The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-dayUnderhill, Evelyn
Religion
The Life of the Spirit and the Life of To-day
Underhill, Evelyn
Spiritual life
In the child's dreams and fantasies, in its eager hero-worship--later,
in the adolescent's fervid friendships or devoted loyalty to an adored
leader--we see the search of the living growing creature for more life
and love, for an enduring object of devotion. Do we always manage or
even try to give it that enduring object, in a form it can accept? Yet
the responsibility of providing such a presentation of belief as shall
evoke the spontaneous reactions of faith and love--for no compulsory
idealism ever succeeds--is definitely laid on the parent and the
teacher. It is in the enthusiastic imitation of a beloved leader that
the child or adolescent learns best. Were the spiritual life the most
real of facts to us, did we believe in it as we variously believe in
athletics, physical science or the arts, surely we should spare no
effort to turn to its purposes these priceless qualities of youth? Were
the mind's communion with the Spirit of God generally regarded as its
natural privilege and therefore the first condition of its happiness and
health, the general method and tone of modern education would inevitably
differ considerably from that which we usually see: and if the life of
the Spirit is to come to fruition, here is one of the points at which
reformation must begin. When we look at the ordinary practice of modern
"civilized" Europe, we cannot claim that any noticeable proportion of
our young people are taught during their docile and impressionable years
the nature and discipline of their spiritual faculties, in the open and
common-sense way in which they are taught languages, science, music or
gymnastics. Yet it is surely a central duty of the educator to deepen
and enrich to the fullest extent possible his pupil's apprehension of
the universe; and must not all such apprehension move towards the
discovery of that universe as a spiritual fact?
Again, in how many schools is the period of religious and idealistic
enthusiasm which so commonly occurs in adolescence wisely used,
skilfully trained, and made the foundation of an enduring spiritual
life? Here is the period in which the relation of master and pupil is or
may be most intimate and most fruitful; and can be made to serve the
highest interests of life. Yet, no great proportion of those set apart
to teach young people seem to realize and use this privilege.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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