A Faculty Fireside – by Mr. Josh Walton
According to Augustine (and a Google search related to this) “familiaritas parit contemptum,” or familiarity breeds contempt. A depth of knowledge on a subject can make one almost disinterested or forgetful of the value of that subject. Think of it this way: You drive your children to school. You have 4 kids, your oldest is in 11th grade, and your youngest is in 2nd grade. Your familiarity with the route has led to a “contempt” for your surroundings. But it’s now a “Raggants Got Talent” evening and your husband is driving, and you have the opportunity to look out the window and see things on that same route that you either forgot about or are able to see for the first time. That old white house has a fresh coat of daisy yellow paint (which was actually done the year prior). There’s a new coffee stand (it’s been there for 3 months). And there is a new roof on the house that had a blue tarp on it since the last storm (this was actually finished yesterday, but had your husband not been driving you would not have noticed it until June). Your familiarity brought a form of contempt.
The world spins on its axis. Flowers bloom in their seasons. Pink salmon hustle up the rivers in the odd years. Your skin cells regenerate every 2-4 weeks. You drive your children to school. A honey bee’s ocelli detect the light from the sun, guide it across the river to the blooming flower, where it collects the means to make a spoonful of honey which you then place on that fresh cut on your newly generated skin to help seal and heal your dermis, scar free. But we miss all that, not because we actively hold it in contempt but because we spend life “driving by” it all.
This is the beauty of teaching and learning. Teaching at ECS is taking Psalm 19 to heart. Creation reveals the Creator. His Word revives our souls. His creation and His Word should set a fire to our curiosity. Our act of worship on Sunday is to foster curiosity in the teaching of the Scriptures. At ECS we wish to burn with wonder in all the venues given to us by God. How does ancient literature apply to the life of your 11th grader? Did Mendel’s simple experiments on pea plants also plant seeds of enthusiasm for more knowledge of DNA in the 9th and 10th graders’ minds? Did Mrs. Liden leading the kindergarteners and 1st graders through “Turkey in the Hay” grow a love of learning new songs in those children’s hearts (YES!). Who really writes those mysterious missives from the Gnomes? (It’s a Gnome, for sure).
Many years before I started teaching at ECS I came across another Latin refrain: “Qui docet discit.” “He who teaches learns.“It has always reminded me to be curious so that I can fight against the contempt of the common, continually learning, so that I may consistently be teaching well. (While using alliteration to anchor the point home so that my 5th graders will recognize it).
So, Qui docet discet,
Mr. Walton