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Random Thoughts
The teacher’s day does not begin
at nine o’clock, neither does it close at four. His time is not
his own. Should he not spend sufficient time on his work to be always
in advance of his classes he can expect nothing but failure, for
there can be no school without the previous conception of some idea
to be realized.
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The true teacher exerts every possible
influence upon the minds and hearts of those under his charge that
will tend to develop in them the stern principles of manhood and
womanhood, without which life, in its truest sense, is an utter
failure. He must ever bear in mind that example is more than precept,
and that it speaks much louder.
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The teacher must be aggressive.
His knowledge, influence, and power, always on the side of right,
morality and Christianity if he be a true teacher, are ever needed
in the community, which never becomes so noble and pure, but that
it can be made nobler and purer.
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The highest state of morality is
dependent, in large measure, upon intelligence. Every study in the
school curriculum contributes its mite [sic] to the development
of moral character. From the lowest to the highest there is a constant
influx of moral sentiment, yet some studies furnish more than others.
The stories of “Damon and Pythias,” “Snowbound,” “Excelsior,” and
a host of others, exert an influence upon the children that will
last for time and for eternity. They bring the soul into direct
contact with the spiritual universe, and draw it farther and farther
from things that are earthly, nearer and nearer to things that are
Godly.
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It is the spirit of inquiry into
the cause and action of phenomena that moves the world. Deaden the
voice of honest research and the retrogression of humanity is inevitable.
The gaining of thought power—power to see and express—is the primary
idea of a true education.
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The commission of the heinous crime,
which removed President McKinley from the land of the living, has
a peculiar significance to all laborers in the cause of education.
It impresses upon us, very forcefully, the necessity of training
for intelligent, patriotic, Christian citizenship. Are the public
schools doing all within their power to produce loyal, patriotic
citizens? This is a question of supreme importance. [197][198]
Love for our government, which makes it possible for us to enjoy
the blessings and privileges of to-day, should be taught the child
upon the mother’s knee. It should be cultivated persistently through
the whole school course. It should pervade all fields of life. Youth
should early be enthused with the highest possible conception of
patriotism.
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If there is that implanted within
our borders, which would, by force or otherwise, undermine and destroy
the government of these states, it is the duty of the American people
to rise up in the dignity of their manhood and womanhood and, asserting
the rights of Eternal Providence, banish it from our shores forever.
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Patriotism means—not necessarily
the stirring bugle’s blast, the screaming of the fife and the beating
of the drum; the tramp, tramp, tramp of armies; the glitter of brass,
the clashing of steel on steel, the rasping of iron on iron; the
thundering of cannon and the flash of artillery—no, not these alone;
patriotism means unflinching loyalty to the stern principles of
manhood; it means unwavering devotion to the advancement of high
ideals; it means unfaltering integrity in the discharge of all of
life’s duties; it means a life consecrated to the establishment
of right principles and doctrines in government; it means a life
pledged to eradicate the evils of society, to keep the government
and its offices free from corrupt men and corrupt practices.
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