Personal “Meditations”

Class: Level 6 Ancient Classics

Teacher: Adam Lockridge

Issue: Set to Appear in the May 2020 Edition of the Newsletter

 

Students were challenged to imitate Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” by writing their own personal meditations.  They did so by writing meditations in each of the six categories that Marcus Aurelius focused on: gratitude, reminders, commands, definitions, quotes, and reflections upon the logos.

 

Gratitude – Written by Anonymous

MY GRANDFATHER

1. Do everything until it is complete.
2. Waste nothing that can be reused or recycled.
3. Practice patience, kindness, firmness.

MY GRANDMOTHER

1. Give the benefit of the doubt to others, even when it seems clear that something is their fault.
2. Do not get angry easily.  Attempt to see the problem from all angels before making a decision.

MY FATHER

1. Stories should be read and enjoyed, as there is much knowledge to be gleaned from them.
2. If you see something that needs to be done, do it.  It is not just someone else’s job. The house we live in together is the house we share, and, therefore, the work is shared as well.
3. The past is the past.  Look to the future, and do not get caught in the past.

MY MOTHER

1. Forgive easily and without regret.
2. Be kind and generous to everyone, even to those who do not treat you the same way.
3. Do your work before the fun things.

                         

 

Reminders – Written by Owen Bender

1. 1. In order for something to exist, its exact opposite must also exist. For the future; the past. For
      the mind; the body. For good; evil.
   2.  Ego and stubbornness are like electricity and magnetism. The one creates the other and vice
      versa, creating self-sustainment. One must eliminate both to eliminate either.
   3.  Choosing instant over delayed gratification is just procrastination under another name.
   4.  The chemical addictions everyone is warned about aren’t the only addictions, and the others are
      just as bad.
   5.  Skill is not virtue. Ever.

         

Commands – Written by Owen Bender

1. 1. Stop reacting strongly; Irritation accomplishes nothing. Approach matters you feel strongly
      about with the same characteristic calmness and precision as ones you don’t have emotions
      about. There is no reason it won’t solve them the same way.
   2.  Act to solve your flaws. They are not handicaps given to you, they are choices you make. Stop
      neglecting to choose; it is like choosing to take your hands of the steering wheel rather than
      steer. As a result, you follow the path of least resistance rather than the one whose destination
      you wish for.
   3. You cannot use ignorance as an excuse when you chose it, which is more often than you think.
   4.  When you must do something you don’t wish to do, don’t always do the minimum amount of
      work. This is paramount to doing less than enough.

 

Definitions – Written by Owen Bender

1. 1. Focus: (n.) the use of Effort to its full capacity.
   2. Compassion: (n.) the act of Focusing one’s Effort to choose and follow the path of kindness.
   3. Effort: (n.) the ability to choose the hard path over the easy one.

       

Quotes – Collected by Andrea Woolman

“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”  – C.S. Lewis

“Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose – a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.” – Mary Shelley

“Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.” – Mark Twain

“The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.” – Frances Willard

“Our plans and designs should be so perfect in truth and beauty, that in touching them the world could only mar.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“A weed is but an unloved flower.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Logos – Written by Andrea Woolman

1. God calls upon us to be in the world but not of it.
2. We are each put upon this earth for a reason.  It is our job to discover what God’s plan for us is.
3. Grow to be more like Christ.