Today is the national holiday in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I thought I would share the daily reflection post that I wrote for this day:
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” ~ Aristotle
I am sure that we have all met the people who are extremely intelligent yet have not one ounce of empathy. Missing the point that I was trying to make, I would probably be called out on that opening statement by being told that “empathy” cannot be measured in ounces. There’s nothing wrong with being intelligent. Nothing wrong at all. However, if we do not view the world from our heart as well as our head, there will be problems.
That has always been one of the reasons that I support Catholic education. Our students come to our schools to learn. Yet, their education is more than book smarts. Their education is one of morals and values, of right and wrong, of should not and should. When minds and hearts are being educated together, I believe those students have a leg up on the world.
Today, our country observes a holiday dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a civil rights advocate and the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Probably most remembered for his “I have a dream” speech, he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
King did the best he could do to educate the mind and the heart. He discovered it was not always an easy task but he persisted at it. There were those who didn’t want to hear what he had to say and still others who did not care about the plight of others. Their minds and their hearts were at opposite ends.
People are valuable. People are dear. People are God’s gift to us. We need to cherish all people, to lift up all people, and to do our best to make sure all people have the same chances to excel and prosper.