Looking for Ideas?

Comedian Paula Poundstone once quipped, “Adults are always asking kids what they want to be when they grow up because they are looking for ideas.”

Indeed, life’s journey offers us endless choices. The problem is, as some say, “by the time you know your way around, you don’t feel like going.” Perhaps that is somewhat the way author John Stuart Mill felt at one point in his life. In his autobiography, Mill says that his father had recognized that he was a very gifted child and proceeded to cram his head with all sorts of knowledge. However, since he had no religious faith of his own, the father would not allow anything religious to become part of his son’s education.

Looking back on his education with a deep sense of loss, John Stuart Mill said that his mind was full with information, but his soul was starved. He said, “I was left at the commencement of my voyage with a well-equipped ship — but no…