A Message for the Children of the Future
© By Earl Ernest Guile
Dhahran Toastmasters January 17, 2006
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused. Who am I to be willing to speak to those of you living in the future. I am merely a humble world citizen concerned enough to make a clarion call for a future which will advance beyond the scourges of disease, poverty, ignorance and human conflict.
It thrills me to think that I can say something now which could resonate with minds of the future. What do I have to say? Is it worthy of your ears?
Education in it’s entire spectrum, from ethics to astrophysics is the bedrock of a fulfilled life. It guides us, it enriches us, it inspires us. Books are the key to this vast room of knowledge.
The illuminating force of education can shed light where there was once darkness. It can radiate hope where there was once despair. It can conquer pestilence and restore health. In a world of turmoil and turbulence it can bring peace and tranquility.
Like the mighty engines of energy that beam across the vastness of space from the stars, education is a mighty force for the good when beamed across this magnificent earth.
In the early 21st century a little boy named Ivo from a small hamlet in the third world had a dream. He dreamed that one day he would be an educated man.
Surrounding him was disease.
Surrounding him was war.
Surrounding him was poverty.
He nonetheless steadfastly held on to his dream.
He cried when he buried his father.
He cried when he saw his sister die of hunger.
He cried when his mother was kidnapped by an invading army.
He was alone in this vast cruel world.
He nonetheless kept his dream alive in the midst of hopelessness.
The hopes and dreams of this little boy are the hopes and dreams of humanity.
If our planet endures it must have a populous imbued with the knowledge and wisdom of the ages. For the future that populous must also have advanced scientific knowledge.
Ivo knew that he would have to surmount unbelievable odds to get an education. It was nearly impossible. But he struggled on to merely survive. He was at the doorsteps of death.
Humankind is like this little boy. Collectively we as a global civilization are in a long twilight struggle for survival. The key to that survival into the distant future is a global system which educates the billions and billions of souls on this blue dot called earth.
A technical civilization requires technical knowledge accessible to all in a free system. A civilization with a human touch of peaceful harmony among souls requires moral and ethical wisdoms to flow through the arteries of it’s communities like a great river.
In your future world have humility, have compassion, and have respect for others. In your future world be very knowledgeable. You may have money and wealth but if you have ignorance you have nothing. Have consideration for others, have empathy.
The tickets to an education destiny are books. Glorious books. Read incessantly. Learn from books. Treasure good books like you would value rubies and diamonds or silver and gold.
There are gems of wisdom in great books which can make your spirits strong and your imagination soar. Books are the DNA of civilization. Books and the knowledge contained therein are as important to an educated world as oxygen is to a healthy body. Without either we shall perish.
Little Ivo in the small hamlet defying death found a ticket for the train ride of his dreams. He found books. Through grit and determination the little boy survived the tragedies of his homeland, He found a school, he read, he studied, he learned, he graduated. He became an educated man. The world was better.
Although this world of tranquility and enlightenment through education is a dream of the future, like the little boy who grew up to be an educated man against incredible odds, this world of our dreams, this world of the future can be now.
Children of the future, this is your charge: You must use education as a means to better your life and to better the world during your own lifetime.