Looking Past our Apathy

“How can we live without our lives? How will we know it's us without our past?” John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

What does it take to remember something? What does it take to forget? Pain is a good motivator of memory. If that is the case, Siegfried Osterwaldt remembers his time as an artillery sergeant for the German army well. Fighting in Northern Africa,

Allied soldiers captured Siegfried on November 2^nd, 1942. For some reason it had never occurred to him that he could be captured, or possibly killed.

 Lying in a hole in the ground, artillery showering everywhere, Siegfried admitted that before this, “I never thought I could be wounded, or even die”.

“The soldier told me to raise my hands. It never occurred to me that I would be a prisoner. I then thought, will they feed me? Will they shoot me? Or will they… I don’t know. I just didn’t know”.

Perhaps it was, in his own words, his “German stubbornness” that made Siegfried never contemplate the consequences of War. Or maybe it was his belief in his deft military skill. Regardless, he was captured, helpless, and hopeless. He, an only child, was a long way from his German home. Little did he know he was moving towards a new home, starting on a Prisoner of War journey that would forever change his life, and would forever change mine. 

Siegfried spent six months as a POW in Egypt, enduring stints in Panama, Capetown, New York, and Montreal. It was in Montreal that everything started to change. The first change was the food. Riding on a Canadian Pacific Rail car, the POW’s were served full meals, (including dessert). The next change was the grandeur of Canada. Riding from Montreal to Wainwright, AB, Siegfried noted with wonder the sheer size and scope of this new land: “This country somehow, I don’t know how to say it, it’s size [is so large]. You can move around”. Once in Wainwright, he was let out of the camp (unsupervised) for two to four hours at a time to explore and enjoy the surrounding areas. Having been trained as a land surveyor, Siegfried created a detailed topographical map of the area. Regarding his experience at Wainwright as a POW, Siegfried simply stated, “I was treated nicely”, especially “compared to the Germans caught in Russia”.

Siegfried’s heart battled with his head after he returned home from the war. He knew Europe as the centre of the last two world wars. When was the next one going to be, he wondered? Yet Germany was home to his people, his family, and his culture. Despite the significance of his German heritage and culture, Siegfried decided he must leave to escape the consequences of the next War that would plague Europe. As he contemplated moving, his thoughts came to Canada and his time in Wainwright. Ironically, he felt more freedom confined as a POW than he did in his native country after war’s end. Above all else, Siegfried’s motives for moving convey a desire to avoid prejudice: “I had the impression that [Canada] was a country that didn’t hate the Germans”.

So in 1953, eight years after the War, Siegfried and Eva Osterwaldt arrived in Montreal with most of their possessions (a rarity for the time), little knowledge of English, and absolutely no money.

The rest of Siegfried’s story is history—Canadian history. He found a job at a lumberyard, found favor with his superiors, and advanced in his workplace until he was hired as a land surveyor with the Federal Government (this was his area of specialization in University). Full of his German stubbornness and excellent work ethic, Siegfried says, “The main thing is, we both stayed healthy. We had a good start. We didn’t just sit back and relax. I have no regrets. Nothing fell into our lap for doing nothing, and that’s good”.

The Osterwaldt’s are now in their 90’s. Despite their slower pace, and Siegfried’s limited mobility, they are relatively independent; they still live in the Bonnie Doon home they purchased in the 1950’s (the Bonnie Doon area was mostly farmland then, Siegfried told me). Their proudest possession, of course, seems to be their 1980’s Volkswagen sedan in their garage, meticulously kept and cared for. Eva, Siegfried’s wife, still keeps a large garden in their backyard. When I visited her last, she had fed her and Siegfried for the past two weeks solely on the contents of garden.

Why do I tell this story? First, I think it’s obvious that this isn’t your average POW story. Pain and torture—both the physical and emotional kinds—naturally garnish a litany of POW tales. Although these types of stories are instructive and necessary, minimizing stories like Siegfried’s leaves readers with an uneven and biased grasp of the duality (both good and evil) of the human condition in times of war.

Secondly, and most importantly I tell this story to remind young Canadians (including myself) of the life-changing events we simply know by the name of war. Others, much older, wiser, and perhaps a little less naive, know the risks and sacrifices of global war all too well. As I interviewed Siegfried, one of his phrases resonated with me as he grappled with his memory, searching for an answer to a question in his tired and over-worked mind: “Things are just forgotten, you know? It’s too long ago”. This is what I want you to remember. As the effects of all-out global world wars recede—shrapnel to stories, sentries to sentences, and weapons to mere words—we would do well to remember stories like Siegfried’s. Siegfried’s memories are slowly being forgotten because of his age. Unlike Siegfried, young people today are not prone to Alzheimer’s—we are prone to a disease even more debilitating: apathy.

What does it take to remember something? What does it take to forget?

Service

Last December at a Christmas Staff Party my boss gave a little speech. It wasn’t one of those typical boss to employee speeches, with ostentatious compliments to his little minions that were filled with fluff. Nope, in this speech, my boss talked about how we can only be happy (and succeed as a company along the way) by serving others. Part of the mantra that my work has is “Committed to Service”. My boss discussed how our company could move forward when we look to serve both our coworkers and our customers. I hadn’t honestly thought of my work before as service. I mean, service is what I do when I’m doing things for people for Church stuff or after my workday is done. But nope, I realized that service is just doing things for people. That’s it. And so this past summer it’s been cool being a delivery boy. Ya, kind of a big title deal, I know. Aside from the lucrative title, my job just lets me help people that need things. It has opened my eyes to what a company means when it “provides a service”.  Sure the company gets paid for it. But when you’re doing things for people- especially things that they can’t do for themselves (think of Christ for that one), then you’re gonna be happy.

Now I’m no expert on this. I can’t say I look at all my work as serving and that I am happy with it 24/7. Sure, there are days when I look at the clock and want it to just be 5 already.  But it’s been neat seeing how happier I’ve been in just trying to think of my work in terms of service. But I guess what I’m really saying in all of this is that most things we do on a routine basis can be done two ways: for others or four ourselves.

Let’s take college for example. It’s hecka competitive, pretty stressful, and a tad bit overwhelming sometimes. But in all of that you can see two attitudes one might take. Attitude number one: I want to make money for myself, I want to be the best, I want to show everyone that I can do better than everyone else, thus helping me achieve my goals. Attitude number two: I want to provide for others, I want to ensure that my family is taken care of, I want to find meaning in what I do. I think you get the difference between the two.

Robin Williams summarizes this second attitude well in Patch Adams when he tells his doctor what he wants to do with his life: “I want to help people. I want to learn about people and help them with their troubles”.  The doctor who Patch is confessing his to then indignantly responds to Patch, “That’s what I do”. Then, the witty Patch pierces by him by saying “but you suck at it”.  Here’s the clip of the video in case you want to watch it. I think it’s hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKl8s0EO5T4

Well to summarize, we can do a lot of what we do it two different ways: for us or for others. Going to church, setting up a business, being a parent, a spouse, a good brother or sister, being kind to people. All of that. There’s a saying in sales: it’s not what you say but how you say it. Similarly in service, It doesn’t matter what you do as much as how you are doing it.  That’s my two cents for the month.

Don't worry about the milk, Remember the meat!!

A lot of times I don’t feel like I have something original to say. So I tell stories, because they teach us ordinary life lessons in a unique way that is tailored for us. So I’ll begin with a story, a story that happened to me last week.

I was feeding the missionaries for dinner, and went out on a limb and decided to not buy pizza for them. This was a first for me, so I hesitantly went to Subway and got three footlongs—Oven Roasted Chicken Breast on Italina Herbs and Cheese. Remember the meat. That will be important later on.  So I’m in line, the subway smell slowly oozing into my clothes, as the worker goes through the motions and takes my order. I notice that she was pretty chincy with the lettuce, so I politely ask her if she could add more. After normally ordering two large pizzas for the missionaries, I was worried that these subs with just a little lettuce and other sparse veggies were gonna do the trick.  She dabs a little more on there and then finishes the order.

So we’re now back at my house, opening up our subs, when one of the missionary states matter-of-factly “There’s like nothing in here”. Awkward. I was a little annoyed at the ladies who cut back on all the veggies. Then the Elder says, “there’s no meat in here!” So ya..here I was with three footlongs consisting of lettuce, banana pepper, and chipolte, but with no chicken. I had three pieces of ham that we then used to put on our footlongs. I couldn’t taste the ham.

So why do I tell this story? Well lately I’ve been thinking about how we just coast through life a lot of the times and miss—maybe miss isn’t the right word, how we don’t fully appreciate or recognize the most important things. I mean, seriously, I was worried about half a cup of iceberg lettuce when six pieces of chicken were gone! It’s definitely easy to get sidetracked. I do it all the time.

So what I guess I’m trying to say is something people already know. Spend time with the most important things. After all, saying that something is the “meat” of any story or problem is another way we humans like to suggest it’s something to focus on.

So what is the most important thing? I’m not claiming to know the answer, and won’t say that there even is a right answer, cause there isn’t, but something does come to mind. A teacher I had last year at MacEwan said this: the most important thing you will do as a teacher is to build and strengthen relationships with others. That sounded like a pretty foolproof answer to me. Whether that relationship is with God, a good friend, a new roommate, or yourself, strengthening that relationship does wonders to your happiness, and the happiness of others.

This teacher helped me remember what my meat was, and guided me to know where to go in order to get it.  Similarly, in Tuesdays with Morrie, a dying professor counsels one of his former students, Mitch Albom, and helps him remember his oven roasted chicken breast, so to speak:

““We’re so wrapped up with egotistical things, career, family, having enough money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car, fixing the radiator when it breaks—we’re involved of trillions of little acts just to keep going. So we don’t get into the habit of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, “is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing? You need someone to probe you in that direction. It won’t just happen automatically.” I knew what he was saying. We all need teachers in our lives. And mine was sitting in front of me”.

Well that’s my little musing for the month. It would be cool if you found yourself thinking about a time when someone (I would use the word teacher here but I want you to think more broadly) helped you remember your meat and helped you focus on the important things in life.

Making your Weekend Worthwhile

I’d like to ask you a question. It’s kind of a personal one. When was the last time you did something that you really felt was worthwhile? And, just to clarify, by worthwhile, I mean engaging in something meaningful that you will remember for the rest of your life. I’m not looking for a specific answer. It can be something as small as being able to be there for a friend when they were in need and being able to perfectly relate to them, or as big as graduating, being engaged, or getting married. Regardless of what stage in life we are in, these life-changing moments happen every so often; they seem to set the course for our life.  While I won’t share an experience that I’ve had that has given me meaning, I’d like to talk about an event this weekend that I do consider worthwhile. And who knows, it could be for you as well.

To provide a context for what I’m leading up to, I need to tell you a story. This is a story about a conversation between an Englishman and a Canadian.  This first was a former member of the English Supreme Court, and the second, a lawyer, and member of the LDS Church.  This English statesman called up this Mormon lawyer and discussed with him, in his own words, some “vexations of the soul”. They talked about all sorts of topics, ranging from world affairs to religion. This former judge asked this man, Hugh B, Brown, to provide for him a simple brief of his Mormon beliefs. So Hugh B, Brown went on to ask this English statesmen three explanations, in regards to why God, after communicating with Prophets all throughout the Old and New Testament, would suddenly stop communicating with men after the death of Christ’s apostles.  His first explanation was that God does not speak to man anymore because He cannot. He has lost the power. The Englishmen simply replied that this would be “blasphemous”. His second possible explanation was this: that God doesn’t speak to men because he no longer loves us. to which the judge replied “No. God loves all men, and is no respector of persons”. The third and final possible reason that Mr. Brown posited was that we don’t need God, that we have progressed so much as a society in science and education that we do not need his assistance. As a note, this was just before the outbreak of World War II. The judge then replied, his voice trembling, “Mr. Brown, there never was a time in the history of the world when the voice of God was needed as it is needed now. Perhaps you can tell me why He doesn’t speak”. Mr Brown then succinctly stated, “He does speak, He has spoken; but men need faith to hear Him”.

Mr. Brown then went on to share with the judge what he called as a “Profile of A Prophet”, where he outlined what the Bible teaches about the role of Prophets. He then shared his belief that a Prophet of God leads and guides the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is a man of God who receives direct guidance from God for the entire world who teaches us how to be closer to God and Jesus Christ. I would say, as did the British Judge, that amidst all the political strife, confusion, and personal challenges that all of us face, that there was never a time in the history of the world where the voice of God is needed more than today. Right now.  I admit that that is quite a claim. But, that’s where this weekend comes in to play.

Every six months, the Mormon Church holds a General Conference, where its leaders (including the Prophet) share spiritual truths with the world that will help any listener with questions they have about the purpose of life, what happens to us when we die, as well as how to find happiness and meaning in life (remember how something worthwhile was meaningful?). Well, this weekend that conference is being held, and is broadcast all across the world via radio, television, and the Internet.

So my question for you is this: among all your plans this weekend, what are you doing that could be life changing? If you have trouble thinking of an answer, I simply invite you to listen in and see if what I’m saying could be true for you.

Before I finish, there is still a little more of the judge’s story that I need to tell. Just before Mr. Brown left his English friend, the Englishman asked him, “Mr. Brown, I wonder if your people appreciate the import of your message. Do you?” He said, “If what you have told me is true, it is the greatest message that has come to this earth since the angels announced the birth of Christ.” Zing. Talk about important.

So to those reading this who are of my faith, including me, I would ask, do we appreciate the importance of what is happening this weekend? And to those not of my faith, I invite you to see. One thing I have learned lately is that taking time to get to know someone is essential in understanding that person. It could be understanding a culture, an era, or even a religion. So maybe all you’re doing is looking to understand your Mormon friend. That’s cool. Listening in this weekend will help you see where I come from and why I do the things I do. Have a good weekend!

Story used from “Profile of a Prophet”, Hugh B. Brown, Ensign, June 2006

http://www.lds.org/general-conference

The Joys of being a Jerk :)

So let me tell you about my life. I’m an Education student, majoring in English teaching and minoring in Phys Ed. I’ve never met anyone else doing these two subjects while at University; I like it that way. It puts me in a unique situation. I get to hang out with all the nerds reading Frankenstein, discussing Romantic poetry and acting out improv vignettes, while at the same time spending time with the jocks in my PE classes doing fitness tests, and digging volleyballs. I’m livin the dream.  So, my career choice splinches me (think Harry Potter) between two very drastic and diabolically different stereotypes: the jocks and the nerds. So I put the two words together and what does that make me? A jerk, of course.

As I mentioned earlier, being a jerk puts me in an interesting spot. When I’m in gym I get to hear stereotypes about the nerds, and when I’m in Drama and British Lit I hear thoughtless things about jocks. The funny thing is, I can laugh with each group and find humor in their stereotype of the other, while at the same time seeing how untrue those generalizations really are.  Let me tell you a story that shows an example of one of these stereotypes. I’m in my Drama class (for my English Major) and a group of kids in the class have been asked to find some people in the gym working out and then to present the skit to the class. So, the members of this group find this hilarious piece that they act out in class. A guy is preparing to lift a heavy bar and his friend is spotting him. They guy is looking at all the girls working out in the room and says to his buddy, “You know there are just so many gorgeous women working out right now. I don’t know if it’s the testosterone in me right now, but I just think I’m gonna end up cheating on my girlfriend”. He continues to look at all the girls walking around him. End of scene. I thought this was pretty funny (and outrageous) when my classmates performed it in class, but then my teacher kills himself laughing and says, “Ah, the classic jock who just goes to the gym to look at how big his muscles are and to look at other people’s nice bodies”.  Awesome. While this scene actually did happen, I can’t say I’ve done that too many times. Actually, never. Sure, you could say there are people passionate about sports that you might want to call conceited. But hey, so are English nerds using incomprehensible words to explain something to you just so you know that they’re smart.

Actually, as opposite as nerdy nerds and jocky jocks (not sure that jocky is an adjective, but whatevs) are made out to be, I find that they (and a lot of people, in general) are actually eerily similar. I’ll tell you why next month, cause that’s opening up a whole new can of worms there.

  Sterotypes are funny though, aren’t they? I have a good friend that shared a Ted Video with me recently. The TED TALK is by a Nigerian author named Chimamanda Adichie. She talks about the danger of stereotypes, or in her own words, “the danger of a single story”, and how we really get into trouble when we superimpose stereotypes onto a group of people. One of the best quotes in her speech is when she declares, "It's not that stereotypes are untrue, but [that] they are incomplete" Yep, couldn’t put it any simpler. So the next time you think of yourself stereotyping someone, think this little jerk (remember, nerd+jock=jerk) being equally amused and amazed by a Romantic poem by Sir William Blake (check out “The Tyger”!) as a crazy back row smash by a BYU volleyball player.

LOVE, and How to Find it this February

So my brother is a pretty big fan of mine. He even read last month’s blog post. He looks forward to my blog posts so much that he even recommended to me a topic for this month: LOVE. Yep, here it is recorded by the book of face (this is what my volleyball teacher calls it) at 1:53pm on January 11th: “May I suggest a topic for February? L-O-V-E… I know you'll have lots to say about it”.  So, my rejoinder to me brother’s request is YOU BETCHA. I’m feelin’ the brotherly love here, but I’m getting ahead of myself already.

So let’s say you’re like me this Valentine’s season—single, livin’ life, busy with school/work, callings, etc. This is my question for you: How do you make Valentines, for lack of a better way to say it, not a downright depressing one?

Imma (my English Professor would cringe if she saw me using the word “Imma”) be taking a few quotes from some books I’ve come across and have mused about lately to try to attempt an answer, as well as to make my big broder proud (said with lips pursed and cheeks sucked in). Well here are two points we can look at and consider.

1. Finding Real Friendships

“I have no duty to be anyone's Friend and no man in the world has a duty to be mine. No claims, no shadow of necessity. Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

So I can’t say I have read through this entire book. Lewis confuses me sometimes in the parts I’ve read. Okay, he confuses me a lot. But I once in a while I find a gem like this one. I like his point about the necessity of friendship—there isn’t one. While pheromones and feelings give our bodies the natural tendency to be attracted to the opposite sex, friendship is void of that physical necessity that accompanies other types of love. Just having a friend—a true friend, is one of the most valuable types of love in the world. There is the trite saying that you can choose your friends but not your family. Most of the time people say this when they’re badmouthing a family member or just attempting light-hearted jokes to them (like me to my brother currently). However, another important part of this is that you really can completely choose your friends. No one forces you to spend time with the people you do (okay, if someone is forcing you then that’s kinda crazy, and you likely will have a depressing valentines day no matter what suggestions I give).  But what I think is important, and what Lewis says, is that it gives value to our existence. Or, in other words, meaning.  So, to sum things up in point one: find faithful friends.

2. Find Extraordinary Among the Ordinary


My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
 And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
 As any she belied with false compare.

William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130

In this sonnet, Shakespeare has had enough with all the ostentatious descriptions of men describing ladies (including his own in previous sonnets). Here, he is cutting the fluff in describing this lady—but not necessarily getting tough—even though it may seem like it initially. This girl doesn’t have the reddest lips, or the best complexion, or smell as good as perfume all the time (lets be real, who DOES?!), or has awesome breath (when it says reeks here, it just means producing a smell, not necessarily a bad one).  She doesn’t have a picture perfect bod. Yikes. If I was this girl reading this I’d be pretty distraught after the first 12 lines. But, Shakespeare saves his final couplet to teach an important lesson, one that might help us all out on V-day; in the way we look at others, as well as ourselves. It is this: with all the flaws and imperfections we have as humans, we can, and should still find ways to connect meaningfully with people.  Just as Lewis mentioned that friendship is not necessary, and therefore harder to just naturally be good at, I believe Shakespeare is saying that it takes the same kind of work and perseverance and patience to make it work with someone in this world, whether it’s a friend, family member, or significant other. Simply put, Shakespeare says it's rare when people love each other knowing full well their opposite's follies and faults.  I hope you’re not taking this as a “don’t expect much” from people attitude. I’m not saying that. What I am saying is how we, for all our faults and weaknesses, can still enjoy and benefit from the perspectives, words, actions, and kindnesses of others, no matter how imperfect they may be. A close friend of mine recently told me a definition of love that he came across. The definition describes loves as something that can be thrived in, as a flower “loves” the sun. So, who are the people who you thrive around? Have you thanked them for being your (going along with the metaphor) sunlight recently? I know I can improve.

Well folks, that’s all she wrote. To my bro, I hope you’ve liked my little lesson on love, and to everyone else, have a great V-day, single or otherwise ☺

Learning

What is learning? Why is it important?

Simply put, learning is a change that takes place because of an experience. That change could be behavior, knowledge, or experience, but something HAS to change. Hence the motivational adage, if you always do what you’ve always done (i.e. never change), then you’ll always get what you’ve always got (i.e. never learn).

A Typical College Classroom

Let me paint a picture for you. You’re in a room, listening to a professor lecture. Lecture, that’s a common word in university. You sit and take notes violently as if trying to decipher a code; the coded message is the words coming out of the professors mouth, and your brain attempts to decipher it as you give your best guess as to what the teacher could possibly test you on. Tired, hungry, and mostly bored more than anything, you continue to take meaningless notes. Your head perks up when you hear “you’ll need to know this for the test”.  Whispers enter the room, with those students not paying attention turning to their friend to ask, “What was that?” The students then robotically copy their friend’s notes in order to make sure they have that future test question at their disposal. The professor then goes off on a rant, beaming about his or her own research or digressing on a topic he or she knows a lot about. Automatically, the kids lose attention, waiting for the next time the teacher announces another test question.

This last paragraph can be summed up by this meme:

Here is a pretty neat link talking about how kids are disengaged by the current way education is run. Frankly, what the people in the documentary are saying is that the things children learn in school have little meaning to them. I’m sure you have wondered WHY you are being asked to learn something and how it relates to your future career. Yep, you’re not the only one. It’s a pretty interesting video although there are some things in it that I don’t entirely agree with. If you don’t want to watch it, here is one of the best quotes that I found from it. “Being quiet and being submissive. I think that, frankly, is the only think that is being taught right now. That’s what they’re teaching—to sit patiently and be disengaged for an hour and take it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC_T9ePzANg&feature=youtu.be


Learning

Now let’s get onto real learning. This is where it gets good. Think about the times in your life where you feel like you learned something important—perhaps even life changing. Don’t even think about reading on. Think about the circumstances that this event took place in. What helped you learn? And most importantly, what changed? Where did this take place? Regardless of where it took place, you probably had what someone I know calls an “Ah ha” moment. You suddenly realize something—whether it’s making a connection you hadn’t seen, understanding a concept that you only partially understood, or seeing someone touch another’s life, and then commit to change because of it. For me, I remember a Scout camp that I learned something really important. Yea, I know it’s hard to imagine learning something important amongst stinky sleeping bags, talking about junior high crushes, and blowing things up, but it happened, so hear me out.

As a scout troop, we went on a winter camp to some bush out in who knows where near Mountain View, AB. Lucky for us, we were satisfying our winter survival requirement and went to go make ourselves a lean-to with bow saws and twine to lash it all together. We made our shelters; ours was nothing to complain about. Luckily my friends had brought a tarp and covered the top of our shelter with it. However, the tarp didn’t cover the whole shelter, leaving a spot open for someone to sleep with the tarp not covering. I quickly volunteered, noting the clear sky above us and then went to bed.

Wet, and cold, and shivering. That’s how I remember waking up the next morning. Yes, the weather was really nice the day before for a winter camp. Above zero, in fact. But the clouds came in that night and drenched our camp, leaving me, as well as all my belongings—sleeping bag, extra clothes, food, a book—soaked to the core.

So what did I learn? To never going camping again. Seriously though, ever since then I have been prepared for the rain when going camping, knowing that I never want to relive that experience again. I heard once that necessity is the very best teacher. Sounds legit to me.

Why do we learn?

We have talked a lot about the how of learning. Now lets discuss the why. WHY DO WE LEARN?  There are probably a lot of differing views. Some would say to realize our own ignorance, to gain an appreciation for the past, or to comprehend the scientific laws that surround us. People in the education field refer to “citizenship” as the end goal for education and learning. While these answers are all good, I assert that they fall short of giving me (and others) the motivation to learn. What I believe should motivate and guide our learning is this statement made by John Milton, an English poet and literary genius of the 17th Century:

“The end of all learning is to know God and out of that knowledge to love and imitate him.”

Well folks, I think he pinned the tail on the donkey there. I can’t add too much more to that, other than why this statement rings true to me. What would learning mean if what I learned here on earth didn’t pass with me to the next life, or if my motivations to learn were to get praise, only to undergo intense criticism by my colleagues, or if I was a scholar in family life and treated my kids like crap? Learning would mean nothing. Now if you don’t believe in God, you may say this isn’t workin for me. Fine. I respect that. Still though, your motivations have to come from something bigger than yourself to last. It could be making your grandpa proud of the life you have lived, or doing extremely hard things cause you love your kids, or following the example of a good friend or role model. And yet, I still believe each of these reasons are just branches of Milton’s ideology of learning.  So if you’re uncomfortable with imitating God and loving him as your reason to learn, call it character, citizenship or what have you. Call it something.

I’ve gone way over time but want to say with one last thing. Many of you have probably saw Les Miserables over the Christmas break. Maybe you, like me, felt the power of its story line, and the ringing call for injustice to be made just by acts of mercy. In the book’s preface, Hugo reveals his motive for writing the book. It is beautiful and compelling:

“So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age — the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night — are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless.”

In other words Hugo is saying that as long as earth still has pieces of hell in it, as long as human suffering exists, and as long as corrupt people and government get their way, stories like this one have to be important. Is Hugo imitating and showing love for God? Absolutely.