The Philosopher

February 24, 2013

A good friend and neighbor said he didn’t know I was a philosopher. That comment and my recent discussions took me back to Arizona State University in 1965. I was in an English class taught by an arrogant young Englishman who fancied himself as the perfect teacher. He was probably okay; the problem was that my friend Ron Penrod and I had just been discharged from the military and were not his “favorite” type of students. In short we clashed on just about everything. If we were to meet today, I am quite confident we could be good friends and enjoy experiences together. Then, it was simply a matter of one-up-man-ship.  I wrote what I considered to be a masterpiece of prose. He wrote across the front of the page, “It simply does not come off, sir”. Now, I had made a simple spelling error on the paper which he circled and returned. He quite accurately pointed out that philosophy is not spelled with a “y”, like philosophy and the fight continued.

To the great Mr. Beers, an error was to be pointed out in the most public manner; and with the error came a rejection of all that came with it. I continued in the class and completed it with a high grade, but any possible learning stopped at that moment. He had summarily rejected me as a learner and I had passed him off as a stuffed shirt with no real value. What a shame! Learning stops; labeling begins and we have forever created a chasm creating just a little more frustration, doubt, and cynicism in a world already filled to the brim with such unnecessary blather.

My mentor, Dr. Arturo DeHoyos, has shared many wonderful truths over the years. While working on curriculum for Universidad Hispana with him, he shared this vision of teaching and learning. Paraphrasing, he said that the most powerful learning experiences come from reading, observing, and synthesis. Dr. DeHoyos noted that great truths were imbedded in scripture, in contemporary writing, in the works of the great philosophers and writers who preceded us.  Overlay Dr. De Hoyos’ vision of education with that ascribed to Plato as he is said to have recommended having a student on one end of a log and a teacher on the other and we quickly see the genesis of the type of educational system we referenced last week.

Remember! Never stop learning. Today I learned a new thought about the atonement. Probably misspelled, but if the word atonement was associated with something like the words, “recon sit”, it would have meant, “to sit again with the savior”.  The thought is simply inspiring. Then, an absolutely non-scriptural thought came to mind. Is it possible that during Christ’s suffering for us during the atoning process, he was continuing his battle with the Devil? So much to learn! So little time!

God bless you as you strive to understand our relationship with God and his incomprehensible love for each of us.

Duane Jacobs, brother, uncle, dad, grandfather, cousin, and fond friend.