Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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To George E. Case, M.D., our school physician from 7938 to 7967, a good friend of the staff and students of Pickering College, this edition of the Voyageur is affectionately dedicated. Five

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A Personal Word To The S tudenls Teach me, 0 lord, the way of thy statutesg AndI shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law,' Yea, Ishall observe it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandmentsg For therein do I delight. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,- Andnot to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, And quicken me in thy ways. Confirm thy word unto thy servant. Let thy mercies also come unto me, 0 Lord. Even thy salvation, according to thy word. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouthg For I have hoped in thy judgments. So shall I observe thy law continualbf, For ever and ever. And I will walk at liberty. Psalm 119. Are we losing our right to walk at liberty? The events of these turbulent years: wars, riots, violence and assassinations must cause a young man like your- self to wonder what freedom really is and how it can be attained. It seems to us at Pickering that the Psalmist has the answer to these questions so essential to man's survival. His belief that freedom exists only under law is a difficult concept to learn and to teach. No doubt he means moral or spiritual law, for man's love of good for himself and his fellows makes moral and spiritual demands on him which must in turn be reflected in his legal statutes. The philosophy of our school, given to us by the Society of Friends, has always been based on the belief that adolescents know how to handle freedom or can learn how to handle it. Here we want to have confidence and trust in youth. There are times when youth abuses such trust, perhaps believing that freedom means the right to do anything one wants, to have one's own way, no matter what the cost. Some children grow up into adolescence and into adulthood with this same misunderstanding, slow to learn that our personal freedom ends where it infringes upon the freedom of another individual or harms the freedom of the group - whether it be family, friends, school or country. It is here that law and religion meet, our law commanding us to respect the rights of others and our faith making us realize that we should do unto others as we would that they do unto us. Now, the happiest groups, the most civilized communities,are those inspired by an understanding of law, rather than by fear of the law and its punishment. Such a community we want Pickering College to be. Here the wise and mature student does his best, not because he fears punishment or restriction of privilege, but because he wants the freedom and self-respect that come from doing his best. CCont'd on page eighty Seven