Rather, he was a growing plant, waiting for her skill to nurture him
into blossom and fruitage. Some of his qualities she found good; others
not. The good ones she made the objects of her special care; the others
she allowed to perish from neglect. Her experience in gardening had taught
her that, if we cultivate the potatoes assiduously, the weeds will
disappear and need not concern us. She discerned in him a tender shoot of
imagination and this she nurtured as a priceless thing. She fertilized it
with legend, story, song, and myth, and enveloped it in an atmosphere of
warmth and joyousness. She led him into nature's realm, that his
imagination might plume its wings for greater flights by its efforts to
interpret the heart of things that live. Thus his imagination learned to
traverse space, to explore sights and sounds his senses could not reach,
and to construct for him another world of beauty and delight.
So, too, with the other spiritual qualities. Upon these goals her gaze was
fixed and she gently led him toward them. She taught the arithmetic with
zest, with large understanding, and in a masterly way, for she was causing
it to serve a high purpose. Whatever study she found helpful, this she
used as a means with gratitude and gladness. If she found the book ill
adapted to her purpose, she sought or wrote another. If pictures proved
more potent than books, the galleries obeyed the magic of her skill and
yielded forth their treasures.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142