Education for Life by J. Donald Walters

Author:J. Donald Walters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crystal Clarity Publishers
Published: 2019-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

The Tools of Maturity

An astronomer scanning the heavens needs a mirror for his telescope that is clean and ground accurately. A carpenter building a house needs tools that are well made and well maintained. A jeweller dealing in precious stones needs a scale sensitive enough to weigh small fractions of a carat. In every department of life, the right tools are needed. In this age of sophisticated technology, especially, great care must be devoted to their development and maintenance.

It is a matter for surprise, then, how little attention gets paid to the ultimate “tool,” the one on which every human being relies: his own self, his body and his brain.

The physical body, if not treated sensitively and with proper awareness, can end up becoming man’s own worst enemy. An ill body can obstruct every effort of the will toward accomplishment. A brain that is clouded, unfocused, or easily overwhelmed by emo tional stress understands nothing clearly no matter how excellent the material instruments a person uses.

Our modern school system concentrates on imparting facts, but devotes far too little attention to developing a student’s ability to absorb the information he receives. It gives him the outer tools for accomplishment, but never even suggests to him methods for developing his powers of concentration, his memory, his ability to think clearly, without which those tools are like a hammer and saw in the paws of a cat.

In one of my classes when I was schoolboy, if any student seemed unable to grasp the point under discussion the teacher would inquire with jocular solicitude, “What’s the matter, Jones [or Smith, or Robbins]? Are you in love?” Strange to say, this was the only recognition the student ever received of the possible importance of his emotions to the total learning process.

Even in such basic matters as diet, how much are our children taught? They are given (for one example) what has come to be called “junk” food, high in sugar content and low in nutritive value. Does no one ever tell them that too much sugar clouds the mind, making it difficult to think clearly? or that nutritious food will help them to feel better in all departments of their lives? Fortunately, people are becoming more conscious in these matters nowadays, though the great majority are still either ignorant or indifferent to the discoveries being made in this field.

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