I completed high school in 1940, on the edge of America’s entry into World War II, a war already underway in Europe. The Great Depression continued, until national ramping up military needs for products and manpower broke the long economic stalemate. To go to college, was a dream of many serious students (and idealistic parents for their children), but the costs were daunting as we imagined them at the time – although a pittance compared to current standards. Even in the contexts of differences in economic eras, the current cost is considerably higher to excess than it was during my years of formal education. My mother was insistent that I take the College Prep program at the public high school I attended. My stepfather would likely have preferred the Commercial, but he never entered the discussion with us. College Prep meant I could take Latin, history, and chemistry, but I could not take typing or bookkeeping. (I was removed from a typing class after the first day because I was not signed up for the Commercial Program.) There was, in those days, a stern division for those who were to go on to more formal education, and those who would go into the work force after graduation – to make a living. I didn’t fathom the differences, but mother knows best. To my own surprise, I went forward to attend two Christian colleges and two state universities – to earn ultimately a Ph. D. degree. How could that happen to a poor boy?
Home and high school were the beginnings of higher education as a positive choice for me. The matter ought to have been addressed more deliberately and coherently relative to the meaning of it all. Every child, at some point in his/her ‘teen years, ought to be well instructed on the difference between training and education. Training is primarily a means for developing a skill, like becoming a mechanic, or a farmer, or even a physician. Education is primarily designed for the development of the person, life and soul. Of course, both contexts are useful to get on in life, but there ought to be the understanding of both so as not to neglect either. During one hour, or period, one dominates. In another hour the emphasis turns to the other. There is always some overlap. Persons have to decide which will emerge to dominate them in society. The choice is personal, and ought to be informed so to find understanding about life and the world. Both perceptions of learning (believing and doing) ought to contribute to a positive approach to life and family – spiritually and physically. A physician asked if he could sit in on my lectures for a time, in that he had an excellent medical degree, but had been robbed of education. He took the time to do it.
Today, the Sacred Halls of Learning have, in large degree, simply become Halls of Learning/Training. The sacredness has been taken away, or significantly diluted. Values (born of biblical affirmations) have been relegated to some other source. In an article in the Wall Street Journal a writer argued that business schools should only teach principles of management related to profit and loss. We can be grateful that there were others in the Journal arguing that there must be some value foundations to give meaning to it all. The accent of the article favored the omission of values, and even argued that values might actually reduce the effectiveness of a business in a community, and for the nation. The author was, and is, wrong.
I am grateful that my higher education was greatly improved by the values openly expressed in Christian institutions. I attended two major universities when values were given a diluted meaning. Some professors overlooked the general position of the secular orientation disregarding values. They seemed to me to be the best of my professors. I am grateful to have lived in a society that permits righteous values. That factor alone, used for orientation, fully justifies the consistent meaning of Christian institutions. Dilution of values provides greater general support for a pop culture to replace a more sophisticated culture. This is readily seen in the contexts of entertainment, in the arts, especially related to language usage. Without clarity on values, the population becomes contradictory about morals, and the meaning of service and righteousness in society. The ethical society currently seems to be yielding to the materialistic society. We may be reluctant to be too critical in that there are large segments of the society that function firmly with the values orientation, and God will not permit us to be bereft of them. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020