Another Side

                                                                                                                                     
I expected a revolution.

And I got diddly squat.

And the cool feeling you get when you use 'diddly squat' in a sentence.

So I'm calling this one a win.

                                                                                                                                     

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It seems I've been bashing schoolwork a lot lately. It also seems that I've forgotten to acknowledge the other side of things. This is me covering my bases.

From the standpoint of a Christian:
Ephesians tells us to obey our earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. (Ephesians 6:5) Colossians says to do the same, not only when people are looking as to look good, but all the time, and with reverence for the Lord. (Colossians 3:22) One could argue that this 'earthly master' position could be filled by schools, teachers, parents, etc. If that's true, then we should throw ourselves at schoolwork wholly and sincerely. But it never says to subject ourselves as slaves to a system of upward mobility and profit and comparisons. And I don't think Jesus would want us consumed with work to the point that we are busy all time, and have no time to dedicate to developing a relationship with him.

Also, these verses have been used to justify slavery. A disclaimer of sorts.

From the standpoint of anyone:
I'm sure most of us want to get married and have children when we grow up. And with that comes responsibilities. Suddenly there's another mouth to feed, body to take care of, and education to pay for. You could have the money for this without being successful in work and school, but it won't seem like enough. You want your kid to have all the good things in life you had, and maybe a little bit more. A parent wants the best for his or her kid, and to do so, a pretty big paycheck is required. And all of a sudden, it doesn't seem so selfish to work hard in school. Grades are equivalent to a better future, remember?

That is, of course, if you think more money and material things are equivalent to a better childhood. Certain images and adjectives arise when we think of this: spoiled druggie skaters for me. We will never be able to control what our kids become, what influences they will be bombarded with in school and life in general. But I think we can help them by not giving them the impression that they can have whatever they want whenever they want. And if a child thinks his or her parents are rich, they will ask for more. They're cute that way.
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All in all, I stand by what I say. I don't think schoolwork should be my priority, and I don't believe in being busy to the point that I'm not really living. That doesn't mean I'm not going to put effort into studying, and that doesn't mean I have an excuse to skip homework or anything. It does mean that I'm not going to let an academic failure bother me. It also means that I have to stop seeing myself as inferior/superior based on performance in school. And I've still got a ways to go.

If you've read this far(having reread this post myself), I can't imagine you being very satisfied. It's a story of boy versus homework. It's not the most interesting thing in the world. So I've prepared a cool device to prevent people from getting bored from my ranting:

If you are bored easily, DO NOT read this post.

I hope this message reaches you before you do something you regret. Have a happy Thanksgiving, and don't die~