Never Too Old

There have been in my short and young life words and phrases which somehow were not explained or defined to/for me. I ever attempted to devine from context the meaning or intent of any mysterious reference. Some of these challenges remain, even unto my ninth decade – and it is with deep gratitude that I have been privileged to search the Internet for solutions.

A glaring example is “Manifest destiny.”  I first encountered this in 1954. 

 In my college History course the teacher challenged the class for justification of the 

expansion of the United States westward to the Pacific.

Silence. Nobody seemed to know.

With characteristic eagerness to seem erudite I exploded with the phrase Manifest destiny.

I had absolutely no concept of its meaning – but I had recently heard it, and intuitively assumed its relevance. The teacher simply nodded and pointed to me in affirmation, then continued with the lecture. I was fortunate that I was not asked to explain the concept.

The incident imprinted in my consciousness, and has remained a mystery until now ... the year 2021.

Today, in my ongoing search for knowledge and understanding, I was led to review some Kipling, and thence to “Manifest destiny.”[1]

At long last have I at least a vague understanding of the meaning.

“Never too old ...”

[1] "The White Man's Burden" (1899), by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine–American ... and manifest destiny of the early 19th century.