The Unwanted Trait

G.K. Chesterton wrote that teaching a child involves "disruption and a kind of educational violence."

Chesterton goes on to state that "education is violent; because it is creative. It is creative because it is human. It is as reckless as playing on the fiddle; as dogmatic as drawing a picture; as brutal as building a house. In short, it is what all human action is; it is interference with life and growth."

I believe Chesterton is right; education is violent because it directly involves the correlation of growth and life. This violence is the entry point into the educational process; there is no other door. Our problem in the west is that we do not want education to bear this trait, yet if this trait is not present there is no hope to reach the summit and take in the beautiful view.

At Westminster we believe in the process as much as the product. In order to provide our students with the best possible education, we must make sure that our students first understand that education is hard work. We all remember that first plight of hard work that produced results. Our job as educators is to foster vigor, diligence, and pride in the ability to work hard. The world is a pragmatic place that expects results, and in most instances, those results are only achieved through hard work.

But there is another reason, and James give us that reason in James 3:6-15. There he implores us to "withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly" and to "not grow weary in doing good." As Christians, our students need to understand that hard work is part of their calling and that calling is not of this world.

I leave you with this awesome quote by G.K. Chesterton and invite you to dwell on it for a moment and consider the implications for your situation.

"Dead things flow with the current; only living things swim upstream."