FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79  
80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   >>   >|  
He must know what things rightly come first if he is to "put first things first;" He must have some training in recognizing the value of "pearls" if he is to see that it is a good exchange to "sell all that he has" in order to "buy the pearl of great price." This all suggests that one of the responsibilities resting upon us as teachers of religion is to guide the child in the forming of his ideals. We must help him form his notion of what is worthy and admirable in character. We must see that he develops high standards of truth, honesty, obedience, and the other moral virtues which lie at the foundation of all vital religion. We must make certain that his ideals of success and achievement include a large measure of service to his fellows. We must ground him in right personal ideals and standards of purity and clean living. We must make him feel a deep sense of responsibility for the full development and fruitful use of his own powers and abilities. In short, we must with all the wisdom and devotion we possess _bring him to accept the life of Jesus as the ideal and pattern for his own life_. Fine appreciations.--What one admires is an index to his character. More than this, the quality and tone of one's admirations finally build themselves into his nature and become a part of his very being. Life is infinitely enriched and refined by responding to the beauty, the goodness, and the gladness to be found around us. In Hawthorne's story of The Great Stone Face, the boy Ernest dwelt upon and admired the character revealed in the benignant lines of the great face outlined by the hand of the Creator on the mountainside until the fine qualities which the young boy daily idealized had grown into his own life, and Ernest himself had become the "wise man" whose coming had long been awaited by his people. It is not enough therefore to learn the _facts_ about the lives of the great men and women of the Bible or of other times. The story of their lives must be presented in such a way that _admiration_ is compelled from the learner: for only the qualities the child appreciates and admires are finally built into his own ideal. It is not enough that the child shall be taught that God created the world and all that is therein; he must also be brought to appreciate and admire the wonders and beauties of nature as an evidence of God's wisdom, power, and goodness. It is not enough that our pupils shall come to know the chief events in
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79  
80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

ideals

 

character

 

standards

 

Ernest

 

qualities

 

admires

 

wisdom

 
finally
 

goodness

 

nature


religion

 

things

 

mountainside

 

outlined

 

Creator

 

coming

 
idealized
 

Hawthorne

 

recognizing

 

pearls


events

 

gladness

 

training

 

admired

 

revealed

 

benignant

 
appreciates
 

compelled

 

learner

 

evidence


taught

 

brought

 

beauties

 

created

 

wonders

 

admiration

 

beauty

 

rightly

 
awaited
 

people


pupils
 
presented
 

admire

 
refined
 

ground

 
personal
 

purity

 

fellows

 

service

 

include