Once upon a time it was considered an education if pupils left school with a working knowledge of the three Rs. They were Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. From these basic beginnings they were supposed to find work or follow their father into his employment of mainly manual work. Skills were acquired as they went along. Girls learned from their mothers. As the Industrial Revolution came into the northern and middle England, so more machinery was developed and the care of it was put in the hands of engineers, so more varied work was available. The mill owners grew extremely rich and had big houses built. They employ a staff of servants both inside the house and outside in the grounds. There was a huge gulf between the rich owners and the rest of the people and so it went on until men were needed to fight in the first World War and women took their jobs.
University education was largely available to those who could afford to pay for their sons education. However intelligent women were expected to marry well and produce a family line of heirs and not to have any academic ambitions. Later people were able to acquire scholarships, but that was for the intelligent few. It was not until 1996 that the Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair made his speech about education, education, education. He pledged a greater spending on education and made a university education available to everybody who was able to take it up with grants to the appropriate sources according to their choice of subject. All women were allowed to apply and study. The days of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic as being the basis for a lifetime education were well and truly over.
The complexity of studies are now a major part of everyday life and with the internet being developed knowledge is open to everybody. The history of the Internet has its origin in the efforts to build and interconnect computer networks that arose from research and development in the United States and involved international collaboration, particularly with researchers in the United Kingdom and France. The internet is available to all for free around the world except in some controlling countries where its use is limited. News and opinions are available within seconds and social media play a vital part in global communications. Computers and digital telephones mean that everything is within instant reach and people expect action immediately.
There is little time for souls of any age to link in with their spiritual requirements. A life of constant hustle and bustle leaves no time for complete peace within the soul and the understanding of spiritual truth. Much thought needs to be given to the communications that come from within. Man’s mechanical world is always without spirituality and that is the earthly consequences of a digital life tied to the computer or cellphone. Many people do not seem to be able to live without their cellphones and they even take them to the meal table and to bed with them when they are asleep. What chance has the Spirit to converse with them to guide their lives as the Creator intended? We must all be available to that direction and carry out the instructions from those who love us from the Spirit World and who wish us well.
Tuesday, 11th May 2021
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