the life of Jesus and the outline of his teachings; they must
also find themselves lost in admiration of the matchless qualities of
his great personality.
And so also with music, art, architecture, with the fine in human life
and conduct, or with great and noble deeds. Inherent in them all are
spiritual stimulus and food for the young life, manna upon which the
growing soul should feed. But here again the law holds: in order to
assimilate them to his life the child _must appreciate, enjoy, admire_.
To bring this about is one part of our task as teacher.
Worthy loyalties and devotions.--Every worthy character must have in
it a certain power of resistance, a quality that makes it able to
withstand hardship for the sake of an ideal or a cause. It is easy
enough to be heroic when it costs nothing of effort or sacrifice. There
is no trouble in securing supporters for a cause that is popular, or
workers when the work called for is interesting and attractive. We are
all willing to stand for the right if to stand is agreeable and
exhilarating, and does not bring us too much of unpleasantness, pain, or
suffering.
But life at its best and noblest does involve some hardship. Much that
is best in human experience has come to us through hardship, toil, and
suffering cheerfully endured by heroic souls who counted their own lives
as naught so that the cause to which they gave themselves might win. The
comforts, freedom, and opportunities we enjoy some one paid for, bought
with endless effort and sacrifice. Our very religion, the symbol of
life, gladness, and salvation, has as its background tragedy, suffering,
death, the cross.
The quality that makes us willing to endure and resist for the sake of a
cause or an ideal we call _loyalty_. The high value set upon it is seen
in the fact that loyalty is the first test of citizenship required; it
is a quality admired and praised among all peoples in all relations of
life; it is the quality we demand and prize in our friends and
associates. On the other hand, disloyalty to country, friends, or trust
is universally looked upon as despicable, and punished with contempt,
scorn, and hatred.
The appeal to the heroic.--One of the ends of religious teaching is to
cultivate in our youth the spirit of loyalty to worthy ideals and
causes. Loyalty rests on a stratum of heroism, which is to be found
deep down in every normal human being. We must stimulate and appeal to
the heroic in the child'
|