How Would You Answer These Questions?

What advice do you have for today’s young people?  How can today’s young people sort out the avalanche of information that constantly bombards them?  If you could have a personal conversation with people like the President of the United States, a prominent political or world leader, what would you tell them?  What are the most important lessons you have learned about life?  Do you have any observations about getting along with others?

Al (75): My life experience has taught me to be suspicious, if not distrustful, of advice. It is too often given freely, but without any aid to follow it. As a teacher, I prefer to point out as many options as possible and then to encourage students to chose one to develop. Then, I proceed to give some advice:

At the top of my list is the admonition “Embrace life with outstretched open arms.”  

Next I admonish, “Think for yourself.”  I am quick to point out that this is hard work and that it can be dangerous: one had to be responsible for what he thinks.  I add that thinking for one’s self can be fun, even rewarding.

The avalanche of information confronting young people, and everyone, today is formidable. Lessons taught me sixty years ago still apply, probably more so today. Consult several different sources of information to achieve a larger, more balanced view - no easy chore with so many types of sources available, each having its peculiar slant. Question the information and demand answers to your questions. Look beyond what seems to be the obvious.

Sort information from the standpoint of understood individuality.  Be self-reliant and responsible. Avoid pressures to join the herd, to find identity in a peer group. “Dare to be a Daniel; dare to stand alone.”

In addition to the avalanche of information is the growing practice of polls-taking to influence how issues will be perceived and resolved. My banker father often observed, ‘Figures never lie, but liars figure.”

To leaders, I would implore them to stand for real issues and to an affirmation of values = principle, not expediency and political self-interest.

The most important and vital lessons I have learned are: Mind your own business, and Be responsible for your thinking and consequent actions.

James (66): When I think of advice to the young I think of something I have told my classes over the years. That is, never keep a job or a career that you are not having fun with.  Life is too short, but also don’t break the golden rule, which is never leave until you have found another job or career.  I would also tell them that when they are talking with someone they should make that person feel that they are the most important person in the world at that moment.  Never lie because it always comes back to haunt you.  We have seen that come home to haunt the most powerful man in the world, the president of the United States.  I would also say “be up front”.  Tell people how you feel and what you think, but do it in a tactful and professional way, not in a way that’s meant to hurt.

Philip (81): With all of the advancements in communication, and the availability of so much information, it makes it even more important that today’s generation take the time to read and digest the history of the past. From early history, on through the time of the Greeks and Romans, mankind repeats many of the same sad mistakes. War – hatred - domination still are a part of many cultures.  Perhaps with communication and world travel, humankind will find a way to make life more bearable for all of the races.

© 2005-2008 Harris R. Sherline, All Rights Reserved

As you look back over the years, how do you feel about your life? Any regrets? Anything you missed out on that you wish you had done? Is there anything you would do differently if you had it to do over again?

Mary (75): As I look back over the years, I feel that I have accomplished more than I ever dreamed of as a child coming from a poor family. I have had many advantages and have tried to make the best of any and every opportunity that came my way. It was difficult to be uprooted in my childhood and come to America and not speaking English. I remember so vividly the children at school laughing at me because I could not speak English and I could not understand them either. But I soon learned English. Having accomplished that hurdle, I felt confident that I could do anything that I set my mind to.

As I grew up, however, I did not feel so confident. Perhaps it was because I put so much effort in accomplishing goals and expectations that were made of me. I really did not have a special person who helped guide me as I grew up. Since my mother died when I was only eight years old, I missed that influence and my oldest sister became the strong one in the family, helping my father raise us during the depression years. My father was intent in keeping the family intact at all costs, and he did. It was difficult for him raising nine children but he never let us feel sorry for ourselves, providing for us in the best way he knew how physically, spiritually and emotionally.

It was during high school that I decided that I wanted to be a nurse. I knew that we did not have the financial means to do so and so enrolled under a government program and then told my father what I had done. But he did not want me going into the Armed Services and said that we would find the means to do so. After my high school graduation, off I went to the school of nursing where I found my role tending to others. It was while I was there ministering to others that I came to the decision that I wanted to do more and therefore decided to become a religious. It was a difficult decision, knowing that I would see less of my dear family but the call was there and so I entered the Sisters of Providence in 1944. My father reluctantly gave his approval but wished me the best and prayed that I would be happy.

Philip (81): From early childhood I remember the fun and challenges of each day ahead. In retrospect this must have been a combination of many things. A happy family life, a small rural town culture, my parents’ philosophy and a religious church environment.

There was quite an age differential in my parents. Dad was 42 and Mom 20 when they were married in 1905. He homesteaded back in 1885 when Dakota was still a territory, part of the original Louisiana Purchase. They literally started with nothing, sod cabin, few people in the settlement, harsh winters. Dad emigrated from Germany, came as an apprentice shoemaker, worked for the Northern Pacific Railway as it pushed through the northern part of the country on its way west to the Coast. In due time he prospered, in the lumber business, buying and selling cattle and grain, investing in land and farm machinery.

Hebron was a German community, made up totally of immigrants, colonized by the German Evangelical Church. Respect for elders, the clergy and schoolteachers was stressed, understood and accepted.

© 2005-2008 Harris R. Sherline, All Rights Reserved

How Would You Answer These Questions?

When you were a child, from whom did you learn about concepts like “right and wrong” and “good and bad”? Are you a religious person? Do you believe in an afterlife? What role has religion played in your life? Have you become more religious as you have grown older? What role does religion play in your life now? How do you show tolerance for other religious faiths if you believe yours is the only true one? Do you often discuss your religious faith (or lack) with other people? What do you think about people who are apathetic about religion and ethical values? What are the most important values in life to you? What are the differences between the values that prevailed when you were growing up and those of today?

Jane (76): Concepts of right and wrong were stressed in my home, at school, and in church when I was a child. If I was in trouble in school (and I sometimes was), the punishment was reinforced when I arrived home. My parents were strict and there was no misunderstanding where they stood on obeying rules, being on time, or completing assigned duties. Smoking and drinking alcohol was strictly taboo. I also remember no serious disciplinary problems either at school or Sunday School as the other parents in the small town where I grew up made sure their children were also carefully supervised and followed the rules.

Religion has been a life-long learning experience for me. As a youngster, the teaching of a Protestant Sunday School was very much a part of my education. During high school and college, I read books which delved into the basic teachings of Christianity and I attended several different Protestant denomination churches, though I did not become a church member. As I approached adulthood and studied Biblical history, I began to question some of the inequities in the world and the positions the church took on crucial issues, the views expressed by the church hierarchy, and I noted how church sermons using the same Biblical references differed and conflicted with each other. It also impressed me that the “exact truth” of the Bible has changed over the years with scientific, medical, and historical advancements. (For example, sickness and tragedies are no longer necessarily “acts of God” as punishment of sins - there are other known causes). Also it is interesting that there is a basic moral thread and the same special stories that have found their way into the history of many religions. My conclusion is that there is One God worshipped by many religions and no one religion is the only true religion to the exclusion of others.

I do not believe that being apathetic about religion necessarily correlates with being apathetic regarding ethical values. In my experience, although moral values vary from person to person, atheists have just as strong moral standards and values as those who have strong religious inclinations. I do believe that positive ethical concepts should be a part of education, beginning very early, in the home and in school as when as in religious institutions.

Helen (65): I believe we are never alone. When things get too much to handle I know I can turn it over to a universal power and the answer comes.

I have learned that belief, family and friends become more important as you age. In raising children it’s not so much what you say - but what you are doing. I have always believed in being a responsible, caring parent. Even though I divorced, I told my children that they had one mother and one father and nothing could ever change that. We always included my ex-husband in our family gatherings. Nature doesn’t like a vacuum - when you begin moving out of your what you do not want, you automatically are making way for what you do want - by letting go of the lesser you make room for your greater good. Let go!! Forgive yourself and others, it has great healing powers.

© 2008 Harris R. Sherline, All Rights Reserved

How do you view your own future? Are you strictly short-term oriented at this point in your life or do you still have ambitions and expectations for the future? What concerns do you have about the future of our country and the world?

Al (75): I view my future with curiosity and a touch of expectation. What new “inventions” will there be, and will I be compelled to learn to use them?

Within the last thirty years of my life-time, there has been an avalanche, or is it a tidal wave, of new things classified as “progress”? Science fiction and comic page adventures have been surpassed; we do and go places not thought really possible. Walk on the moon, summit Mt. Everest, go non-stop around the world in a balloon: what next? I am convinced that if the mind of man can conceive an idea, he is capable of making it real.

But, there is a price! I find it difficult to find people who believe in or have even known rugged individualism and self-governing as I knew these as a small boy. Then, I was less than seventy-five years from my pioneer ancestors crossing the Plains around 1850 to reach Oregon and California. Further, what has become of the pursuit of understanding of truth? Maybe it has gone into a laboratory somewhere? The globalization of business stuns thinking! I ask, “Wither goest us?” Curiosity begins to be dimmed by fear.

Mary (75): I view my future as living out a rather quiet life where I am, at least for a few years. I do not have great ambitions and expectations for the future. I want to continue my volunteering for the Oregon SMART program, which is reading with young children in schools. It is a very worthwhile effort and one from which I, too, receive a lot of rewards. I enjoy gardening, and that keeps me very busy in the good months. It has been worth all the effort we have put into this project since we have moved here, and now we are enjoying the fruits of our labors. The yard is colorful and hopefully will continue to attract more and more birds as the trees and shrubs grow. I enjoy the wildlife, especially birds.

I have given up my health care work as I grew weary of the responsibilities at my age and was fearful of making a mistake that might endanger someone’s life, so I gave up my nursing license. I would rather devote my efforts in another field.

I am concerned about living out my life in good health and make efforts to remain healthy and strong by remaining active and exercising. I am concerned for the elderly and being able to make ends meet as well as staying healthy. Quality of life is just as important to me, if not more so, than quantity of life. So many of our elderly have sub-standard lives, and life is most difficult for them. Many are even taken advantage of by their very own families or neglected by them.

I am concerned about the future of our country, as young people of today do not seem to respect life and the older generation. Those who do care are very devoted to family. Family life does not seem to have the same importance as during my youth and the support is not there during crisis situations. The world is growing smaller and so is the danger of spreading disease from one country to another. It would not be too far-fetched to think that we could have a world- wide epidemic or global warfare. We have been so fortunate in the U.S.A. not to have had wars on our shores for so many years. There are so many needs throughout the world and many countries, because of the leaders, who cannot rise about their problems or solve them and rather turn to other countries to do so.

© 2005-2008 Harris R. Sherline, All Rights Reserved