Chris Evans announces he's leaving Radio 2

From Father Brian D’Arcy, a Catholic Passionist priest:

They say a happy life is spent learning, earning and yearning.

This week I’ve noticed colder days, shorter evenings and more traffic, so it must be back-to-school time. Personally I hated school with all its pressures of passing exams, homework and being afraid of cross teachers. Education then was based on the principle that children should be seen but not heard.

It’s different now. Children are individuals in their own right. Nelson Mandela believed that history will judge us by the difference we make in the lives of our children. When education gives the young both roots and wings they blossom and bloom.

Education is not something you complete; it goes on forever. If you’re not willing to learn, no one can make you; if you are willing to learn no one can stop you. The Book of Proverbs advised “Teach your child in the skills of life and even in old age they will never forget it.” (22:6)

Schools can determine how we turn out in life. I was raised in a small rural area. At that time the secret to an educated future was determined by the infamous 11-plus tests. Pass that exam and you got a free grammar school education; fail it and you quit school at the first opportunity.

 My father knew that if I continued at our local school I’d fail. So, as an 8 year-old, he sent me to live with an aunt 40 miles away to make sure I got the best opportunity. I didn’t appreciate it at the time but I couldn’t have been a priest without my father’s foresight.

Ever since, I try to encourage young adults to persevere in education. Learning is an easy load to carry. Both failure and mistakes are essential parts of the University of Life. You can never learn from your mistakes, though, if you keep denying them.

Learning opens up new worlds to us. Read a book and you learn to live in someone else’s world. If you don’t try, you’ll never win; If you don’t ask, the answers is always no. If you don’t step forward you’ll always be stuck in the same place. That’s life!