Day 18 Bird's-eye-view

"Nogeeshik," Andrew Wyeth, 1972

“…for our faith in the divine and the human keeps pace with our knowledge. For this reason it behooves us teachers to get a bird's eye view of the human nature which is present in every child.”
 
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“…because ever since the Greek youth hung about their masters in the walks of the Academy there have been teachers who have undermined the stability of the boys to whom they devoted themselves. Were his countrymen entirely wrong about Socrates? A tendency to this manner of betrayal (having too much influence upon one’s students?) is the infirmity of noble minds, of those who have the most to give; and for this reason, again, it is important that we should have before us a bird's eye view, let us call it, of human nature.” 

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“Wisdom isn’t knowing about physics or geography. Wisdom is the ability to see deeply into who people are and how they should move in the complex situations of life. That’s the great gift Illuminators share with those around them.”
 
                                                   ~ David Brooks
 
 
Examen:  Teaching that will not harm a child requires my specialization in human nature.  How am I to gain this knowledge according to Mason? Am I committed to the intentional study of Mansoul and “the way of the will?”  What is one step I can take?

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 ...for our faith: Charlotte M. Mason, Towards a Philosophy of Education, 6:47.
...because ever since: 6:49.
Wisdom isn’t knowing: David Brooks, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen (New York: Random House, 2023), 248.

​Day 18 Bird's-eye-view meditation/100 Days copyright Laurie Bestvater 2025

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