From My Perspective - - -

The ideal Pedagogical situation is when there is effective result in terms of what one is to Know, Think and Do. For too many, a Dutch Proverb is an apt summary of life: “We get too soon old, and too late smart.” Life is lived at such a rapid pace! The tendency is to race from one event or activity to another. Schedules are jammed with things that must be done and places where one must go. Learning is being based on experiences and activities rather than a study of history and reflection upon it. The idea that “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it” is foreign and distant with each generation. Could that be why a nation would forget its foundational principles and remove itself to a pathway of enslavement, poverty, loss of values, and ultimate oblivion. All indicators are that we may “…get too soon old and too late smart.”

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel addressed the United Nations in September 2009, he made frequent reference to Sir Winston Churchill, The references pertain to events leading up to World War II and a prevailing apathy and isolation in Great Britain. Some of what he included was: “When the situation was manageable it was neglected, and now that it is thoroughly out of hand we apply too late the remedies which then might have effected a cure. There is nothing new in the story. It is as old as the sibylline books. It falls into that long, dismal catalog of the fruitlessness of experience and the confirmed unteachability of mankind. Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong - these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history…”

Netanyahu summarized: What an utterly condemning statement! We haven’t learned from history—even recent history of Churchill and World War II.  If mankind is unteachable, it’s not just ignorance. It’s refusing to face the truth. Man just naturally hates and rebels against authority. Human nature is the first enemy that we must conquer. Then we can be taught.” His summary continued with Churchill comments interjected: “There was still a possibility…of preserving peace. ‘Never must we despair…never must we give in, but we must face facts and draw true conclusions from them.’ It was now essential for Britain to retrieve ‘the woeful miscalculations of which we are at present the dupes, and of which, unless we take warning in time, we may some day be the victims’…Can America and Britain face facts today and draw true conclusions from them? The very survival of our nations depends on it. And time is once again a very urgent factor. Churchill reiterated his worries…when he wrote to Colonel Pakenham-Walsh: ‘I am astounded at the indifference with which the press and public seem to view the fact that the government has been utterly wrong about the German air strength, and that we are now substantially outnumbered and must continue to fall further and further behind for at least two years, in fact we can never catch up unless they wish it…”

For individuals and nations, the words of Proverbs 21:1-11 are appropriate and applicable: “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice…The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty. A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare. The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is right. The way of the guilty is devious, but the conduct of the innocent is upright…when a wise man is instructed, he gets knowledge.” A similar summary is given in Proverbs 26:5, 12,  "answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes…Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him…” This blends in with Proverbs 21:20-24 (NLT), “The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.Whoever pursues godliness and unfailing love will find life, godliness, and honor. The wise conquer the city of the strong and level the fortress in which they trust… Mockers are proud and haughty; they act with boundless arrogance.” There is a brief moment for our nation to Return To The Lord! We are very close to the precipice! Don’t be among those who – when falling over the precipice - lament: “we get too soon old and too late smart!”   Consider these things with me!