On Point
Click the title above to check out our new website. Why Know is no mo', our new name is On Point. Not bad (smile).
Last night, we held our annual banquet here at the Chattanooga Trade Center, with this year's speaker, Dr. Benjamin Carson. Dr. Carson did a wonderful job--he communicated much wisdom learned both from his childhood struggles and from more modern trials in the operating room. A very nice man, he.
While he shared much I could reflect upon (and probably will), I was musing over one tidbit just now: Dr. Carson's mother, in case you do not know, decided to kill their TV and require her two sons to read books (2 per week) and write reports on each book. Little Ben hated this at first (he joked last night that he and his brother called it "child abuse"), but within a few months he loved reading. And he said his morale was boosted greatly as he began to earn things that none of his classmates knew. He said he realised this impact from his reading, even as a young boy.
I loved to hear the simplicity of that, that kind of honest pride in knowing things. While it can lead to gross pride, the simple desire to learn and know more can be simple, pure, and sweet--it's something we are made to do (John 10:10). But I think about our culture today, with its countless media sources and outlets from televisions to theaters to cell phones and computers, and I wonder if we haven't grown into a culture where young people don't care about knowing more (or even just other) things than the next person--to them, it's more important to know exactly what everyone else knows. How many conversations are begun, "Hey, did you hear..." How many times I have observed young people hear the first few seconds of a popular song, and turn to look at one another for that glance of recognition: "You know this song, too? Oh, I know this song--in fact, I can sing all the words, watch this." They are content only to know the same gossip, rumors, speculations, and useless superficial knowledge that their peers possess.
But do they love learning? Do they dig deep into knowledge? Most importantly, do they know, do they press on to know the Lord? For in the light of Him, knowledge knows its limitations and is humbled. But who will show this generation how?
Last night, we held our annual banquet here at the Chattanooga Trade Center, with this year's speaker, Dr. Benjamin Carson. Dr. Carson did a wonderful job--he communicated much wisdom learned both from his childhood struggles and from more modern trials in the operating room. A very nice man, he.
While he shared much I could reflect upon (and probably will), I was musing over one tidbit just now: Dr. Carson's mother, in case you do not know, decided to kill their TV and require her two sons to read books (2 per week) and write reports on each book. Little Ben hated this at first (he joked last night that he and his brother called it "child abuse"), but within a few months he loved reading. And he said his morale was boosted greatly as he began to earn things that none of his classmates knew. He said he realised this impact from his reading, even as a young boy.
I loved to hear the simplicity of that, that kind of honest pride in knowing things. While it can lead to gross pride, the simple desire to learn and know more can be simple, pure, and sweet--it's something we are made to do (John 10:10). But I think about our culture today, with its countless media sources and outlets from televisions to theaters to cell phones and computers, and I wonder if we haven't grown into a culture where young people don't care about knowing more (or even just other) things than the next person--to them, it's more important to know exactly what everyone else knows. How many conversations are begun, "Hey, did you hear..." How many times I have observed young people hear the first few seconds of a popular song, and turn to look at one another for that glance of recognition: "You know this song, too? Oh, I know this song--in fact, I can sing all the words, watch this." They are content only to know the same gossip, rumors, speculations, and useless superficial knowledge that their peers possess.
But do they love learning? Do they dig deep into knowledge? Most importantly, do they know, do they press on to know the Lord? For in the light of Him, knowledge knows its limitations and is humbled. But who will show this generation how?
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