Once again, the Cardinals won last Saturday, sweeping the Padres to advance to the National League Championship Series. The expression "They're on a roll" was invented for times like these. What a team!
The Astros will probably put up a fight for the N.L. championship. But I think the Redbirds have the clear advantage. If so, the question is all about who St. Louis will be playing in the World Series. Provided the Cardinals bother to show up for this one, I'd thoroughly enjoy watching them take down the Yankees. But then, the Yankees haven't made it to the ALCS yet. We'll see what happens tonight. Stay tuned.
- - - - - -
"The essence of pleasure does not lie in the thing enjoyed, but in our attitude to it. The person who rejoices in simplicity will find no pleasure in riches. If the simple person asks for a glass of water, and receives the finest wine in the costliest chalice, it will not give pleasure, but pain. We shall enjoy the greatest pleasure in this life if we learn to love the simplest things."
--Soren Kierkegaard
- - - - - - -
I recently read that teachers should "emphasize understanding over memorization." The phrase consciously avoids a false dichotomy, while leaning in that direction. It made me wonder why the writer's experience and observation and conviction is so different from mine.
I'm thankful that my mother and some great teachers of mine didn't think that memorization and learning have little in common. Fact is, in so many cases I've been truly caught by those things that were repeated in my presence so often, or that I said so many times, they became a part of me and shaped me from the inside out. Those things that I can repeat, that I've sought to apprehend through the dreaded route of rote memorization, are what control my imagination as much as anything else.
I wonder, What would I do, and who would I be without . . .
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
"For God so loved the world, . . .
"The Lord is my shepherd . . .
"He who did not spare his own son, . . .
"On Zion's glorious summit stood . . .
"Love divine, all love excelling, Joy of heaven to earth come down . .
. . . And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep"
How about you? What words, what lines are a permanent part of your psyche?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I agree. Memorization is out of vogue but when you listen to the older generation, they have a grasp on things we don't because it is committed to memory. I understand some things I learned long ago. I also understand some things I thought I understood long ago.
Here are some words that ring true from my memory:
I have been crucified with Christ....
If God is for us, who can be against us?
Righty tighty, lefty loosy
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.....
Four score and ten years ago...
Thanks for making me remember those.
Steve,
I had to laugh at "righty tighty." I never heard that until a few years ago. It's a good one.
I wonder, in addition to nuts and bolts, does it refer to political persuasions and corresponding character and disposition?
Frank,
You may be on to something since there are "nuts" on both sides.
Everything has its place, but...
Who makes a better math teacher: the one who has memorized a massive multiplication table, or the one who has memorized a basic table and can explain why 9x8=72? The former person can only answer that 9x8=72 is right because 9 multiplied by 8 is 72. In order for that person to pass along information they would basically point the next person to the table they learned from - the raw data. There is no answer to the question, "why does 9 times 8 equal 72", except that is just does.
A person is challenged to grow to a new level of awareness when they must truly understand something. Memorization only gets you so far. If you take math again as an example - perhaps someone very gifted got along with multiplication for a while by just continually memorizing more and more combinations, from 1x1 to 1000x1000. What happens when they must now multiply decimal numbers, fractions, or perhaps moves on to algebra, calculus? That memorized table suddenly pales in comparison to having memorized 1x1 through 12x12 but knowing what the concept behind multiplication is.
Memorization is useful, but without understanding, it perpetuates only compilation of facts and figures without context.
On a lighter note... Hurray! The Yankees Lost!!
Post a Comment