Cissy Lewis | Blogger: July 2017

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Gratitude

When we have been unjustly hurt, our reaction might understandably be anger and resentment, and we might be motivated to retaliate. Let’s say we experience a great loss because of someone else’s actions against us – a life-changing and devastating loss. How do we get beyond vengeance against the one who caused the loss and move towards gratitude for what we had that was lost? It’s a hard change of heart and mind: being thankful that we had the lost thing at all – a person, a job, a prized possession – for however long, rather than resentful for having been deprived of it. Gratitude can be a powerful avenue through the trauma of loss. It does not minimize the intense pain that always accompany the work of rebuilding one’s life in an entirely different context, but it can take away the feeling of anger and the conviction that a terrible injustice has been done, and it opens the way for thanksgiving and renewed trust in the world.

Friday, July 14, 2017

Trinity Sunday

Last Sunday was Trinity Sunday for Christian traditions who believe in a Trinitarian God. It is a complicated theological concept – and many scholars have tried to make logical sense of three Gods in one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I find that metaphors help.

One sermon I heard used the images of the lover (God), the beloved (His Son, in whom He is well pleased), and the spirit of love that engulfs them and imbues all of us (the Holy Spirit). I have also heard of the metaphor of the dance to help us understand. God is the creator of the dance; his Son is embodying the dance, and the Holy Spirit is providing the music that make a harmonious dance possible. Both metaphors make clear that the concept of the Trinity is a relational one. We all strive to live in loving, harmonious relationship to our God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and to one another.

About Me

Cissy Lewis, an award-winning educator, has been involved in schools all of her life. As an eleven-year-old, she started her first school in Santiago, Chile, teaching reading and writing to children who had no school options. She comes from a line of educators – her mother earned a Ph.D. in political science in an era when few women were earning advanced degrees, and her grandfather taught Greek and Latin.

She started her teaching career at The Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas, where she taught English in both the Upper and Middle Schools. At The Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tennessee, she was honored with the Best New Teacher award. At the Castilleja School, she twice received the Distinguished Teacher Award.

Cissy Lewis held leadership positions at The Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and at The Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California. At Baylor, she joined the administrative team, initially as Dean of Girls and then as Assistant Head of School, to help the school implement the transition from an all-boys school to coeducation. At Castilleja, she was academic dean, Head of Upper School, Assistant Head of School, and interim Head of School. Her responsibilities included oversight of the daily academic operations of the school, and coordinating the recruitment and hiring of new faculty. She also oversaw curricular review, the faculty evaluation system, and faculty professional growth.

Ms. Lewis attended Mt. Holyoke College and subsequently received bachelor’s degrees in both biology and English cum laude from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. She pursued graduate studies at The Bread Loaf School of English where she received her M.A. and was honored as Class Marshall. She also earned an M.Ed. at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where she was influenced by Carol Gilligan’s groundbreaking research as reflected in her seminal work In a Different Voice, and focused on the psychology of adolescence and the education of girls.

Ms. Lewis has served on the Board of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California, and The Carey School in San Mateo, California. She enjoys reading, hiking, yoga, and travelling.