say something

i had to write a “ditty” on community for my emergent church class and as most papers do it helped to organize my thoughts about something i already knew. one of my favorite quotes is by plato who says the most effective education is that a child should play among lovely things. i had always agreed. i think aesthetics and what your child grows up seeing is very important. childredn should learn from a direct experience wiht nature, not just what someone else has told them(this is attributed to emerson) but even emerson would say in american scholar that you have to have mentors (literary and incarnate in my own personal translation) i think the most effective education is that a child should play and grow and live among lovely individuals. my friends laughed at me because, when asked what person that i didnt personally know would i will my children to in case of an accident, i said a christian rock band. i want them to be taught the eternal truths of God, but i also want them to be raised in an artistic and intellectual environment. what better place than in a communal living area of close friends who i believe to be very wise. we can encourage one another in our dreams and endeavors,a nd bear each other’s burdens. this is what i want my children to see and learn. matthew arnold says that socrates and plato and aristotle and all of the great names had such powerful wisdom because they lived amid the constant flow of thought. doesnt that sound like the best place to be?

-josephine