Church School Department: The Spirit of Church Education

Church School Department

The Spirit of Church Education

BY JOHN JOHNSON

It is marvelous to me when I contemplate the educational am- bitions of the Latter-day Saints. Surely they demonstrate in their lives a firm belief in their doctrine that "The Glory of God is Intelligence." How my heart swells with pride when I think of our great institutions of learning ! Not great in the magnificence of their buildings, not rich in the grandeur of their surroundings, not perfect in the provision of the various modern equipments, but great and grand in the spirit of their teaching and in their power to make manhood. Think of the influence for good that can be wielded by the ten thousand students of our Church schools ! Con- template the power of the living example of the many men and women who are directly and indirectly engaged as teachers of the youth in our academies, colleges, and universities, where the pure principles of truth are taught in all the subjects of the curriculum ! They are men and women who testify their sincerity not by their great volume of pretentious speech, but by the righteousness of their every-day lives. They are teachers who pray for the progress of their students, and plead for strength of character. Example rather than precept is the keynote of their teaching. The use of tobacco and strong drink does not make their bodies unfit for the abode of God's Spirit, which dwells only in clean tabernacles. These examples of pure living on the part of those who teach cannot but have a wholesome and inspiring influence upon the lives of those who are taught.

Education does not stand today for what it used to mean. It was once believed that true learning consisted in the accumulation of a vast store of facts — that mere knowledge-getting was the ulti- mate aim of all scholastic training. Belief in this theory is fast dying away. According to the more modern educational standard, a man's edcuation is measured not so much by what he knows as by what he can do and do well, — not so much by what he can say as by the influence for good he wields by what he says. Many so-called great educators do not inspire their students with a love for noble living ; a desire to eschew evil ; to labor unselfishly for the general uplift of humanity ; to build for themselves an endur- ing character, to live for the good they can do.

"We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; in feelings, not in figures on a deal. We should count time by heart- beats. He lives most who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the

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best. He whose heart beats quickest lives the longest, lives in one hour more than in years do some."

It has been my privilege during the past three months while traveling through the islands of New Zealand to meet a number of leading educators of the colony, and to exchange thoughts with them on prevailing systems of education. A number of them have manifested a kindly interest in the attempts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to educate the Maoris. I have taken a humble pride in comparing our educational spirit with theirs, and it is my judgment that we have not suffered by the comparison.

The eyes of many people are upon our college. They are watching anxiously for the outcome. Some are liberal enough to hope that the school will succeed in the accomplishment of its mission, while others are doubtless praying that it maybe a failure. I am thinking now of President Smith's parting words to me, in which he said :

"Brother Johnson, go to New Zealand and teach a good school. Take into it the same spirit that prevails in our schools at home. You cannot hope to compete with the large colleges in the number and size of buildings, in strength of furnishings and equipment, nor in the number of professors, but you can make up for all of these by the presence and power of the Spirit of God. Do not depend upon large appropriations of money, but look to God for guidance in all that you undertake to do."

These words of wisdom are sounding constantly in my ears. We note with very great pleasure that there is a movement on foot to make provision for the better management and the strengthening of our Island Mission schools, by furnishing teach- ers who have had specific training for the work of teaching.

MAORI AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. HASTINGS, NEW ZEALAND, JANUARY 25, 1913.

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Photo by Leland B. Anderson A PIONEER BOX ELDER TREE, ON NINTH EAST ST., SALT LAKE CITY