Not essential? I think you misunderstand the meaning of the word.
No Blauschein, sir. Stand over there. Move. Next!
What do you mean, “Not essential”? I teach history and literature. Since when it’s not essential?
— A scene from Schindler’s List
Your Labor is Not In Vain
Recently another WP blog caught my attention, because the author published a series of posts on subjects (tags) I’ve been following, such as Descartes, and Dostoevsky. His latest post titled “Wasting Time” struck a chord, as I happened to be wondering the same thing in the past week: whether I’m wasting time in my current job.
In his posts, the author, an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, laments the loss of values and death of culture in the Western World. I expressed similar sentiments on this blog, when reflecting on Stefan Zweig’s works Invisible Collection and The World of Yesterday. There seem to be striking similarities between the spirt of our time and that of the time of the Nazis.
As an armchair Platonist, however, I tend to think that values, such as Goodness, Truth and Beauty, are objective, i.e. independent of human opinion, and they don’t live or die with the spirit of the time. The Sun still arises, even if we turn our back on it, but we cannot survive without the Sun. So it is with values.
If we labor in the pursuit of true values, our labor is never in vain. For even if no one else benefits from our labor, there is still at least one beneficiary: we ourselves. Conversely, if we labor in the pursuit of false values, we’ll bring harm to all the people around us, and suffer the most harm ourselves, as direct victims. As it is written in the Talmud, “Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.”
Teaching and Transcendence
The teachers I remember the most and am most grateful to, are those who have enabled me to perceive the beauty and wonder in the subjects of their study. For example, I still vividly remember, when a college professor explained to us how the basic idea underlying computer network protocols can be traced all the way back to Julius Caesar. It was the beginning of my abiding interests in both computer science and Greco-Roman classics.
A good teacher is a rigorous thinker and infectious communicator, with the ability to explain complex concepts in ways that are clear and coherent. A great teacher not only communicates ideas, but also communicates what cannot be expressed in words, so that through them, their students can catch a glimpse of, and be inspired to pursue, the Transcendent. In this sense, Plato and Augustine are great teachers. It is through their writings that I perceive the reality of things unseen, and am inspired to persevere and pursue with confidence that which is Good, True and Beautiful.
From a Christian perspective, Jesus is the ultimate Teacher, because not only does He communicate the Truth, i.e., the knowledge of God, Who is Good, True and Beautiful, but also He is the Truth. As man, he speaks the language of man and teaches in ways that even a child can understand; as God, he transcends human language and knowledge. As God-man, he joins and reconciles man to God in Himself, being the Way, the Ladder that bridges Heaven and Earth. He forever inspires, enables and guides those who believe in Him to press on, to rise above themselves, in their pursuit of the Truth. In Him alone dwells the full knowledge of God, for no one can have full knowledge of God but God, and no one can receive such knowledge but man.
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