HCB Chapter 510 How Reading Can Change Your Destiny
Chapter 510 How Reading Can Change Your Destiny
Min Zeer looked at Yeka and asked softly:
"Kid, why do you have such an idea?"
Yeka raised his head, his eyes full of confusion and grievance, and said with a trembling voice:
"My father once told me that only by studying can I gain the power to change my life, but look at me now, I can't even stop a soldier, and I can't even protect the last of my family's wealth."
When Min Caier heard this, he was stunned at first, and then speechless.
His mind was full of thoughts. After a while, he slowly spoke:
"Don't mention this for now. I'll help you deal with the housework. Go and help your mother into the house."
His voice was gentle but firm, trying to soothe Yeka's wounded heart.
Yeka hesitated for a moment, nodded, turned and walked into the house. Min Caier also stood up and followed him.
The two men walked into the house and saw that it was in a mess, with items thrown around by the soldiers scattered all over the ground.
Yeka's mother sat in the corner, her eyes red and swollen, her face covered with tear marks.
Yeka walked quickly to his mother, gently helped her up, and comforted her:
"Mother, don't be sad, Teacher Min Caier will help us."
Yeka's mother raised her head and looked at Min Tser, her eyes full of gratitude, and her lips trembled as she said:
"Thank you, Headmaster, for the trouble."
Min Caier smiled and shook his head, saying:
"Don't say that, this is what I should do."
Then, he and Yeka began to put the items that were thrown everywhere by the soldiers back in place.
Time passed quietly in the busyness. After they put all the things back in place and finished the work, they realized that the prayer time had passed.
Yeka's mother thanked him profusely, her eyes full of gratitude. She took Min Caier's hand and said:
"Teacher, you are such a good person, thank you for helping us today."
Min Caier smiled and comforted her:
"You're welcome. This is what I should do. Yeka, come back to school with me."
Back at the parish school, most of the students were already in the classroom.
Min Caier walked up to the podium, glanced around, and then said:
"Yeka, return to your seat."
After all the students were seated, Min Caier said solemnly:
"An outrageous and sad thing happened today. Yeka's home was robbed by the conscription officer. He and the soldiers were going to take Yeka away and ransack his home to take away the few remaining belongings."
"At this time, Yeka asked me, people always say that studying can change your destiny, so does today's incident prove that studying is useless?"
As soon as this question was raised, the classroom suddenly became quiet and the students all fell into deep thought.
Min Caier looked at the confused children and continued:
"So, let's discuss in class this afternoon whether reading is useful or not."
After that, Min Caier picked up the chalk and wrote the word "reading" on the blackboard.
Then he asked the students:
"Children, what do you think is the purpose of studying?"
The students began to speak in a flurry.
“For literacy.”
“To work in the city.”
“To gain knowledge.”
……
The children expressed their ideas one after another, and Min Caier listened carefully.
When everyone had finished speaking, Min Caier nodded and said:
"What you said makes sense, but most of it is incomplete."
"I think the ultimate goal of studying is to change your own destiny, to improve your living standards and gain respect from others, right?"
After listening to this, the students nodded in unison, their eyes revealing approval.
Min Caier picked up the chalk and wrote "change destiny" a little further away from the word "study" before, and then said:
"If this is your greatest wish in life, then studying now is the easiest way for you to accumulate 'knowledge', just like those nobles and high officials."
He drew an arrow next to "reading" and then wrote the word "knowledge".
“After acquiring knowledge, you will be able to have the skills to handle various things, so that you can choose other careers besides simple physical labor and get more rewards.”
Min Caier's explanation was clear and thorough, and he drew a simple diagram on the blackboard as he spoke.
“Only after you have accumulated wealth can you improve your life. At the same time, becoming a wealthy person means that your status will naturally improve, and when your status rises, you will naturally be respected by others.”
"That's the problem, kids."
After completing a long list of connections, Min Ze'er reminded in a louder voice, his eyes fixed on the students below the stage.
"If we keep reading and acquiring knowledge, will bread appear directly on the table, will money appear directly in our pockets, will life suddenly become better, will others suddenly respect you because you have been studying for a long time?"
"Obviously not. Parish schools charge tuition. If you only study, from a parish school in a town to a seminary in a city, your family won't be able to support you until you graduate. Before that, your family will go bankrupt because of the high tuition fees. At the same time, your neighbors will secretly say that you are nerds and are worse than a farmer."
Min Caier's words confused the students' minds. They only knew that adults often said that studying hard would lead to a good future, a good job, and no need to do hard labor, but they didn't know what Min Caier said.
"The children are confused now. They clearly believe that people who study are not like this, so why are they so terrible in reality?"
Min Caier looked at everyone with a hint of concern in his tone.
"That's what I mean. Acquiring knowledge is only the first step to changing your life. If you really want to change yourself, you need to apply what you have learned to your life."
"For example, if you can read, you can earn money by copying books. If you learn arithmetic, you can work in statistics or finance in a store."
As he spoke, he gave examples to help the students better understand.
“From the common people to the officials and kings, everyone needs to apply the knowledge they have learned to the relevant fields in order to gain wealth and respect.”
"So, children, I only want to say one thing, cherish the time you have for studying now. When you graduate and enter society, you must apply the knowledge you have learned in your life and work, in yourself, your family, your neighbors, the society and even the entire country. Only then can you truly change your own destiny and even the destiny of others. Don't just have knowledge without putting it into practice, which will only end up wasting time."
After saying this, Min Caier breathed a sigh of relief.
He learned this view from "The Theology of the People" written by Pross. After reading it, he felt that some of the things in it were not only needed by clergymen, but even ordinary people could understand some truths from it.
However, what he didn't know was that Pross wrote this book in response to John's call to mobilize clergy intellectuals to go to the countryside to serve as priests. He also didn't expect that what he wrote in his book could be used in the classroom by Yoda clergy thousands of miles away.