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Thoroughness in Preparation for Our Work

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 6, 1906

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 83, No. 36.

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Thoroughness in Preparation for Our Work

THOROUGHNESS in school work lays the foundation for an after-life of usefulness. It is what the student does for himself under the inspiration of his teachers that educates him, not what others do for him. Paul wrote to Timothy: “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ;” and again, “Study to show thyself approved unto God.” Hard mental work carried on in a right spirit still has the divine approval. Our schools should not only equal, but surpass, the best schools of the world in the amount of thorough intellectual work required of students in order to take a degree or finish any definite course of study. Intellectual laziness, although far more frequently met with than physical laziness, is a sin which we can not afford to excuse or condone. The curse of God is upon the “wicked and slothful servant;” his blessing is upon the diligent. The wise man’s advice is: “Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go; keep her, for she is thy life;” and, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”
Thoroughness of preparation involves a certain amount of specialization. Paul’s advice to a certain young minister was: “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.” So also the teacher is well advised to make himself master of his subject. When possible, he should spend a part of his summer vacation in taking advanced work, with a view to keeping abreast of all that is latest and best in his department of knowledge. Thus he will be able to bring fresh light to bear upon the subjects he teaches, and to inspire in his pupils a greater desire for hard study. The attending of teachers’ conventions and similar educational gatherings is also helpful in the same direction.
Specialization should not be carried to the extent of entirely neglecting practical things. An education is of little worth without push and energy, and real strength of character.
“The busy world shoves angrily aside The man who stands with arms akimbo set, Until occasion tells him what to do; And he who waits to have his task marked out Shall die and leave his errand unfulfilled. Our time is one that calls for earnest deeds.”
Intellectual progress need not cease upon leaving school. Life offers manyvaluable opportunities for self-culture, but there are few who know how to make the most of them. The most important thing is to be aspiring continually toward a higher and better life, physically, intellectually, and spiritually; in the words of Paul: “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after.”
“Upward the soul forever turns her eyes; The next hour always shames the hour before; One beauty, at its highest, prophesies That by whose side it shall seem mean and poor.”
The well-educated man is distinguished from other men more by his intellectual humility and receptiveness toward truth, than by the number of facts he has stored in his mind. He thinks not so much of where he is as whither he is going. Hence he seeks above all to be headed the right way. Moreover, he watches his spare moments. This is the secret of continuous intellectual growth. It is one advantage of an educational institution where hard work is expected of the student, that he will learn the value of time, and ever after regard the days, months, and years that may be granted him, as his most precious possessions.