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Purely Dominica

Purely Dominica


Editor’s note:This article was written by Fr.Clement S.Jolly, C.S.s.R, and published in the June 27th,2008 issue of Chronicle Newspaper.

It is right to suppose that the goal of all institutions of learning is the educated person. It is noteworthy, however, that these institutions do not define the relationship between their students and the highway of human life.

Proficiency in particular disciplines is sought. But what is the object of all this? What is the meaning of education?

Is the acquisition of knowledge an end in itself, or, rather, a springboard to greater things?

Education should inculcate self-discipline in students, give them a reverence for life in all its forms, instill in them a reverence for life in all its forms, instill in them a desire for harmonious relationships and the quest for beauty. It should be considered as an embarkation on the human journey and an initiation into the mystery of human life.

An educated man is not merely one who has amassed a wealth of knowledge. He is not merely a man who can count the heavenly bodies and name the stars. He is not merely a man who has earned the ability to earn a living or become prosperous, Rather, an educated man is one who can use his learning to understand himself and the world in which he lives. He is a man who has learnt to measure well his acquired knowledge and realise that there is much that is still to be learnt. He is continuously involved in the quest for knowledge.

An educated man is one who has learnt to order well his human activities and use his skills to build up himself and his fellow-men. His knowledge gives him a sense of direction, a purpose on his journey through life. He recognises that there is a Superior Being. He knows that there are values in life which transcend his immediate satisfaction and call him to move into areas which lift up his spirit and serve to build him up as a man among men.

An educated man does not turn his back on his lowly past. Rather, he reflects on his past and measures well the long journey which, by God’s grace, he has undertaken. He does not scorn the rest of mortals. Rather, he endeavours to draw them up with himself to higher heights. He recognises that his chief responsibility here on earth is to bear up, to work for, to promote the welfare of, his fellow-men.

For too many, education is merely a passport for selfish living, for an elite social life, for lauding it over the lesser mortals. The educated man is not one who exalts himself and indulges in vainglory. Rather, he is one who has built himself within. He recognises there is a world within which far transcends his exterior posture and social condition. He has a deep secret which no one knows, for it transcends the stars!

An educated man is a thinking man. He realises that the mind is very elastic and can lead him into regions far beyond what he has learnt. He recognises that there is a whole universe of ideas waiting to be tapped, challenging him and urging him on to greater heights. Indeed,as one historian put it, “There arc things greater than men, namely, great ideas.”

An educated man is one who has learnt to love the land that gave him birth Indeed, throughout his:, life he will be defined by his roots. He has learnt to love his people of all social conditions. He continues, throughout his journey to share their fortunes. He does not use his country to build up himself and prove to the world that he is better than the rest of men. Rather, he’s always asking himself: “What service shall I render?”

Learning should be the stepping-stone to wisdom. However, Modern educational systems apparently do not seek to inculcate wisdom into students. Wisdom remains a private affair, something which has no roots, no solid foundation, but is subject to the whims and fancies of everyone. Perhaps it is this which is the cause of gross contradictions in the lives of many men and women of this age.

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Editor’s Note: Women – Can’t live with them, can’t live without them. There’s something irresistibly-ish about them. Sometimes you just can understand what is it they really want. Well, here’s the latest thing I learned about some women that just has me nodding my head at the monitor as I read this article, so will you.

Ask for what you want ladies – By Javier

A while back a friend of mine was having issues with his girlfriend, and because I know the both of them so well I was able to size up the situation and figure out what the problem was. My friend’s girlfriend is one of those independent types, very goal-oriented and has her life planned out years in advance. My friend, however, is one of those day-by-day types, who just lets life unfold (see people opposites do attract).

Anyway, in my estimation, what happened was that she was becoming increasingly annoyed at his approach to life, she seemed to want him to start showing some of those signs of maturity, like talking about owning a house or career advancement etc. Fresh out of college and in his job for less than a year, those things are the last thing on my friend’s mind. Obviously they were both on a collision course.

My gripe has nothing to do with the collision course or even her not-wanting to understand my friend’s take on life, but really with how his girlfriend acted in the run up to it.

Being the independent type, my friend’s girlfriend has made it clear on many occasions that she can’t really see herself not being in control of her life or even being in the position where she has to depend too much on my friend. Yet for some reason she would on occasions go into this kind of blonde routine where she seems to want to be told what to do and led around like a little kid.

To me it came across as her wanting him to acknowledge her independence while at the same time wanting the security of knowing that she can depend on him if she needs to. She wanted, I think, the security of knowing that he could be “the man“.

The frequency with which she would do this suggested that she wasn’t testing him (as women are known to do) but doing it subconsciously. So to us she would come off like a crazy person during times like these.

I know emotions can make us do weird things, but I thought the whole thing was just awkward. It showed the crazy ways women respond when they are afraid to ask for what they want. Rather than just talk to my friend to get the kind of assurance she needed she let her personality change completely into this thing that none of us could stand.

I guess the moral of the story, ladies, is ask for what you want. That way you can avoid bringing out your crazy alter ego, and making your boyfriend consider dumping you because he thinks you’re crazy. Did I mention he will think you’re crazy, cause I just want to stress that.

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Nearly everyone of us knows someone who always seems to be Angry at everything (the world)? You might just know someone but just never really took time out to observe this persons behavioral pattern. While growing up as a young boy, I realized that my mom – a single parent at the time, would get angry every time she would come back from work. She would begin to go on-and-on, complain about every single thing, and eventually became apart of her life. It became to the point that if she wasn’t angry at someone or something she wouldn’t feel right about herself.

Sometimes when we feel anger, it is coming from a deep place that demands response and expression. However, anger can also become a habit, our go-to emotion whenever things go wrong. If you look at today’s society, more and more we are seeing habitual anger manifesting itself in people’s emotions. Often this is because, for whatever reason, we feel more comfortable expressing anger than we do other emotions, like sadness. It can also be that getting angry gives us the impression that we’ve done something about our problem. In these cases, our habitual anger is holding back both our ability to express our other emotions and to take action in our lives.

If it’s true that anger is functioning this way in your life, the first thing you might want to try is to notice when you get angry. For example, you could notice that it is always your first response or that it comes up a lot in one particular situation. If the pattern doesn’t become clear right away, you could try keeping a journal about when you get angry and see if you can find any underlying meaning.

One of good things about keeping a journal is that you can explore your anger more deeply in it—from examining who in your family of origin expressed a lot of anger to how you feel when you encounter anger in others. This kind of awareness can very well be the medium to your transformation.

Anger can be a powerful partner, since it is filled with energy that we can control and use to create change in the world. Anger is one of the most energizing emotions, and it can also be a very effective cleanser of the emotional system. However, when it becomes a habit, it actually loses its power to transform and becomes an obstacle to growth. Identifying the role anger plays in your life and restoring it to its proper function can bring new energy to your emotional life.

What role is anger playing in your life?

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