Educating for Eternity

In his telecast on the Training of Children, Bishop Fulton Sheen spoke about three instincts which can be observed in children. In the first place, he says, we see in a child an instinct for eternity. For the child, time is a reality still only very remote in his consciousness. Each passing moment for the child is like an eternity. This, says Bishop Sheen, is why a child cries when his parents leave him alone―as far as he is concerned, his parents are gone “forever.” The second instinct is an instinct for the truth. A child will
believe anything he is told; he has no reason not to. He takes the truth for granted. When the father tells his little son that he is loved, the son believes him and is content. The third instinct is the instinct for love. The child is loved, we hope, by his parents from the first moments of his waking life. He is coddled and kissed, and as he grows he develops in himself a fondness for those closest to him. He does not have to be told to love his parents. He simply does, and to him it seems the most natural thing in the world to do.

Now what does any of this have to do with education, and in particular classical education? Read more