The best that most education does for our children is only what the devil did for Christ. It takes them up to the top of a high mountain and shows them all the kingdoms of this world; the kingdom of history, the kingdom of letters, the kingdom of beauty, the kingdom of science.
-Evelyn Underhill, “The Life of the Spirit and the Life of Today”

Although Underhill wrote this in 1920, it still has extreme relevance today.

To extrapolate this to our modern worldview, we are constantly being shown many things about the world (either through books, documentaries, social media feeds, online videos, etc.), but rarely are we asked to participate in it.

How can we fully appreciate and grasp an understanding of a situation without immersing ourselves?

It’s the equivalent of watching endless cooking shows without ever getting into the kitchen to try these recipes for ourselves… which many do.

It’s the same as the armchair sports fan who can whittle off every recommendation a team should make according to their analysis, but has never once stepped into the sport itself. In some cases, not even a fantasy league to test their theories.

It’s asking someone for advice and then never using it.

It’s the person who tells a magician, “I know how you did that,” and gives an explanation but can’t replicate the trick themselves.

It’s the person who is shown how to outline a book, but never writes a single word of it.

It’s showing a student where a subject can lead them, but never giving them a task relating to that end.

This is the world aiming for an idea that only produces a restless spirit. We were meant for so much more.