Headmaster Update from
Mr. Janikowsky:
Personal Density
Personal density is a concept I have been wrestling with over the past two weeks as I read Alan Jacobs’ new book, Breaking Bread With The Dead. I found the book to be witty, thoughtful, amusing, and extremely helpful.
Dr. Jacobs taught literature at Wheaton College and now is the Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the Honors Program at Baylor University. He makes the case that the path to a more tranquil mind is through developing personal density. Both personal density and a tranquil, God-honoring mind are products of reflection, but reflection upon the right things. He demonstrates through examples and stories how engaging in great literature and history is essential to see ourselves afresh.
Over his many years of teaching, Dr. Jacobs observed a disturbing trend in his students. They are so engrossed in the data and social messaging of the moment that their temporal bandwidth is jammed. They are on information overload, beset by social acceleration that exceeds their emotional capacity. They resort to information triage without a rubric to rightly judge, and they are enticed by algorithmic marketing that never challenges thoughts or ideas. These trends have accentuated the fear of missing out (FOMO). Dr. Jacobs summarizes “That is why some therapists who work with young people today say that the single greatest source of stress and anxiety for them is the sheer number of choices they have before them, which generates the fear that if they make the wrong choices they may not be able to overcome their own errors.” Toss in the Coronavirus pandemic with its fear of missed experiences, too much screen time, and social isolation, it is no wonder that many teens are at their wits’ end. To borrow Dr. Jacobs phrase, we are at a “frenetic standstill!”
The value of the book is not in its analysis of modernity, but its ability to encourage us to look back and “mine the treasures, the stories and history of the past.” In reading older books, we see fully formed stories, people, sins, successes, tragedies, and triumphs. We do not see perfection. So looking back requires us to both understand the times, the zeitgeist (spirit of the age), as well as to evaluate it. What can we learn? What is wrong? What options were not considered? What solutions are worthy of further reflection and modern application? To process these stories from the past, we must develop the skills of discernment and discrimination. We have to evaluate and examine to see what is true, good, and beautiful. Importantly, in identifying the differences and un-likenesses from today, we think deeply and build personal density. We give ourselves the ability to deal with this cultural moment, learning that it is OK to reject without hesitation appeals upon our time that take us away from more important reading and thinking.
To our students, are you reading great books besides the ones our teachers have you read in class? To our parents, is your reading list one that will challenge you to engage the past and expose you to the treasures of our Western tradition? As families, are you reading together, listening to books on tapes, and discussing how as Christians we should think about what we have read and heard?
Dr. Jacobs concludes his short book with “What I am talking about…is the need for a disposition to love: to love the too-often-neglected voices from our past.” The book “is an argument for a genealogy of love.” In order for us and our children to chart our way into the future, we need vivid imaginations, bold ideas, calm hearts, and clear-thinking minds. The witness of the past, starting with the witness of Scripture, is a mirror to see more clearly into the future. While we cannot control the future, we can strive to build the personal density to control our responses, honor God, and serve our neighbor.
I hope you will consider reading Dr. Alan Jacobs’ book, Breaking Bread With The Dead.
