In Midst of Knowledge

We took Henry to the British Museum again last night. This time, we wandered around the Mesopotamian art on the 1st floor (as opposed to the ground floor) and the Roman artifacts that have been collected around Britain. While we were there, I snapped this photo of Henry and Derek as they wandered around the Great Court.

The quote is from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's The Two Voices.

Knowledge comes from many places. Reading, writing, even television has its merits when it comes to education (hello Discovery Channel!). But one thing I've learned in my time as a budding "globe trotter,"is the beauty of being in the place "where it happened."

I'll never forget standing in Independence Hall in Philadelphia years ago. To be in the place where my country was born, to see the actual chair President George Washington sat in when he presided over the Constitutional Convention--I mean! My breath caught in my chest, and even as a 12 year old, I knew I was experiencing something special.

Nauvoo was a similar experience--even more so because of it's religious significance. And every corner of London, Rome, Paris, and Cambridge has offered me a moment of "wow, so and so was here! And he saw this!" or "she did this here! she changed the world in this very spot!"--I love that.

I want to teach my children to put their feet in the midst of knowledge. You all know how I feel about reading--it is essential and my favorite activity as an individual and with my family. But there is more to life than just in the pages of a book! I want my children to stroll through Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. I want to take them to the field of Gettysburg and the gently rolling hills of Valley Forge. I want them to view the cliffs of Dover, the beaches of Normandy, the fields of Flanders. I want them to toss a coin in Trevi Fountain, or get a kiss on the top of the Eiffel Tower. There is nothing quite like putting your feet on the soil of another country, but especially in a place where incredible things occurred.

It is not lost on me that this quote is on the floor of a museum. By setting foot in the British Museum, we set our feet right smack dab in the midst of knowledge. Just last night, we saw the Rosetta Stone, tablets from Ancient Mesopotamia, the helmets of ancient Saxons, jewelry from the Roman patricians. Henry's little feet kicked through galleries of ancient objects for over an hour. That's something no book, no video, no podcast can recreate.

I have my parents to thank for teaching me this important principle. And with that legacy, I hope to pass on my love of learning to my children. I hope to set their feet in the midst of knowledge and, millenniums hence, find them weary from travel with hundreds of tales of their adventures through life, seeking knowledge.