— CAPTAIN PICARD. SAMARITAN SNARE. 42779.1

The purpose of an education never has been, never will be, to learn the skills necessary to “get a job.” Education provides the tools by which we think, act, live.

A good one also traces our origins, searches for the elements that make us what we are. It provides a body of shared knowledge which can draw people together even when their present life experiences are different. From the history of one’s own race or planet to an overview of life as it developed throughout the universe, we begin to see ourselves as part of something larger, as meaningful components of a Whole. Our lives have context.

Which gives us more control. Because what happens next is always connected to what’s happened before. Without this perceived connection, events seem haphazard; they don’t “follow.” With it we have a better sense of what to expect—from the future, and from ourselves.

It’s the reason many adopted children want to know who their birth parents are, or were. It’s why all children long to hear stories about their own past. Again and again.

Because it explain us to ourselves. And with this as our starting point, we begin to take responsibility for our lives.

No matter where I am in my life, I affirm the value of everything that has brought me to this point… for learning, for building on, for re-inventing my Self.

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The above meditation is taken from Going Boldly on Your Inner Voyage © 1999-2004, IF Books.

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