Experience as a Teacher
“Experience as a Teacher” by Tiger Todd
“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death” - Robert Fulghum Author of “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”
On to the Myths!
I love the film, “Forrest Gump.” It is the story about a mentally and physically disabled boy trying to make sense of the ever-changing world around him. His mental and physical disabilities, however, are eclipsed by his unerring obedience to the instructions of those he comes in contact with, ultimately changing him into a famous athlete, war hero, and millionaire. Forrest would often quote his momma, played by Sally Field, and the bits of wisdom she had gathered from her difficult life. When being called “stupid” by boys from school, for instance, Forrest would simply counter with, “Momma always says that stupid is as stupid does.” Another unforgettable quote regarding the seemingly random experiences of life, was, “Momma always says that life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you might get.”
A man in my class for homeless and displaced men the other night- just in case you didn’t know, I’m the teacher- asked me about the saying, “Stupid is as stupid does,” and why I didn’t think it was a true statement. I replied, “For one thing, because that’s what Forrest’s momma said!” It would be silly to simply take a “slogan” from Forrest’s momma- or ours, for that matter- and treat it as gospel without some further investigation.
And I did investigate! A few years ago my research found that the word we derived “stupid” from in our English language- and translated into the word “fool” and “foolish” in the New Testament- actually comes from the Greek word moros. I realize that this looks a lot like the English word moron, but when Greek people hear the word moros, what they really hear is the word heedless. In other words, “stupid” doesn’t mean “mentally handicapped” in the way those mean kids were using it against Forrest Gump. “Stupid” literally means that we knew the right things to do, but we chose not to them. “Stupid” is literally the opposite of obedient.
“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” Isaiah 1:19
Whether it was Jenny saying, “Run Forrest, run!” or Lt. Dan telling him that he should go to church and pray, Forrest Gump simply replied, “O.K.,” and then did exactly what they told him to do. By definition, Forrest was never heedless, a.k.a. “stupid.” If fact, I believe that the story of Forrest Gump was expressly written to illustrate how that even if you or I are lacking in mental ability, the habit of being willing and obedient to the words of those smarter than can insulate us from the pain and suffering that results from foolishness, heedlessness, and stupidity.
“And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not (heedless, a.k.a. stupid), shall be likened unto a foolish man (moros), which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” - Matthew 7:24-27
I have been stupid, many more times than I care to remember. Since I discovered that being stupid was completely up to me, I decided not to be stupid ever again. I am still working on it:)
Another film, somewhat more offbeat than Gump, yet with an equally insightful message, is the Adam Sandler comedy, The Waterboy. Here Sandler plays 32-year-old stay-at-home-son Bobby Boucher, raised in the Bayou of Louisiana by “Mama” and her pet Jackass. More a sociology film than the psychology-based Gump, the Waterboyillustrates how Bobby Boucher’s limited access to an education outside of his home, a shotgun shanty on the bayou, has kept him from his becoming who he was born to be. Mama’s wisdom plays a role in this film as well, and is adamantly defended by Bobby Boucher. In one instance, after Bobby has entered college upon being coaxed by Coach Klein- played by Henry Winkler- he is asked by one of his professors “why alligators are so mean.” Bobby’s reply? “Momma says that alligators are so mean ‘cause they got all those teeth and no toothbrush.” And who can forget this exchange: BOBBY: “Mama, when did Ben Franklin invent electricity?” MAMA: “That’s nonsense. I invented electricity. Ben Franklin is the devil!” And according to the wisdom of Bobby’s mama, so were football, Vickie Vallencourt, and Dick Clark!
I realize that I may be one of the few Bible teachers recommending movies like The Waterboy to help people understand deeper concepts to the universe. Many sweet people tend to be afraid of language, sexual situations, and the world in general, and so they tend to take themselves as far away from these things as they possible can. That of course is their right and for that commitment, they have my utmost respect.
My belief, however, is closer to that of Robert Fulghum’s- also a Minster and author- written in the opening quote: “Myth is more potent than history- dreams are more powerful than facts.” I’m also something of a realistic Bible scholar. I don’t believe in only sending our children to “sheep school.” I, like Jesus, believe in sending them to “serpent school” as well:
“Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16
If we only study the lives of sheep, we’ll be as the scriptures warn, lambs to the slaughter. We have, however, been called to be more than conquerors.
“Experience is the best teacher.”
How about some wisdom from stories more like our own lives? Who has heard the phrase, “Experience is the best teacher?” Hearing it again the other night in my class of homeless men, and seeing to what lengths these men would go to defend this popular slogan, demanded that I investigate this one as well. You see, it’s not that I don’t have respect for the 14,000-plus homeless men I have worked with over the past 9 years. It’s certainly not that I don’t have great compassion for them or I certainly would not have spent all these years helping them, and at my own expense. It’s just that if they are as physically complete as you and me, and yet are homeless, I have to accept the possibility that what they believe could be a large part of the reason why they are in their present condition! I use this same twisted wisdom in elections when deciding which candidates to vote for. I go to the people I know and love, but who always seem to be victims of something or someone else, or that don’t take responsibility for their own lives and actions, and I ask them who they are voting for. Then I vote, just the opposite. I know it might seem naïve, but I want elected officials who are responsible and who want to help others become more responsible.
So when a homeless man- one who had borrowed for a home but was not responsible over it, produced 4 children but is not taking care of them, and had a good job but was not responsible to his employer or over his paycheck, which he later cashed to buy drugs so that he could forget the prior experiences- tells me that “experience is the best teacher,” I can no longer use this phrase myself without concern for my own future and the futures of those I am sent to teach.
Where did “Experience is the Best Teacher” originate?
Here is some historical data from a thesis I recently read on the Subject:
EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER - “The great Roman leader Julius Caesar recorded the earliest known version of this proverb, ‘Experience is the teacher of all things,’ in ‘De Bello Civili’ (c. 52 B.C.). Over a century later, the Roman author Pliny the Elder in ‘Naturalis Historia’ (A.D. 77) wrote, ‘Experience is the most efficient teacher of all things,’ and the Roman historian Tacitus said simply, ‘Experience teaches,’ in his ‘Histories’ (c. 209). The earliest English rendering appeared in 1539 as ‘Experience is mother of prudence,’ which was included in Richard Taverner’s ‘Proverbes or Adagies.’ The exact wording, ‘Experience is the best teacher,’ appeared in the ‘Widow Bedott Papers’ (1856) by Frances M. Whitcher.” From “Wise Words and Wives’ Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New” by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner (Avon Books, New York, 1993). Another source gives the meaning and a later date for the first English rendering: “One learns more from experience than from books.” The proverb has been traced back to ‘The Schoolmaster’ (1568) by Roger Ascham and comes from the L*tin phrase ‘experiential docent’ meaning ‘experience teaches.’ Water Scott (1854-1900), however, disagrees with the proverb, saying that ‘experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.’ From “Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings” by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).
Meanwhile, back the Classroom…
In my class of homeless men that night, I began by writing, “Experience is the best teacher” on the whiteboard. Then I shared my belief that if “Experience” was indeed the best teacher, it would be spelled “T-E-A-C-H-E-R!” As I continued on the subject of “neural connections” in patients with early childhood traumas, one man started shaking his head and finally burst-out with, “I have to disagree- you can’t tell me that experience is not the best teacher…when I was driving around an icy corner and I started losing control of my car- and would’ve crashed if I hadn’t slowed down- I learned from experience that corner is icy and I never drove fast around it again.” He looked at his two homeless buddies with pride beaming from his face for having showed the teacher that his education from experience was more important than one from a classroom. I just looked at him like Morpheus did at Neo in the martial arts training room in the film The Matrix. “Do you think that’s air you are breathing? Hmmn.” But I said nothing. I instead asked the question, “Wouldn’t it have been wiser to have obeyed the traffic sign that had already told you that 15-miles-per-hour was a safer speed for this corner than the 50-mph you were traveling?” In fact, from experience, all he learned was that the corner was icy and he had better slow down! If he had learned to follow the laws of the land, however, as taught by the state in which he was driving and by his high school Driver’s Ed instructor, he would have learned the value of obeying ALL traffic signs, and avoided a near-death experience. Drivers who learn only from experience don’t speed through school zones “because there might be a cop.” I don’t because there might be children.
“Alone, experience teaches convincing lessons, with equally inaccurate conclusions.” - Tiger Todd
There, I said it! It had to be said! If someone’s education comes solely from experience, they will come to the wrong conclusion about their circumstances, every time.
“Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don’t.” - Pete Seeger
One of my mentors just forwarded me some stories about life in the 1500’s. Not just the good ol’ days, but also the Ye Olde Days! Apparently many of the slogans bandied about today originated in that period. Having more religion than sense, it seems that experience was also the primary teacher of the period. According to this article, the wealthier in those days had plates made of pewter- a composition originally made from lead and tin. Food with high acid content would cause the lead to leach into the food, causing lead poisoning and often, death. This happened primarily with tomatoes, so for the next 400-years, tomatoes were considered poisonous! Later, teachers taught the dangers of “lead”, so that now pewter is now made primarily (95%) of tin with the balance made of copper and antimony. Still, for 400-years, experience taught these people that tomatoes were the devil!
“The trouble with using experience as your guide is that sometimes the final exam comes first, then the lesson.” Will Rogers
In both relationships and business, many people have experienced the final exam long before being taught the lesson! Using experience alone as a teacher blinds us to the future, a key necessity in these two areas of life. How many times after a business catastrophe or failed relationship have we heard someone exclaim, “I just didn’t seeing it coming!”? With good teachers, we can learn to see what’s coming:
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all truth…and he will show you things to come.” John 16:13
I believe that teachers who are called to teach have access to this spirit and are thus connected to the wisdom of the ages. Imagine learning math, engineering, medicine or politics without a great teacher. Talk about being lambs to the slaughter!
“Experience is learning from your own mistakes; Education is learning from the mistakes of others.” As quoted by Kendra on last season’s The Apprentice.
NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES SPAUN NEGATIVE BELIEFS
“Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.” Bob Packwood
One of the most dangerous by-products of learning solely from experience is that the conclusions we draw actually build strongholds of negative beliefs. So many of the homeless men I’ve worked with have created erroneous beliefs about employers, business owners, and the government, all based upon their personal experiences and none from teachers of business or apprenticeship programs in businesses. When I try to teach them how businesses function, I am met with serious resistance. I’ve concluded that beliefs birthed out of experience are some of the hardest to let go of, even when there is no evidence to support such beliefs. Have you ever been verbally assaulted by a religious fanatic over their interpretation of the Bible? Most of the time I have found they never actually read the Bible. They simply heard a lot of stuff from their favorite church or ministry. Although I appreciate their zeal, I would like to see them do their own studying for a while first, before they decide to assault the very people their Bible says they are sent to help.
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of Truth.” II Timothy 2:15
Learn to quote who taught you.
Napoleon Hill, author of the timeless book, Think and Grow Rich, was himself verbally assaulted by a local preacher over the principles he had been teaching in his seminars. “You’re going to Hell!” the parson exclaimed. Napoleon Hill, who had the privilege of having studied the lives of over 500 of the most influential men of the Industrial Age and learning their secrets and wisdom, simply responded with, “How do you know?” “Well, that’s my faith, that’s what I believe,” replied the parson. Napoleon answered, “Belief and faith are one thing, but having some evidence to support that belief is a different matter entirely. So, how do you know? I don’t know, so I’m pretty sure you don’t either.”
In whatever we’ve been taught, either through some experience or by the best teachers, let us use the wisdom of Forrest Gump by always connecting what we know to “who taught it,” or how we learned it. Adding “Momma always said” to the beliefs that were passed down from momma, and “I had an experience which taught me this,” is a good place to start. Rather than giving credit to our experiences as if experiences were the Gospel, this should keep us in a better position to receive more instruction from better teachers, as well as help us to obtain more accurate conclusions from better experiences.
Learn to ask yourself and others, “How do you know?” or “Who or what taught you that?” when it appears that an experience has been the primary teacher, or when there is simply no evidence to support a belief.
Moses: almost Pharaoh
If you’ve been to church enough, or been at home on an Easter weekend when The Ten Commandments is televised for something like the 50th time, you have undoubtedly heard the story of Moses. At a time when the Egyptians used the Israelites as slaves, and had commanded that all of the male children from the Israelites be killed, the Bible records that one such child was saved when his mom sent him via basket into the Nile River toward the house of Pharaoh’s sister. Having been adopted and raised as Egyptian royalty, we find that Moses can do no wrong and is in line for the throne.
Unfortunately, just days from becoming Pharaoh himself, Moses is confronted with the truth that he is Hebrew, and after killing an Egyptian to save a Hebrew slave, Moses descends to the life of a banished slave, living the rest of his days in the wilderness.
Some forty-years go by and the now-shepherd Moses investigates a strange fire upon a mountain and discovers he is in the presence of God. God tells him of this second chance to deliver the children of Israel from their bondage to Egypt, and that Moses must go to face Pharaoh. Here is where Moses’ experience has negatively affected his ability to believe God’s plan.
“And Moses said unto God, ‘Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?” Exodus 2:11
Forty years earlier, Moses was going to BE Pharaoh! He was born with this call from God on his life. He was fully qualified and capable of being the Deliverer that God had sent to Egypt back then. But it took just one experience without the help of a teacher to break down the experience, to destroy his self-esteem and with it, any hope the Israelites had of being delivered. Although ultimately, God was able to teach him, 40-years of his life and the lives of others were spent in suffering because he had let experience be his only teacher.
Experiences should confirm good teaching
“And they went forth and preached everywhere, the lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.” Mark 16:20
For those of us learning from this teaching, God always backs up what we do of what He/She/They teaches. In the case of Moses, an all-new experience culminated with the parting of the Red Sea. My favorite quote from the film came from the defeated Pharaoh Ramses. In responding to the loss of his armies in the sea, he says, “His God is God.”
“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.” C.S. Lewis
USE IT OR LOSE IT! With experience alone, we travel backward.
In his very blunt and practical book, How to be Rich, Donald Trump tells about relying on experience as a teacher when he first became successful in real estate. Having become New York City’s golden boy in the 1980’s, and having experienced success in every deal he made, taught Donald that he was gifted and that success in life was easy. Living by this unrealistic conclusion, The Donald began flying to places like Paris, but not for business: for fashion shows! He states in his book how it was this carelessness with his business that soon turned ugly as the real estate market changed. How Ugly? How about being 9.2 billion dollars in debt with no way to pay his creditors! Trump passed by a beggar on the street one day and paused, thinking, “This guy is 9.2 billion dollars richer than I am.” Getting back to the education from great teachers, like his father Fred who taught him many successful principles, The Donald is once again back on top. His 20,000 employees too, are better off today than if he had learned from his bad experience and thrown in the towel.
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God…strong meat belongeth to them who are of full-age who by reason of use have their senses exercised to know the difference between good and evil.” Hebrews 5:12,14
When we make a right choice, it may be hard to do at the time. But it makes the next right choice that much easier. Experiences where we make the choice to do the instructions of good teachers build good habits. Experiences from wrong choices build bad habits, and direct us toward that deeply rutted road of a painful and frustrating life.
FIXING BROKEN HEARTS (The Handy Man can)
“I fix broken hearts, baby I’m your handy man… If your broken heart needs repair then I am the man to see.” From Handy Man by James Taylor
Experience teaches lessons, but leaves great collateral damage like burned bridges, emotional and physical scars, and good reasons not to try again. Like the homeless men in my classes, many people are in need of repair from the emotional damage caused by experience. The good news is that there really is a Handy Man.
“If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.” I John 3:20
So we have a bad experience, our heart breaks, we draw the wrong conclusions from the experience, and so we continue in pieces down a path away from the best that life has for us. Do we have to wander the wilderness like Moses for 40-years before we can get a second chance? Absolutely not. Restoration is only a classroom away.
In the above scripture, the word condemn comes from the Greek word kataginosko, which has typically been translated to blame, or to condemn. But a brief study of the Greek words in its immediate family give us a whole new definition and connotation. Its next-door neighbor, the Greek word katagnumi means- are you ready for this- to rend in pieces, to crack apart- to BREAK! Let me recap: When our heart condemns us for some act of disobedience or a bad experience, we become heart-broken. If we continue to justify the very experience that broke our heart into all of these pieces, we trudge on into the rest of our life half-heartedly- since that’s all we have left- scarred instead of healed.
“God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.”
We can’t afford to read past the “knoweth” part too quickly; for the word translated knoweth is the Greek word ginosko. Do you see a relationship? Our experience without a teacher produced kataginosko: Kata(broken)-ginosko(understanding). Allowing God, in this case, to be the teacher who can restore our hearts, uses the pure form of understanding, ginosko! Here’s where the slogan, “It’s all Greek to me” has it’s greatest relevance! Sometimes I wish I were more Greek than geek!
“Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then do we have confidence toward God, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” I John 3:21-22
“Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced; even a proverb is no proverb to you till your life has illustrated it” -John Keats
The Book of Proverbs begins with Solomon, considered the wisest man in the Old Testament, instructing his sons on the value of getting knowledge, wisdom, and understanding before having experiences. In the New Testament two of the greatest teachers who ever lived, Jesus and Paul, teach these lessons to their disciples and other followers, and even to those who read and do their words today. And in Jesus’ instruction to his disciples in the Gospel of John, chapter 15, he says that after he leaves them, he will send another teacher, the Spirit of Truth. Why? Because we will always need the best teachers if we are going to live the best lives! It doesn’t matter if you were a disciple of Jesus or Paul, experience without a teacher simply cannot get you as far as you need to go.
“The Best Teacher is the Best Teacher.” -Tiger Todd
There is a place for experience, which I have included in the handy-dandy formula below as “testing.” Incidentally, this happens to be the very same formula used to create Champions out of orphans and peasants in nearly every hero movie made. See if it doesn’t work for you, your family, and your world, too.
A PROCESS TO “LEARNING THE RIGHT LESSON”
- Be a Student
- A Master Shall Appear
- Instruction from the Master is given
- The Student does the instruction
- The Student is tested (experience)
- The Students learns the right lesson from the experience
- The Student is transformed into a Champion
“His Divine Power hath given us all things that pertain unto life and Godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue.” 2 Peter 1:3
We have been given so much, like the ability to live in both worlds, the natural world and the spiritual world simultaneously. Our mastery of them comes through studying what our masters have taught us, while also continually seeking out new masters to teach us yet more. Let us not rely on old conclusions drawn from the experiences of an old life when there is so much new life to be lived.
The Character must Change
After learning from a great teacher like Coach Klein, Bobby Boucher was able to see that not everything Momma didn’t know about was the Devil.
And after Forrest Gump compared the experiences of others- his momma, Lt. Dan, and Jenny- he was able to make better conclusions about Life than each of them. Momma’s experience taught her that Life was life a box of chocolates, that you never quite know what you’re gonna get. Lieutenant Dan thought that every man had a Destiny, and that his was to die in battle like his forefathers before him. Bitter for years after Forrest “cheated him” out of that destiny by saving his life, lieutenant Dan ultimately began putting his energy into living a new life, one based on the instruction of his new teacher, Forrest Gump.
“Maybe it’s Both.” - Forrest Gump
Forrest discovered that life was made up of both elements, that each of us has a destiny, a calling, a purpose. But like his momma said, within the plan for life there can be many events that seem random and chaotic. This only means that life is more complex than living first, then learning the lessons later. There are so many great teachers, coaches, mentors, and guides available to help us chart a course around life’s many obstacles. They are there to help us through the chaos and on toward our destination, our destiny.
They can even show us things to come. TT
PRAYER:
God, Thank you for having given us all things that pertain unto Life and unto Godliness, and that life comes through knowledge obtained from great teachers.
We ask that you repair the hearts of those who have learned solely from experience.
Send trustworthy teachers, masters and mentors before their paths who can show them the way to a life of learning; not a life without challenges that produce strength, but one without mistakes that produce scars and even more heartache.
Thank you for sending us great teachers throughout the Bible- Old Testament teachers like Samuel and Solomon, New Testament teachers like Jesus and Paul, and onboard teachers like the Spirit of Truth.
We expect that with each lesson we receive from them, we will also receive the strength to obey their instructions.
And we thank you that through exercising our masters’ instructions in our daily lives, we will learn the truths of life, truths that will also help transform both the circumstances of our own lives and the lives of the people around us. God bless the great teachers.
© 2005 The Las Vegas Faith Center