November 2025

Letter from the Committee

The Magic of Redemption

Fall is officially in session! Or is it in progression, or regression?

Wordplay aside, the fall is widely prized as the “favorite” season for its milder temperatures, its vibrant and warm colors, and its heraldry of all spiced and cozy things. Whether it be a wistful few weeks or a flashy few days (depending on where you live), we have the joy of watching nature burst with fiery shades of red, yellow, and orange in a dramatic transformation and cycle of renewal. It is magical.

In celebration of an esteemed author and apologist’s birthday this month, we’ll borrow a few of his wise words… C.S. Lewis wrote, “The value of the myth is that it takes all the things we know and restores to them the rich significance which has been hidden by the ‘veil of familiarity.’”^[1] Most of us can pleasurably recall just how well he utilized the magic of the imagination to captivate and remind readers of foundational truths of faith.

Imagination gives children the power to transform random sticks into swords or trees into palaces. Yet, with our heavenly Father, creations aren’t just given a new label. His truth, love, attention and presence have the power to transform us into the beings we were always intended to be, despite the curse of sin. It’s as if that stick shed its bark and, lo and behold, it was always a shining, ornate sword underneath!… but only the Creator knew it as such. He calls us by the name we have always possessed—the name He bestowed upon us—but a name distorted in our own view through the lens of sin. Redemption is His calling us out of darkness by name, but the lens of sin must still be worked out before we can clearly see what He sees and how He sees it.

Psalm 130:7: “Put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.”

We may all find ourselves in different parts of this journey, but we can collectively remember that it is the Lord’s heart for us each to know full redemption and restoration to Him. This marvelous gospel echoes in the lyrics of a familiar Christian tune:

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin would look on me with loveAnd watch me rise again 

Not because of who I amBut because of what you've doneNot because of what I've doneBut because of who you are

And you've told me who I amI am yours^[2]

This month, our prayer is that you are freshly captivated by the extraordinary truth that He redeemed you, and that you are His! 

Your Stoa Alumni Committee,

Samuel Durand (AR), Nicole Kaiser (MT), Elizabeth Stapleton (OK)

VIEW FULL ALUMNI POST