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NFS Grundtvig was a 19th century Danish leader, hymn-writer, and pastor who sought ways to educate and lift up the common people in an age that was still dominated by royalty, nobility, and an intellectual elite. Grundtvig thought that education should be not only in the style of Latin learning but should be accessible to farmers and peasants. Grundtvig’s inspiration helped lead to folk schools in Scandinavia. The folk school sessions often were scheduled from November- April during the slow season for the farmers; soon women were included in the folk schools as well. Grundtvig believed that the folk schools should be for the enlightenment of the people, and one of his best-known songs is titled “Enlightenment”:

Is light just for the learned to debate and to control?
No! Light is heaven’s gift, and
heav’n shines its light on all.
Not with the scholar but the
farmer does the sun rise up,
Enlightens best those most
immersed in life from toe to top.

The amazing thing for university-educated Grundtvig was to assert that “light” is not dependent upon university education or upon someone with credentials, but that we all should receive this light. The scandalous statement from Grundtvig is that light rises up with the farmer and those most immersed in life; that enlightenment is not just to lift up only some people but is for farmers, peasants, and other women and men, too. It is not anti-intellectualism, but rather anti-elitism. Enlightenment is for all.

Thus folk schools became filled with the forms that Grundtvig most loved: song, conversation, and attention to the whole person.

Grundtvig believed that songs uplift and educate people; songs are an extension of human development and art. By singing the vast array of songs he wrote, Grundtvig believed the peasants could be strengthened for everyday life through learning both their ethnic stories and Bible stories. Grundtvig spent a great deal of time studying and translating Nordic mythology. He saw those myths as oral stories that communicated values and guidance for people in the Nordic countries. Grundtvig translated Beowulf, for instance, as well as stories about Odin and Thor and Freya. He believed these Nordic myths which had helped shaped Scandinavian life for centuries could now help Danes to listen anew for the living word.

Grundtvig’s view of the folk schools was that they would not be shaped by grades or tests (neither of which are used at folk schools to this day). They would be schools for life where everyone over 18 would be welcome to learn and be enlightened. Grundtvig wrote:

Enlightenment is our treasure,
although it slowly seeps in.
But over time the living word
brings life-enlightenment.
Light springs from people’s deeds
and grows through constant tender care,
It shines in the people’s counsel till
stars turn to sun’s glare.

Enlightenment is not an immediate, sudden experience but comes through time and tender care. If we look, we can see light in the deeds of people who show care around us. “The people’s counsel” also referred to the new democratic changes that were happening in Denmark in the last half of the 19th century. With those changes, the people were finding an opportunity to share the wisdom gained through their own lives – in fields and trades and homes – in leading community life.

Grundtvig especially highlighted the simple joys of everyday life. He struggled at times with depression and could barely get himself out of bed. At other times he wrote and met with people in a near-manic energy. Yet through all his ups and downs he saw and appreciated the simple joys of life in his time – the seasons of rural life, the larks and labor common in Denmark, the stories and sounds of the ocean. His prolific creativity in writing and poetry has continued to influence Nordic music and poetry by focusing on everyday experiences. When his sons were confirmed, Grundtvig wrote a poem that is an inspiring ode to our existence. The first stanza sounds like this:

A simple, joyful, active life on earth
Is one which I would not with royalty exchange.
We walk in our ancestors’ wise footsteps,
With equal worth in castle and in cottage.
With eyes turned heavenward as God creates,
Awake to beauty and greatness still here on earth,
Yet knowing deep longings that stay unfilled
Until eternity in glory gives them birth.

This shows the life-enlightenment of Grundtvig. May we each live in this joy and grow in awareness of the simple, joyful, active life on earth!

Peace,
T-Blogger

Posted in: on Friday, January 8, 2010 at at 12:00 AM 98 comments