When a communication process is pressed upon me over and over, to a purpose I find I do not want, I feel I have been brainwashed. That is, if I succumb to the pressure. However, if there is a value I ought to keep, and I welcome the repetitions, I fortify my resolve. For example, I always feel strengthened to repeat, perhaps in a church service, one of the ancient major creedal statements of Christianity. The arrogant Gnostics were largely marginalized by the Christian creeds. I have read several personal statements of persons who reviewed creeds often so to render indelible the self-challenge to meet the objectives of their natural and spiritual lives. Wise persons informed us that repetition is the mother of learning and doing.
I have recently read the student statement of a school not far from my home. Each school day the students shout out their motto statement before they begin their classes. It reads: We are boys striving to become great men. We are the best because we work hard at it; we make no excuses; we ensure that we are always prepared; we will uplift each other; we are our brother’s keeper. . . .We will be honest in our words and honorable in our actions . . . . We will respect our parents, and honor our elders. . . .We are the best, not because we say it – because we are the best at what we do! They understand the shout is not competitive, but to be in cooperation with others. The corporate statement is with a plural pronoun – we. They are best in doing the best that each one can do in relation to each other. The school is highly successful by educational standards. To make those standards a reality the students are guided: by excellent teachers; by learning how to manage data in search of knowledge; by following a calendar that guides studies in coordination with each student’s ability; and, by exchanges in feedback to determine how the student is going to utilize learning. The school is praised from all sides. Well over half of the students are from impoverished homes with little from society, perhaps from family, to help them. Every student has tested out as competent for his/her age group in reading skills. I am reluctant to document the school for fear someone will object that the administrators permit some of the Bible narrative and/or origins each morning to motivate the students. The accent for the public has been in its effectiveness as an educational institution demonstrated in successful lives, not just for its orientation that relates to biblical values.
Although my mother encouraged me in my studies, she was too busy to give much mentoring. I do not remember seeing anyone in our home open a book to read. Nothing pointed direction for me, and I awoke to personal discovery and life conduct by several constructive accidents including Christian life. It would have been easier if there had been some models. For our four children we were determined that it would be better. We talked of college as our minimum educational expectation, as other parents talked of high school. The first purpose was to be a well-furnished person. Profession and monetary matters, although needed, were secondary to this first. Now that three of my four children have arrived at retirement ages, I can say, having seen the results of our regimen that I would not make much change in our approach.
A friend of mine once told me that there is an oriental language character that is divided in half by a horizontal line. The upper part of the character combined with the one below the line means wise or wisdom. If the markings above the line are reversed with those below, the meaning is fool or foolish. We little realize that we can be of either character unless we learn the disciplines of the mind and soul to keep the conceptual life directed and clear for truth and values. This helps when our emotions and doubts would overwhelm us. One character (wisdom) is good and serves us. The other (fool) tends to be defeating. The first is perceived as cerebral – using the mind to make decisions based on the best information. The second is based on feelings – on immediate emotions that may not follow approved process. One is related to God’s order, the other is related to human preference, adopted for guidance when the mind is not disciplined – if we are unprepared, misdirected, omitting the benefits of self-discovery, of life order, love, problem solving and beauty, and a flock of other guides. If I were to live life over again, I would, with my wife and children, work with a guiding family written Page for life – each day. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020