Transcendence

Up next in lit class was the unit on Transcendentalism. Between that topic and the teens, there yawned a wide, deep schism. I struggle with the theme myself. Quite rigorously I'd prepared by grasping points I knew must be included; those, in class I shared. They questioned “divine oversoul” but warmed to the concept of a force uniting all mankind, though self-reliance for each is kept. Believers of these concepts hold that nature’s where we realize the divine knowledge in us all-- that we are all inherently wise. They readily accepted that this wisdom comes through intuition, not formal schooling—taking a poke at the curriculum’s condition! Some said, “SO true. It’s not at school where we’re taught to be wise.” “You’re right, for wisdom can’t be TAUGHT,” I said. They eyed me with surprise! When I said Transcendentalists are optimists with strong convictions that they’ll find what they seek, kids smiled. There were no contradictions! They read that Thoreau and Emerson declared that the Establishment was ruining man’s natural purity. Then, on to Thoreau’s hut we went. He said, “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” Though amazed by his resourcefulness, kids said, “He let life pass him by!” “You really think so?” I pressed on. “He said just that about the way of life back then. I feel quite sure he'd say the same of us today.” He held that frantic busyness crowds out the opportunity for intuition to visit us, for love of nature to bloom free. This study was quite challenging. Next, our attention we would steer toward something lighter, not so deep, some limericks by Edward Lear. January 21, 2022 entered in the This or That vol 9 Poetry Contest--Transcendence Sponsor: Edward Ibeh