Zhengzhou, May 24. Diary, I had lunch with that same student I mentioned before. We kind of hit it off. Anyway, in the course of our conversation about teaching during which I told her about my educational philosophy and how I teach, she asked me if I was a spiritualist. "You sound so much like a Daoist or a Zen Buddhist." I answered with a "yes, I'm a spirituality, but only partially. I'm also a a rationalist, that is, an intellectual, and a social person." Her face twisted with confusion. She then asked when and where I was each of them. I answered calmly and quickly, " I'm all of them, all the time, everywhere, in all things." She continued with her quizzical gaze. Then, she said, "But you are a professor. How can you be all of them?" I softly replied, "We all are. We're all human beings."
You see, diary, as I then explained to her, in the academic world around me the focus is so much, almost solely, on intellectuality, that critical thinking and scholarly research and publication stuff. Nothing wrong with that, but it's a flattened image of what we really do and who we really are that ignores the three dimensional nature of our lives. Most academics argue that spirituality, which they often solely associate with religion, has no place in the academic workplace. They so often think we come to work only with our minds and leave our hearts and souls at the edge of the campus, that thinking is a higher order than feeling or perceiving. So, these reseachers or wannabe researchers often tend to ignore the findings of recent neuro-scientific research, consciously waving aside with a "it's not my job" or "I don't have the time" such things as virtue, community, uniqueness, inclusiveness, kindness, hope, belief, fear, love, respect, creativity, imagination, attentiveness, otherness, awareness, fulfillment, empathy, sympathy, courage, trust, integrity, meaning, significance, purpose, vision, and transformation.
And so, it helps define the priorities and clarify visions, and has a virture of its own. The moral measure of those actions is how the students most in need are noticed, helped to be heard, have their needs honored, and are served. In reality, spirituality is an essential understanding that of our total way of living; it is a vital awareness that pervades all aspects of our lives. Heart-sets and soul-sets are as important as mind-sets. They all matter! They aren't divorced from each other. They come in a set! They're can't be broken up. They're all intertwined, influencing and being influenced by each other. I'll just say for now that they all have a "real world" practical consequence. Diary, didn't someone say "A house divided cannot stand?" Well, I say a person divided cannot fully function as a human being, and strive to become who she or he is capable of becoming.
Make it a good day
-Louis-
Louis Schmier http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
Department of History http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta State University
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