The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.
–CS Lewis, The Abolition of Man
CS Lewis Daily… comes to me via email…
The quote today has me thinking about the teaching I do…
Adults… second graders… teens… all different levels of interest and maturity… when it comes to faith…
And I think about what Lewis said… and the two distinct models exemplified in a single sentence…
Cutting down jungles… is an entirely different endeavor… than irrigating deserts…
One implies clearing out… in order to make way for something new to be planted…
The other… suggests a barren landscape… in need of water… living water… for what is planted to grow…
From a teaching perspective… I hear the need to water… more than tear down…
Spend time irrigating… rather than clearing out…
irrigate… to refresh as if by watering…
–Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th Ed.)
Take an approach to teaching… remembering He’s the Gardner who prunes and clears up misunderstandings…
My role is to let the Spirit of Truth and His love… flow through me… out into the landscape of the heart…
I have no doubt… at times… I’ve been guilty of taking a machete approach…
So perhaps… that’s why his words… give me reason… to pause…
“…Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” –Jesus
John 7:38 ESV
[Feature Image Photo by Michael Bourgault on Unsplash]
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