Educate Your Heart

16 Jul

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”  ~ Aristotle

I think of the years I have spent in school.  Of course, there were the beginning grade school years.  Then the four years of high school.  Then the four years of college.  Then the four years of graduate school in theology.  Then four years studying psychology.  I have had enough years in the classroom to satisfy my mind for one lifetime.  Well, at least to satisfy my mind via formal education since I still like learning new things every day and also read and study as much as I can.

However, all the book knowledge in the world will not amount to a hill of beans if we have not educated our hearts to know what is right and to do what is right. (Note to self: read up on how the motto “hill of beans” ever came into existence.)  We educate our hearts every time we help someone, every time we listen to someone, every time we hurt for someone.  Identifying with another’s pain and suffering as well as sharing their victory and joy helps the heart to be educated and better able to respond to people in their needs.

That is one of the reasons that I fully support our Catholic schools as well as parochial schools of other faiths.  In those schools, we can do more than teach book knowledge.  We can also talk about faith and values, thus educating the heart while, at the same time, educating the mind.  Children absorb lessons so easily.  The earlier we can teach our children’s minds and hearts, the more complete they will be as adults.

The world is in a crazy state at the present time.  Maybe it is because it is being led by too many people who have book smarts but have never taught their hearts, thereby making them unable to empathize with the plight and need of others.

FAITH ACTION:  Do a good work today for someone else who will not be able to repay you so that you may educate your heart in love and holiness.

[By the way, from The Free Dictionary dot Com under idioms, you can find “hill of beans”: The underlying idea is that beans are so common that even a hill of them isn’t worth very much, if anything at all. The Yiddish word for “beans is “bupkes,” which has been adopted into American English to mean “absolutely nothing.”  There’s your free education for the day.]