Spirituality
Three Springs initially built the spiritual aspect of treatment (Spirit) on the premise that children can grow spiritually by living in a group where they depend on one another. Through this process, the boys uncover the deeper meaning of extending a hand or making a sacrifice for the sake of a friend. It is through this process that we find the boys embracing spiritual values as they learn virtue. This is the foundation upon which they build strong characters.
Parental involvement is critical to the unfolding of this process as they support their sons’ spiritual journeys by allowing them to ask questions and to seek clarifications of their parents’ value systems. Parents must understand that this awakening is individualized and that their willingness to hear about their children’s new discoveries will only strengthen their relationship with them.
Three Springs understands that the level of each boy’s internalization is highly dependent on the balance of the Mind, Body, and Spirit philosophy. We see our responsibility as only to open the doors of opportunity for each child to explore life’s endless possibilities for spiritual growth.
The great end in religious instruction is not to stamp our minds upon the young, but to stir up their own;
Not to make them see with our eyes, but to look inquiringly and steadily with their own;
Not to give them a definite amount of knowledge, but to inspire a fervent love of truth;
Not to form an outward regularity, but to touch inward springs;
Not to bind them by eradicable prejudices to our particular sect or particular notions;
But to prepare them for impartial, conscientious judging of whatever subjects may be offered to their decision;
Not to burden the memory, but to quicken and strengthen the power of thought;
Not to impose religion upon them in the form of arbitrary rules, but to awaken the conscience, the moral discernment.
In a word, the great end is to awaken the soul, to excite and cherish the spiritual life.— William Ellery Channing
