THE LAMP - Man's Beacon of Wisdom, Peace, Love and Reverence
Dr Abe V Rotor
Part 2 - Florence Nightingale - The Lady with a Lamp
Part 3 - The Lamp of Knowledge - Light your Lamp and Keep it Bright
Annex A - Light up your life when life seems to come to a stop
Annex B - Old Lighthouse of a Rocky Cove
Part 1 - "I am looking for an honest man." - Diogenes
Dr Abe V Rotor
Diogenes used to stroll about in full daylight with a lamp. When asked what he was doing, he would answer, "I am just looking for an honest man." Diogenes looked for a human being but reputedly found nothing but rascals and scoundrels.
Oh, Diogenes, don't despair,put off your lamp at midday;save it for the darkest hour,when people rage than pray,storm the Bastille, cry the trilogy:Liberte', Egalite', Fraternite'.
and if that dawn be spilledwith crimson then let it bein the halls of true justice,for heads to roll in ignominy;if so few make no differencelight again your lamp at midday. ~ AVR
It was in Corinth that a meeting between Alexander the Great and Diogenes is supposed to have taken place. While Diogenes was relaxing in the sunlight in the morning, Alexander, thrilled to meet the famous philosopher, asked if there was any favor he might do for him. Diogenes replied, "Yes, stand out of my sunlight". Alexander then declared, "If I were not Alexander, then I should wish to be Diogenes.", to which Diogenes replied "If I were not Diogenes, I should also wish to be Diogenes." In another account of the conversation, Alexander found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave. (Wikipedia)
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Diogenes preferred to live a simple life and had no permanent home, but in public places. Here he lives in a discarded jar, holding the proverbial lamp that made him famous. Pictures from Wikipedia.
Diogenes Quotes
1. Those who have virtue always in their mouths, and neglect it in practice, are like a harp, which emits a sound pleasing to others, while itself is insensible of the music.
2. I have nothing to ask but that you would remove to the other side, that you may not, by intercepting the sunshine, take from me what you cannot give.
3. Wise kings generally have wise counselors; and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one.
4. I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough.
5. We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.
6. The vine bears three kinds of grapes: the first of pleasure, the second of intoxication, the third of disgust.
7. As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.
8. I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
9. The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.
10.. When I look upon seamen, men of science and philosophers, man is the wisest of all beings; when I look upon priests and prophets nothing is as contemptible as man.
Photo:Diogenes looking for a man - attributed to JHW Tischbein.jpg; picture of painting from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; quotes from BrainyQuote Internet. Diogenes of Sinope (also Diogenes the Cynic) was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy. Also known as Diogenes the Cynic, he was born in Sinope, an Ionian colony on the Black Sea, in 412 or 404 BCE and died at Corinth in 323 BCE
Lamp is symbolic of Life; it is the light of divinity, wisdom, intellect, and good works. It is the pinnacle symbol of self-sacrifice, as it consumes itself to offer light to the world. So does the lamp of Florence Nightingale, the lamp of Diogenes searching for an honest man at midday, the torch of the academe that spread the light of knowledge and wisdom.
Light a Candle
Who is Florence Nightingale? She is one of the most famous women of the world. She is the founder of the nursing profession
Her first patient was a dog. And this is the story.
Teaching is an art. It is an art of the masters - Aristotle, Plato, Christ, and many great teachers of the Renaissance that brought the world out of the Dark Ages. While we have developed modern techniques in teaching, it is important to look back into the past.
It is looking back at the lamp that enabled our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, to write his last masterpiece, the lamp Florence Nightingale held over her patients at the warfront, the lamp that made Scheherazade’s “one thousand and one nights” stories, the lamp a Greek philosopher held high at daylight “searching for an honest man.” Or the lamp fireflies make and glow with the spirit of joy and adventure to a child.
But why do we look back and ponder on a tiny light when the world basks in the sunshine of progress and development, of huge networks of learning, of high technologies in practically all fields of endeavor? I’ll tell you why – and why we teachers must.
But first let me tell a story of a computer enthusiast, who like the modern student today relies greatly on this electronic gadget, doing his school work so conveniently like downloading data for his assignment. So one day he worked on his assigned topic – love.
He printed the word and set the computer to define for him L-O-V-E. Pronto the computer came up with a hundred definitions and in different languages. Remembering his teacher’s instruction to ask, “How does it feel to be in love?” again he set the computer to respond. And you know what?
After several attempts, the computer printed on its screen in big letters, “I can not feel.”
Where is that main ingredient of human relations – feeling – today?
• Where is the true feeling between teacher and student?
• Where is the feeling of joy at the end of a teaching day, in spite of how hard the day had been?
• Where is that tingling feeling of the student for having recited well in class?
• Where is that feeling in singing the National Anthem, the school hymn?
• Where is that feeling Rizal felt when a moth circled the lamp in his prison cell while he wrote, Mi Ultimo Adios?
• Where is that burning desire that drove Michaelangelo to finish single-handedly the huge murals of the Sistine Chapel?
• That drove Vincent Van Gogh to madness – madness the world learned a new movement in the art – expressionism - years after?
• That kept Florence Nightingale, the founder of the nursing profession, make her rounds in the hospital in the wee hours of the morning?
• The lamp that strengthened Plato’s resolve to change the way people should think in the light of truth and justice.
Feeling. There is a song Feelin, and the lyrics ask a lot of questions about human nature changing with the times. I do not think human nature has changed. It is as stable as Nature herself and the natural laws that govern the universe.
What we are saying is that our ways are changing. The conformity of our actions is more with the rules we set rather than the philosophies on which they are founded. It is our quest for want above our needs that has blinded us and benumbed our feelings, that has taken us to the so-called fast lane so that we no longer see objects as they are, but abstracts, that has made us half-humans in the sense that we spend half of our lives dealing with machines – who have no feelings.
What then is modern man? I am afraid we have to review some of our references on the Janus-like character of man, like -
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The Prince and the Pauper
• The Princess and the Frog
• The movies - Mask, Superman, Batman, Spiderman
• Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter
• Cartoons and animated movies
The doubling of characters in man has led him away from permanence. Today, the biggest crisis in man is his impermanence. Impermanence in his domicile, nay, his nationality, political party. Affiliation in business and social organizations, and most disturbingly, with his marriage and family.
When was the last time we said to ourselves – or experienced - the following.
• It’s a weekday for my family and nothing else.
• How I wish I can help my child of his math assignment.
• I’ll teach only this year and will find a more rewarding job after.
• I think it’s time to settle down.
• I want to go to a concert and enjoy the fine art of music.
• Can’t I put all my ideas in a book?
• It’s always meeting – can’t we just talk?
• This dizziness, it must be the pressure of my work.
• Maybe I can concentrate on my thesis this time.
• I have not finished reading “Da Vinci Code”.
• This summer I’ll be with my parents.
Here are ways by which we can brighten up our lamp amidst the factors that test our dedication of our profession as teachers.
1. Be yourself. Be natural.
2. Keep on learning
3. Be a model of your family and community
4. Relax
5. Use you faculties fully and wisely
Be Natural
Naturalness is a key to teaching. I saw a film, Natural with then young award-winning Robert Redford as the principal actor. It is a story of a baseball player who became famous. The central theme of his success is his naturalness. Naturalness in pitching, batting - in the sport itself, above all, in his relationship with his team and fans.
Our students can easily sense our sincerity. They shun from us if we are not. They cannot fully express themselves, unless we show our genuine love and care for them. Develop that aura that attracts them, that keeps relationship easy to adapt or adjust.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Who dares to teach must never ceases to learn.”
- John Cotton Dana
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be a Model
A teacher must have more time for himself and for his family. Teaching is an extension of family life. And this is the primordial stimulus that makes your family a model family and you as a model teacher – because you cause the light of the lamp to radiate to others.
3. Wise kings generally have wise counselors; and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one.
4. I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough.
5. We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.
6. The vine bears three kinds of grapes: the first of pleasure, the second of intoxication, the third of disgust.
7. As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.
8. I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
9. The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.
10.. When I look upon seamen, men of science and philosophers, man is the wisest of all beings; when I look upon priests and prophets nothing is as contemptible as man.
Part 2 - Florence Nightingale - The Lady with a Lamp
Dr Abe V Rotor
Lamp is symbolic of Life; it is the light of divinity, wisdom, intellect, and good works. It is the pinnacle symbol of self-sacrifice, as it consumes itself to offer light to the world. So does the lamp of Florence Nightingale, the lamp of Diogenes searching for an honest man at midday, the torch of the academe that spread the light of knowledge and wisdom.Light a Candle
In the dark look at the sky and the starsThey’re living gems, a thousand eyes;They soothe the soul, heal wounds into scars –They come to mingle with fireflies.
Short is life; man is but a living dust,But many great things come to pass.Someday you shall learn from the sages,Those who live through the ages.
Not for glory, they fill the emptiness;Go light a candle in gladness.Fireflies and stars in the night are one,Like flowers that bear the sun.- avrotor
Who is Florence Nightingale? She is one of the most famous women of the world. She is the founder of the nursing profession
Her first patient was a dog. And this is the story.
One day when she was a girl she happened to pass by a wounded sheep-dog on the roadside. The shepherd told her that his dog met an accident and broke a leg. The wound was so bad that the dog would have to be killed since this was the custom in those days.
She did not delay; she made splints and bandaged the wound, and not for long the dog was running about again. The shepherd was very thankful to Florence, and when she became famous he would tell people that her first patient had been his dog, Cap.
In 1854 war broke in Crimea in the southern part of Russia. It was fought between Russia on one side and Turkey, helped by Britain and France, on the other. Florence was then 34 years old, and had convinced her rich parents to let her become a nurse.
The conditions prevailing in the Crimean War were getting worse. There were no hospitals, or if there were, they were poorly managed. There were few doctors and nurses were more of housekeepers of hospitals. It is not like the hospitals we know today. There were as many wounded soldiers dying due to lack of proper medical attention, as there were in the battlefield, a condition the British soldiers were experiencing.
On receiving this news the Minister of War in England wrote a letter to Florence requesting her to organize a team of nurses to go to Crimea, which is more than a thousand miles away, and would take weeks to reach through poor roads and rough seas.
She accepted the challenge and immediately set forth with 38 women volunteers, most were devoted nurses from religious hospitals. They braved the stormy sea, and when they were on the way, the Battle of Balaclava was being fought. This is the famous battle in British history known as The Charge of the Light Brigade.
This is how a survivor described the battle.
“Because of the mistake about what they were supposed to do, these six hundred men galloped along a valley more than a mile long, with Russian cannon shooting at them from all sides. Many of them were killed and wounded, but they never stopped until they had ridden right up to the cannon and captured them.”
The wounded soldiers from the Battle of Balaclava were among the first patients of Florence and her volunteers.
The life of nurses was very hard in those days. They attended to many household and kitchen works. There was very little time to rest. What made the condition worse was because women in those days were not equally treated with men. There was discrimination, especially by the doctors who were all males.
But Florence persevered, so with the remaining volunteers and new nurses she trained. The hospitals became very clean and orderly. She established a system of management. There were enough supplies. Gardens were cultivated to supply the hospitals with fresh fruits and vegetables. There were fewer patients dying than before and they were recovering much faster.
Florence would be holding a lamp in the middle of the night, or into the wee hours in the morning, just to check the conditions of the patients. This scene became the symbol of the modern nursing profession.
Here in our country we have many battles to be fought. But these battles are not those in Crimea many years back. The enemy is different yet the objective is the same – the welfare of the people. We need fighters against poverty, disease and hopelessness. We need fighters who give themselves unselfishly, voluntarily without fear.
We have leaders in the Philippines in the like of Florence Nightingale. One of them is Dr. Fe del Mundo, a medical doctor who founded the hospitals for children. These hospitals are among the best managed government hospitals in the Philippines today. Because of these hospitals thousands and thousands of children have been saved. Many more patients were given proper medical attention in the last fifty years or so. Many doctors and nurses have been trained to follow the example set by Dr. Del Mundo.
People who have apparently lost hope find the lamp in the middle of the night burning bright. Florence Nightingale and Fe del Mundo are making their rounds. ~
She did not delay; she made splints and bandaged the wound, and not for long the dog was running about again. The shepherd was very thankful to Florence, and when she became famous he would tell people that her first patient had been his dog, Cap.
In 1854 war broke in Crimea in the southern part of Russia. It was fought between Russia on one side and Turkey, helped by Britain and France, on the other. Florence was then 34 years old, and had convinced her rich parents to let her become a nurse.
The conditions prevailing in the Crimean War were getting worse. There were no hospitals, or if there were, they were poorly managed. There were few doctors and nurses were more of housekeepers of hospitals. It is not like the hospitals we know today. There were as many wounded soldiers dying due to lack of proper medical attention, as there were in the battlefield, a condition the British soldiers were experiencing.
On receiving this news the Minister of War in England wrote a letter to Florence requesting her to organize a team of nurses to go to Crimea, which is more than a thousand miles away, and would take weeks to reach through poor roads and rough seas.
She accepted the challenge and immediately set forth with 38 women volunteers, most were devoted nurses from religious hospitals. They braved the stormy sea, and when they were on the way, the Battle of Balaclava was being fought. This is the famous battle in British history known as The Charge of the Light Brigade.
This is how a survivor described the battle.
“Because of the mistake about what they were supposed to do, these six hundred men galloped along a valley more than a mile long, with Russian cannon shooting at them from all sides. Many of them were killed and wounded, but they never stopped until they had ridden right up to the cannon and captured them.”
The wounded soldiers from the Battle of Balaclava were among the first patients of Florence and her volunteers.
The life of nurses was very hard in those days. They attended to many household and kitchen works. There was very little time to rest. What made the condition worse was because women in those days were not equally treated with men. There was discrimination, especially by the doctors who were all males.
But Florence persevered, so with the remaining volunteers and new nurses she trained. The hospitals became very clean and orderly. She established a system of management. There were enough supplies. Gardens were cultivated to supply the hospitals with fresh fruits and vegetables. There were fewer patients dying than before and they were recovering much faster.
Florence would be holding a lamp in the middle of the night, or into the wee hours in the morning, just to check the conditions of the patients. This scene became the symbol of the modern nursing profession.
Here in our country we have many battles to be fought. But these battles are not those in Crimea many years back. The enemy is different yet the objective is the same – the welfare of the people. We need fighters against poverty, disease and hopelessness. We need fighters who give themselves unselfishly, voluntarily without fear.
We have leaders in the Philippines in the like of Florence Nightingale. One of them is Dr. Fe del Mundo, a medical doctor who founded the hospitals for children. These hospitals are among the best managed government hospitals in the Philippines today. Because of these hospitals thousands and thousands of children have been saved. Many more patients were given proper medical attention in the last fifty years or so. Many doctors and nurses have been trained to follow the example set by Dr. Del Mundo.
People who have apparently lost hope find the lamp in the middle of the night burning bright. Florence Nightingale and Fe del Mundo are making their rounds. ~
Part 3 - The Lamp of Knowledge
Light your Lamp and Keep it Bright
Dr Abe V Rotor
Socrates, father of Philosophy, on his deathbed. He was condemned to die by drinking hemlock, a poison, for corrupting the minds of the youth. The Lamp of Knowledge
It is looking back at the lamp that enabled our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, to write his last masterpiece, the lamp Florence Nightingale held over her patients at the warfront, the lamp that made Scheherazade’s “one thousand and one nights” stories, the lamp a Greek philosopher held high at daylight “searching for an honest man.” Or the lamp fireflies make and glow with the spirit of joy and adventure to a child.
But why do we look back and ponder on a tiny light when the world basks in the sunshine of progress and development, of huge networks of learning, of high technologies in practically all fields of endeavor? I’ll tell you why – and why we teachers must.
But first let me tell a story of a computer enthusiast, who like the modern student today relies greatly on this electronic gadget, doing his school work so conveniently like downloading data for his assignment. So one day he worked on his assigned topic – love.
He printed the word and set the computer to define for him L-O-V-E. Pronto the computer came up with a hundred definitions and in different languages. Remembering his teacher’s instruction to ask, “How does it feel to be in love?” again he set the computer to respond. And you know what?
After several attempts, the computer printed on its screen in big letters, “I can not feel.”
Where is that main ingredient of human relations – feeling – today?
• Where is the true feeling between teacher and student?
• Where is the feeling of joy at the end of a teaching day, in spite of how hard the day had been?
• Where is that tingling feeling of the student for having recited well in class?
• Where is that feeling in singing the National Anthem, the school hymn?
• Where is that feeling Rizal felt when a moth circled the lamp in his prison cell while he wrote, Mi Ultimo Adios?
• Where is that burning desire that drove Michaelangelo to finish single-handedly the huge murals of the Sistine Chapel?
• That drove Vincent Van Gogh to madness – madness the world learned a new movement in the art – expressionism - years after?
• That kept Florence Nightingale, the founder of the nursing profession, make her rounds in the hospital in the wee hours of the morning?
• The lamp that strengthened Plato’s resolve to change the way people should think in the light of truth and justice.
Feeling. There is a song Feelin, and the lyrics ask a lot of questions about human nature changing with the times. I do not think human nature has changed. It is as stable as Nature herself and the natural laws that govern the universe.
What we are saying is that our ways are changing. The conformity of our actions is more with the rules we set rather than the philosophies on which they are founded. It is our quest for want above our needs that has blinded us and benumbed our feelings, that has taken us to the so-called fast lane so that we no longer see objects as they are, but abstracts, that has made us half-humans in the sense that we spend half of our lives dealing with machines – who have no feelings.
What then is modern man? I am afraid we have to review some of our references on the Janus-like character of man, like -
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• The Prince and the Pauper
• The Princess and the Frog
• The movies - Mask, Superman, Batman, Spiderman
• Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter
• Cartoons and animated movies
The doubling of characters in man has led him away from permanence. Today, the biggest crisis in man is his impermanence. Impermanence in his domicile, nay, his nationality, political party. Affiliation in business and social organizations, and most disturbingly, with his marriage and family.
When was the last time we said to ourselves – or experienced - the following.
• It’s a weekday for my family and nothing else.
• How I wish I can help my child of his math assignment.
• I’ll teach only this year and will find a more rewarding job after.
• I think it’s time to settle down.
• I want to go to a concert and enjoy the fine art of music.
• Can’t I put all my ideas in a book?
• It’s always meeting – can’t we just talk?
• This dizziness, it must be the pressure of my work.
• Maybe I can concentrate on my thesis this time.
• I have not finished reading “Da Vinci Code”.
• This summer I’ll be with my parents.
Here are ways by which we can brighten up our lamp amidst the factors that test our dedication of our profession as teachers.
1. Be yourself. Be natural.
2. Keep on learning
3. Be a model of your family and community
4. Relax
5. Use you faculties fully and wisely
Be Natural
Naturalness is a key to teaching. I saw a film, Natural with then young award-winning Robert Redford as the principal actor. It is a story of a baseball player who became famous. The central theme of his success is his naturalness. Naturalness in pitching, batting - in the sport itself, above all, in his relationship with his team and fans.
Our students can easily sense our sincerity. They shun from us if we are not. They cannot fully express themselves, unless we show our genuine love and care for them. Develop that aura that attracts them, that keeps relationship easy to adapt or adjust.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Who dares to teach must never ceases to learn.”
- John Cotton Dana
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Be a Model
Florence Nightingale Lady with the Lamp - founder of the nursing profession
A teacher must have more time for himself and for his family. Teaching is an extension of family life. And this is the primordial stimulus that makes your family a model family and you as a model teacher – because you cause the light of the lamp to radiate to others.
And it is not only the school that you bring in the light. It is the community because you are also lighting the lamp of others, including the tiny glow in your young students. When they get home, when they interact with their community in whatever capacity they can, even only among their playmates, relatives and neighbors, they are in effect sharing that light which is also the light of understanding and unity.
Relax
Great achievements are usually products of relaxed minds. Relaxation allows the incubation of thoughts and ideas. Churchill found time to paint during the Second World War. In his relaxed mind he made great decisions that saved
Use Your Faculties Fully and Wisely
Our brain is made up of the left hemisphere, the thinking and reasoning part, and the right hemisphere, the seat of creativity and imagination. Together they reveal an enormous capacity of intelligence, which are pictured in eight realms. These are
1. Logic
2. Languages
3. Music
4. Spatial
5. Interpersonal
6. Intrapersonal
7. Kinesthetics
8. Naturalism
From these realms the teacher draws out his best qualities. He explores, decides, adapts, entertains, leads, and stands courageously to lead the young.
Here he sows the seed of knowledge. And in the young the seed grows, and grows, which the educator Henry Adams expresses in this line.
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
ANNEX A - Light up your life!
When life seems to come to a stop
Dr Abe V Rotor
Get close to Nature, befriend her creatures.
Birds sing not only for their own kind,but to the world that shares their joy,in melodies notes may not capture,but the heart and spirit they buoy.
Find joy with a baby and bring back the joyful years of life.
Love the word child for it never dies;it may sleep as we grow old;it wakes us up like The Little Prince,when we're lost and troubled.
When the head seems too heavy to carry... when life seems to come to a stop,
give yourself a break before you break down.
Have you walked the sea floor at its lowest ebb,on the shoal and coral reef?It's Nature's way of cleansing and renewing lifein a cycle of joy and grief.
Get out of your shadow...
There is a girl afraid of her own shadow,she tried to run away from it in panic.She outgrew the trauma and even talkedto her shadow when lost and sick.
Catch butterflies and friends...
(Author, third from left, with his students at UST Graduate School,
on an educational field trip in Amadeo, Cavite)
.jpg)
Puppet show time - you the actor and subject.
Make happy faces...lean on a strong shoulder
(Author and his family in their light moments)
Get out of your box. Be the real you.
Author and daughter Anna, Avilon Zoo, Rizal
Be a dear or deer ... flower girls the second time around.
Get out of your box before it's too late;prison disguised in comfort and care;it's all yours to act and no one else will,to open its door or break its walls. ~
ANNEX B - Old Lighthouse of a Rocky Cove
Dr Abe V Rotor
Old Lighthouse of a Rocky Cove in acrylic by AVRotor (50" x 47")
You had your days of the sailing ships,guiding them all away from danger;and the rocks had grown passive and kindunyielding though to time and wear.
I used to climb your spiraling staircase,and gaze the horizon on your deck;waiting for sunset and glow of your lamp,or catch your waning light at daybreak.
But that was many, many years ago,brave sentinel of sea and sky,bright and wonder to far, far away land,perhaps even to angels passing by.
I came home one sunset, and you asked,where in the world I have long been;standing tall still, oh, my dear old friend,light beams coming out of your ruin.~
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