While working this weekend I heard an amazing tale to learn
from via a radio interview.
Leo Koretz was a financial wizard who “made” 400 million (in
today’s money) around 1910 by convincing people to invest in worthless Arkansas
rice farms, Panama timber operations, and then later Panama oil extraction. He
was so persuasive that people begged him to take their money to invest in his
financial empire. One person even threw a bundle of money over an office wall,
with written instructions pleading for him to invest the funds! Every bit of
the operation was fake, however, as investors who travelled to Panama found out
when they showed up expecting a bustling oil empire and found nothing there.
The entire operation was a fraud. He “hid” in Nova Scotia for a time before
being sent back to face charges in Chicago.
The interview with the researcher got very interesting after
the story was told. How could someone so talented and effective go so far
astray? The response was “the lack of an inner compass” that didn’t guide him
correctly. Abruptly, the interview ended to my dissatisfaction. So, why am
recounting this to you
on our Christian School newsletter?
First, it is essential to realize that we aim to much more than
deliver the content of learning. We seek to impart knowledge that is always
accompanied with wisdom. Wisdom orients action. Our present students will
eventually be charged with key leadership pieces in their life that offer, much
like Mr. Koretz, the opportunity to use it for God’s kingdom or for something
else. We are the training grounds for making future decisions well.
Second, the need for our children to be equipped with
discernment and critical thinking to choose well in a sometime confusing world
of choice and “opportunity” is essential for their future well-being. Unlike
the many who were duped and hitched their dreams to Mr. Koretz’s imaginary
wagon of success, we want our students to be critical thinkers with good
questions that pursue truth and God’s kingdom.
What a joy that we can give our students more than a compass to find their way.
SJ
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