Robert Darwin’s Disappointing Boy

Robert Darwin was a very successful physician, and his wife, Susannah Wedgwood of the pottery family, had money and influence. So for their little boy Charles, the fifth of six children, obviously intelligent and gifted, only the best education would do.

Growing up, young Charles showed an early fascination with the natural world, collecting specimens of minerals and plants, and wanted to know how all of nature worked and fit together. Robert, however, had other ideas for his son, so when it came time for university, Charles was shipped off to the University of Edinburgh, which at that time had (and probably still does) one of the finest medical schools in the world.

Charles found most of the study of medicine uninteresting, and in particular was horrified and deeply put off by surgery. On the side, though, he joined the local naturalist’s club where he met many of the leading thinkers of the day. And then, ultimately, he joined our illustrious club of dropouts.

Robert, somewhat annoyed that his son would not follow in his footsteps, decided on the next best thing and sent Charles off to Christ’s College, Cambridge, to study for the clergy. At least Charles would have a respectable career.

But Charles spent more time with the leading geologists and botanists at Cambridge than he did with theologians, so instead of taking the cloth, at twenty-two years of age he joined the crew of the HMS Beagle as a naturalist, and for the next five years had the time of his life examining fossils and nature around the world, resulting in his career as a leading scientist of natural selection, ultimately publishing On the Origin of Species in 1859, a pivotal work. If I may put it in the double negative, nobody has never heard of Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin refused the chance to spend his life practicing and hating the profession of medicine, and passed on leading the quotidian life of a country vicar. Instead, he followed his heart, his loves, and his Giftings in science, to ultimately articulate the theory of evolution.

In my legal career I had many colleagues who entered the profession only because their parents insisted upon it, whether because of family tradition, or as seeing it as a way to rise above their humble immigrant history, and who hated every minute of it. They had no joy, just a job.

One colleague in particular had been given three choices: law, medicine, or the Church. Since he liked girls, the Church was out. And he fainted at the sight of blood, so scratch medicine. Left with only one choice, he went to law school. He actually became a very decent lawyer, but to him, it was still just a job.

For most of us deeply into our careers, it’s not easy to admit we don’t much like what we do. But for those in their early stages, or better still, for those still in the formative years, or even better, for those still making choices, how much better that we can follow our hearts to spend our lives as they were meant to be spent, living in the joy of exercising our Giftings for those who need us.

This is dedicated to Jasmine, Rylee, Sienna, David, Mallory, and Lincoln, who will follow their dreams and their Giftings in ways that a Grandad can only imagine!