I love the old story about a 21-year-old who is hired by a hardware store. He shows up for his first day of work at 8 AM sharp. His new boss welcomes him, and then hands him a broom. “First, sweep out the store. Then, I’ll show you where the window cleaning equipment is.”
“Sir,” the young man protests vehemently, “You can’t be serious. I’m a college graduate.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” says the manager, pointing to the broom. “No problem. I can show you how that thing works.”
Having more than once been a graduate myself, and also having had my share of first days on the job, I can appreciate the humor in this little story.
Of course, I am well aware that anyone who graduates from either high school or college has not gotten to that point without a significant amount of work. After all, let’s face it – for most of us, studying is hard work. Moreover, to make the grade requires not just hard work while at school; but also includes a good deal of “homework”.
So, then, work does not begin after graduation. And by the same token, learning does not end with graduation. Indeed, it has been said that one does not know what one does not know until he or she gets out of school and into the real world. For be it graduation from primary school, secondary school, or tertiary school, one must soon enough enroll in the proverbial “school of hard knocks”!
These twin matters of ever working and ever learning go hand in hand all throughout life. Let someone stop pursuing either vigorously and his or her life will shortly begin to stagnate and decline.
Thus, my prayer for our “Class of 2018” graduates (at whatever level of schooling they are just now concluding) is that they will appreciate this simple principle and busy themselves as a result with the twin objectives of ever learning and ever working.
Perhaps this is at least part of what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he told the Christians at Philippi, (in the New Testament Letter of Philippians, chapter four, verse nine): “What you have now learned from me, put into practice, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Here, we see two key words. The first is “learned”. In the original “Koine” (or “common”) Greek language of the New testament, the word used here is “emathete”, which is a derivative of “manthanó”, meaning “the learning of key facts; especially knowledge learned from experience, often with the implication of reflection”.
The second key term is “practice”. The word used here is “prássō”, meaning “the active process in performing or accomplishing a given deed”.
The first term occurs in what is called the “aorist tense, indicative mood, and active voice”; while the second occurs in the present tense, indicative mood, and active voice”. This simply means that we move from something completed in the past to something being done in the present.
Thus, the implication is that one does, one learns, and then one does yet again, hopefully going on to learn even more, and then to do even more, etc, etc... For this reason, we see clearly that the twin processes of learning and doing are inextricably linked together, as each fuels the next in turn, forever inducing the next cycle.
Ever learning, ever doing – a wonderful way to get through a day at school, to get through a day at work, and above all, to get through the precious and fleeting days of our lives!
JOKE SOURCE: http://www.funny-jokes-quotes-sayings.com/graduation-jokes.html.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/text/philippians/4-9.htm.
“Sir,” the young man protests vehemently, “You can’t be serious. I’m a college graduate.” “Oh, I’m sorry,” says the manager, pointing to the broom. “No problem. I can show you how that thing works.”
Having more than once been a graduate myself, and also having had my share of first days on the job, I can appreciate the humor in this little story.
Of course, I am well aware that anyone who graduates from either high school or college has not gotten to that point without a significant amount of work. After all, let’s face it – for most of us, studying is hard work. Moreover, to make the grade requires not just hard work while at school; but also includes a good deal of “homework”.
So, then, work does not begin after graduation. And by the same token, learning does not end with graduation. Indeed, it has been said that one does not know what one does not know until he or she gets out of school and into the real world. For be it graduation from primary school, secondary school, or tertiary school, one must soon enough enroll in the proverbial “school of hard knocks”!
These twin matters of ever working and ever learning go hand in hand all throughout life. Let someone stop pursuing either vigorously and his or her life will shortly begin to stagnate and decline.
Thus, my prayer for our “Class of 2018” graduates (at whatever level of schooling they are just now concluding) is that they will appreciate this simple principle and busy themselves as a result with the twin objectives of ever learning and ever working.
Perhaps this is at least part of what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he told the Christians at Philippi, (in the New Testament Letter of Philippians, chapter four, verse nine): “What you have now learned from me, put into practice, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Here, we see two key words. The first is “learned”. In the original “Koine” (or “common”) Greek language of the New testament, the word used here is “emathete”, which is a derivative of “manthanó”, meaning “the learning of key facts; especially knowledge learned from experience, often with the implication of reflection”.
The second key term is “practice”. The word used here is “prássō”, meaning “the active process in performing or accomplishing a given deed”.
The first term occurs in what is called the “aorist tense, indicative mood, and active voice”; while the second occurs in the present tense, indicative mood, and active voice”. This simply means that we move from something completed in the past to something being done in the present.
Thus, the implication is that one does, one learns, and then one does yet again, hopefully going on to learn even more, and then to do even more, etc, etc... For this reason, we see clearly that the twin processes of learning and doing are inextricably linked together, as each fuels the next in turn, forever inducing the next cycle.
Ever learning, ever doing – a wonderful way to get through a day at school, to get through a day at work, and above all, to get through the precious and fleeting days of our lives!
JOKE SOURCE: http://www.funny-jokes-quotes-sayings.com/graduation-jokes.html.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE: http://biblehub.com/text/philippians/4-9.htm.