments later, we were diving under the rope in the shallows at the lake, swimming for the floating dock in the deeper water. The delicious sky warmed our shoulders as we dove and splashed, pushing each other in. Eventually, the sky dulled and we grew tired of our games. Someone suggested we watch a classic movie, and one of the guys, (I won't say who) suggested that most timeless and inspirational war movie— Mulan, of Disney Princess fame.


Unsurprisingly, we all agreed, and ten minutes later, we were laying on the carpet of the school room, engrossed in the film. Though we knew the perils of a late Sunday night, we threw caution to the wind and watched Treasure Planet afterwards. As we left the Copper Lodge that night, eyes full of animated galaxies, I chanced to glance up at our own sky, and I let out an audible gasp. While our movie was playing inside, the clouds had parted to reveal the most glorious sky we had yet seen. Suddenly, the entertainment of the past few hours felt cheap and worthless. I went to bed somewhat disappointed.

The next morning was painful, and the stars from the night before still burned in my eyes, reminding me of how wasted the night had been. The morning felt rushed, and we were all bleary-eyed for the first hour of class as Mr. Skogen led us. We warmed up as we discussed, however. Predictably, the discussion grew heated as we wrestled with hard ideas and with each other. We were discussing the very fine lines between one who is "musical", one who is a "musician", and the general human ability to understand music. After an hour of arguing semantics, we shut the discussion down and finished watching a documentary on how beauty matters tangibly and apart from the abstract. Over lunch, we discussed some of the ideas we had covered and we soon came back to the classroom, a few minutes early, everyone excited for choir. (We generally agree that it is one of the best hours of the week.) We're all beginning to understand the musical notation a little bit more, and we sounded quite decent. Caleb called for volunteers, and two quartets tested their newfound skill as they each performed a verse from one of our hymns. We worked that day and then returned to the villas to practice music one last time while we could. The evening concluded, we took our blankets to the stars hoping to recapture the glory from the night before, but the clouds were creeping back into the sky, catching the glow from the crescent moon and dimming their twinkling lights.

Our week continued steadily from then on. We arrived early and practiced mathematics, first Euclid's geometry and then our SAT tests. That Tuesday afternoon saw us playing our instruments in our two groups as we performed White Winter Hymnal. Caleb left the Copper Lodge with the fellows that day; they to go to work, he to fly to a wedding. He's scheduled to return this Tuesday, and we're all excited. We've missed him. Because he was gone, our Wednesday was cut short at lunch. Instead of music, we got an early start on work and had an extra hour before astronomy. Surprising nobody, the sky was yet again overcast. Accepting this, we sat inside and listened to a lecture on the stars in the Bible.

The only thing which differentiated Thursday from the rest of the week was the intense game of capture the flag which we played after the moon chased the sun past the horizon, and the game of zombie tag which followed it. The night rang with cries of despair and then triumph as we learned to work together in our teams.

Mrs. Bortins gave us an extra half-hour to sleep in on Friday, and we enjoyed every bone-soothing moment of it. We rolled into the driveway cheerily and dove into another psalm before class. We discussed the logistics of the Italy trip, the way in which to approach guests to speak at Mandala, and the elementary-school math game which we have been developing. The instant class was over, I led my group— the ones working on our science project— on another expedition. Expecting to eat in town, we dropped by Anna Harvey's house to peruse her father's tools and found ourselves sitting with her extended family, eating a delicious home-cooked meal. I love southern hospitality. We left for town reluctantly.

Having acquired the materials we needed, we returned home. The fellows scattered for the weekend. Some studied, some read, and some even bought golf balls and took them to the driving range. A few fellows went rappelling on some nearby cliffs. By the time night fell, the villas were oddly quiet and empty. Ian, Seth, Alec, and William had gone camping, and Gracsyn, Olivia, and Laura were at their homes for the weekend. One of Anna Harvey's friends arrived and stayed the night, but exhausted by a long week, we made an early night.

The sun was high when we rose on Saturday. The campers were back, sore and mosquito-bitten, but claiming triumph. We spent the morning either relaxing or studying. Austin, Samuel, and I have formed an extra-curricular study group. We have lofty goals which will never be realized without hard work. The afternoon was given over to sport and we divided, some swimming and some going back to the ping-pong table to hold another tournament. The evening was quiet again as everyone stayed inside, relaxing and studying.

Sunday was different from the rest of the weekend. Ironically, our day of rest threw us into more action than Saturday had seen. Most of us agreed that we wanted to start attending Sunday school, so we rose earlier and made good time to listen raptly as Mr. Bianco taught on mankind's ingrained desire to worship. While he is not an official part of the Mandala Fellowship, Mr. Bianco is one of the voices most heard by the fellows, aside from our two usual leaders. He is a ready instructor and mentor. By the time he had finished, I had developed an inkling of an idea into reality, and so I approached him before the service. I asked him to think about holding a regular discussion group for some of the fellows, and he agreed. I left for my seat with a triumphant grin on my face. The service and the sermon were as engaging as ever, and one moment stood out above the others. The pastor called out a hymn number, and as we all flipped to it, an excited whisper spread through the fellows. The song was one of our choir pieces, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and we sang with gusto, confidence, and aptitude. I could tell by the grins around me that the others shared my enthusiasm for the new-found harmony.

After church, we all invaded Tobin's tiny cottage, where his smiling wife set out a feast of sandwich fixings, with enough homemade bread to satisfy all of us. We had a wonderful lunch, and the fellows left in threes and fours until only a few of us remained, reading poetry and discussing literature and philosophy with our host until the late afternoon.

The evening brought thunder and a drenching rain, forcing fellows to hide in their villas, cosy and happy. We went to bed early and started the cycle all over again today, with an exceptionally excruciating SAT test and some mathematical concepts which strain against the confines of reality. Everyone is hard at work, and it's high time that I join them. Before I go, let me thank you all for your support and your interest. To the parents, I thank you for sending your sons and daughters. I have never felt more alive and engaged in my life, and I know the others feel the same way. I can't hope to count my blessings, but when I look around the classroom, the first eighteen are easy to name.

Au revoir,
Barnabas.

We have started collecting the class scores once a week in order to show our progress and encourage us on to excellence. To God be the glory.
Mean: 10/16
Mode: 10
Median: 10
Range: 11