The day after Thanksgiving, and dang it. It happened again.. There was old Lucy, in her nice blue dress. In the middle of the yard, kneeling down, holding the football, and assuring Charlie Brown that she really IS going to let him kick it.
So what does Charlie do? He runs all out, his heart fully trusting Lucy, once again, charging toward the ball. He goes to kick, and just at the last moment, she jerks that ball away. Thump. He falls right on his keister. Again.
Learning. Education. Knowing.
There is an old quote by Bram Stoker, which says, “We learn from failure, not from success!”
Another one. “Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.” ― E.M. Forster
And. “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
― Socrates
And from these three, what did Charlie Brown learn? Nothing? Or everything?
I would say…. everything. That he is smarter than the most of us. On his way to a much higher spiritual plane than I.
He keeps running at that ball, time and again, because he truly TRUSTS Lucy. He runs at that ball to kick it. To show her, that no matter what she chooses to do, HE has chosen to trust her. Again. Because she asked.
He can’t control anyone’s actions but his own.
Sure he could have chosen to walk away, and flip her the Royal Bird over his shoulder as he saunters toward the house. Or he could give her his trust. Again.
I don’t think he is being stupid.
I think he is being smart. And enlightened. And kind.
Or perhaps. I have it all wrong.
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“The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values.” — William Ralph Inge
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“Kids don’t remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.” ― Jim Henson
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“Change is the end result of all true learning.”
― Leo F. Buscaglia
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