It’s that time of year again.  Asked by Mark to write, I find myself forced to reflect on why I do what I do and clarify what exactly it is that I do.  Make sense?

I know that an unexamined life is not worth living.  I believe it was Socrates who said this.  But the context for his comment was one of condemnation.  He was a great iconoclast.  He believed it necessary to question everything.  Examine.  Ask.  Dig.

And what did it get him?  Execution.  Off with his head.  Or should I say, “Down with the drink?” Seems then, as now, the majority simply don’t like it when the minority begin to question the ways and whys of the majority.  Sometimes life can be very lonely…and risky!

But isn’t this just critical thinking, something we highly value and exalt, in disguise?  Given that it’s October here and Halloween is coming, will this be something or someone which shows up at our door?  Perhaps Socrates will be resurrected and pay our home a visit.  That would be awesome!

I believe that being Socratic of heart is actually a good thing.  People who question are people who change.  And isn’t this the whole basis for the Socratic Method of teaching?  It’s a pedagogical icon!

The other day I went to my doctor.  Nothing pressing.  Just a regular checkup.  An exam.  He must have had some sort of standard or else he is just brilliant.  How could he tell me my BMI was good?  How could he tell me my blood pressure was good?  How could he tell me I tend to like sugar and sweets?  Dirty rat.  Is he reading my email?  And get this, he actually had numbers, benchmarks, a standard to do so.  Where did they come from?  Who made them up?  How do we know whether they are accurate?

Is it because, “They said so?”  Who is the community of the ubiquitous “they?”  (Sorry, I have learned to like that word)

So, I examine.  I think.  I reflect.  I ponder.  And all because “Mark said so…”

This is the second year I have done this.  Both times I started off….crying.  What’s up with that?  I am a man, right?  I am not supposed to cry.  And why cry now?  What is going on?

An unexamined life is not worth living.  I need to examine.  I need to lift up the hood of my being and do some checking.  Looking at all the parts of my person:  heart, soul, mind, body, and relationships, I am drawn to soul.

.Writing is good for my soul.  My tears are tears of longing.  There is a drawing, a compelling, a “want to” behind all of this.  And yet it is risky, risky business.   It’s a vulnerable place to be.

I think it’s simply complex.

This is exactly what I want to see happen in every class I teach, in every heart I teach.  Maybe we all need to cry.  Maybe we all need to find that something that compels us, draws us, invites us, seems to already have our name written on it?  It’s like finding that pair of pants that fits you “perfectly” and makes you smile…

Is this what education can do in the life of a person?

Is this what education can do in the life of a community?  Wow!

Like “all” men dealing with issues of emotion, it’s time for a diversion…

Plato, in The Republic, notes that elements of instruction should be presented to the mind in childhood, but not with any compulsion.  Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion has no hold on the mind.  Therefore do not use compulsion, but let early education be rather a sort of amusement; this will better enable you to find the natural bent of the child. (emphasis mine)

I don’t teach children.  But I know that childlikeness is highly valued and cherished.  I like to think of it as the simplicity of a great thing!   So what can I learn from this man?  How can I be changed?

I don’t want to teach for compulsion.  I don’t want students to sit with me in class because, “they have to.”  I want us to sit together because we get to.  We place ourselves in the midst of a subject matter with the hope, expectation, invitation, possibility that the subject matter will come alive and influence us.  That we will be changed.

It’s kind of Socratic except that the subject matter is doing the questioning and we are the ones being questioned.  We sit under it.  It does not sit under us.  We are vulnerable because if we will listen, we are the ones who will be changed.

When this happens, the results are beautiful.  It’s like the subject reaches out and names people.  Those so named end up smiling.  Deep has called to deep.  Identity, purpose, and a sense of direction have been given.

“Janelle.” “Nora.” “Nick.”  “Riley.”

These are only some of the names I have seen given.  It’s like Disney when it works rightly.  It’s beauty to behold.  It’s magic!

I don’t want to teach under the motivation of compulsion.  Nor do I want to teach under the motivation of amusement.  I want to teach under the weight of this calling.  I want to be part of helping all people find the natural bend of their own “child.”

I dream of a world in which all people live in freedom and the fullness of their potential, and the hope filled power of education to actually pull this off.

What’s your dream?