Saturday, February 28, 2009
So accurate it's scary...
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Stuff White People Like -
Thankfully, since white people only keep their most original and creative ideas in the Moleskine, many of them will only be required to purchase one per lifetime.
One of the strangest side effects has been the puzzling situation whereby a white person will sit in an independent coffee shop with a Moleskine notebook resting on top of a Apple laptop. You might wonder why they need so many devices to write down thoughts?
So when you see a white person with one of these notebooks, you should always ask them about what sort of projects they are working on their free time. But you should never ask to actually see the notebook lest you ask the question “how are you going to make a novel out of five phone numbers and a grocery list?”
--
This week in class, I really did pull out my black, unlined moleskine notebook to copy down a quote on the board - my students asked me about it - I bragged about how awesome they were.
Scary....sad....true....
#122 Moleskine Notebooks
Best lines....Thankfully, since white people only keep their most original and creative ideas in the Moleskine, many of them will only be required to purchase one per lifetime.
One of the strangest side effects has been the puzzling situation whereby a white person will sit in an independent coffee shop with a Moleskine notebook resting on top of a Apple laptop. You might wonder why they need so many devices to write down thoughts?
So when you see a white person with one of these notebooks, you should always ask them about what sort of projects they are working on their free time. But you should never ask to actually see the notebook lest you ask the question “how are you going to make a novel out of five phone numbers and a grocery list?”
--
This week in class, I really did pull out my black, unlined moleskine notebook to copy down a quote on the board - my students asked me about it - I bragged about how awesome they were.
Scary....sad....true....
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Choosing to not fast
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I always look forward to today: Ash Wednesday. Since starting the practice of observing a Lenten fast, I've grown to love the tradition and have a found a deep connection with God during the days leading up to Good Friday and Easter.
I always look forward to today: Ash Wednesday. Since starting the practice of observing a Lenten fast, I've grown to love the tradition and have a found a deep connection with God during the days leading up to Good Friday and Easter.
But this year, I've decided not to fast, for a few reasons. The first is that I feel the greatest need in my life is to continue to adopt the practice of fixed hour prayer and incorporate it more into my daily routine.
But I've also been thinking about how I have used fasting as a sort of spiritual crutch in the past. It was a measurent, a feel good, a way that I could assure myself that I was "ok." I think fasting has many benefits and I will continue the practice, but this year I want to be excited and anticipate Good Friday and Easter not because I will finally get to eat chocolate or drink coffee, but because the resurrection will have become a part of my daily and even hourly life.
Simply because I love God.
*Update: If I were to fast, I think this would be it - I may adopt some of these changes this month anyway - great site.
Worship Songs...an update
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My last post was about some songs we were thinking about playing in chapel this week. I thought that I would write a little about how the service ended up going -
Joel was planning to speak about the parables of Jesus, and so as a band, we incorporated that idea into the purpose and explanation for playing "secular/radio" songs in the singing (worship) time of the service. The students introduced each song, and talked about how God can use ordinary things to communicate a message. We read the simple parable that I wrote, which emphasizes that God is present in the every day, and not just in the "Christian" places.
It was interesting how everything ended up tying together. The students seemed to really enjoy playing the songs, and the students who were watching certainly recognized them. I don't know if it was helpful for worship, but perhaps they thought about God differently, or in a new light. Perhaps they encountered him in a new way.
When Joel shared about parables, he pointed out that we often think we immediately know the meaning of Jesus' words. But we have to read and re-read, and be willing to have our understanding and perception changed. I thought that connected with the songs in a unique way - that sometimes God surprises us through radio songs.
Overall, it was a special service, and rather incredible how it all tied together. I don't know how often we will sing "radio" songs in chapel, but I am convinced now that there is at least some benefit to such songs.
Joel was planning to speak about the parables of Jesus, and so as a band, we incorporated that idea into the purpose and explanation for playing "secular/radio" songs in the singing (worship) time of the service. The students introduced each song, and talked about how God can use ordinary things to communicate a message. We read the simple parable that I wrote, which emphasizes that God is present in the every day, and not just in the "Christian" places.
It was interesting how everything ended up tying together. The students seemed to really enjoy playing the songs, and the students who were watching certainly recognized them. I don't know if it was helpful for worship, but perhaps they thought about God differently, or in a new light. Perhaps they encountered him in a new way.
When Joel shared about parables, he pointed out that we often think we immediately know the meaning of Jesus' words. But we have to read and re-read, and be willing to have our understanding and perception changed. I thought that connected with the songs in a unique way - that sometimes God surprises us through radio songs.
Overall, it was a special service, and rather incredible how it all tied together. I don't know how often we will sing "radio" songs in chapel, but I am convinced now that there is at least some benefit to such songs.
Monday, February 23, 2009
"Worship" Songs
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Thinking a lot about so-called "worship" songs today - my students in our "chapel band" at school decided they wanted to bring back the 90's and play some of what I call "cross over" or "quai-Christian" songs. So tomorrow we'll be doing "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon, "Hanging by a Moment" by Lifehouse, and "Everywhere" by Michelle Branch. Now, other than the fact that these songs are straight out of my high school years (as disturbing as that is), the songs have really got me thinking about worship and music in church settings - admittedly the first time these songs have ever got me thinking before.
So, I think that my years at Lee conditioned me to think of "worship" songs primarily as song that direct praise to God, and more generally that bring the worshipper (I) into connection with God (Thou). The point of worship is an upwards relationship, seeing God face-to-face, encountering him as he is and as I am, in honesty and vulnerability. I think that Matt Redman's "Facedown" album would be one of the best worship albums in that sense. He sings, "Worship starts with seeing You" and I think that is true in so many ways. We sing to God, we praise God, we bless God, we encounter God and we worship him.
But what about other songs that come from the heart as accurate and true representation of our spiritual life, or perhaps even our life as a whole. What if we aren't necessarily singing to God, but are singing about God? Is that worship?
My hunch is that the contemporary Protestant circles would decline to sing such songs, and perhaps that is why the more theologically laden hymns have largely disappeared from Protestant hymnals. Instead we have "praise choruses" that are designed to be a joined expression of singing praise to God.
But the old hymns used to be sung for instruction as much as anything. Lyrics and tunes were easier to learn and remember than biblical Latin, so Luther used bar tunes. Contemporary Christian music thinks it is doing the same thing when we use the six-string and the tom-toms to "Sing, Sing, Sing" or to "Lift his name on high" - which is great to do, for sure. But what if this isn't a real reflection of our spiritual life?
I love rock songs, like Goo Goo Dolls "Let Love In" or lately, "the Fray" - I used to really hate to read in Christian meaning to so-called secular songs. But one of the things that I reflect on a lot in Emergent is that the divide between the sacred and the secular is more a creation of my own mind and sub-division of my life, rather than the reality of God's presence in the world. Therefore, it is fully possible - and perhaps I should even expect it to be a common and frequent occurance - to encounter God in "secular" (or not-intentionally-written-for-church) songs. Just like we encounter truth (Truth? God?) in movies, in nature, in the faces of people we pass on the street.
And so if singing lyrics like "He is everything you want; he is everything you need" is a heart-felt, true spiritual expression, is that worship? Can our understanding of what "counts" for worship be a lot broader than our current defintions? If all creation is singing to God, does that include the top 10 pop hits?
Thinking a lot about so-called "worship" songs today - my students in our "chapel band" at school decided they wanted to bring back the 90's and play some of what I call "cross over" or "quai-Christian" songs. So tomorrow we'll be doing "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon, "Hanging by a Moment" by Lifehouse, and "Everywhere" by Michelle Branch. Now, other than the fact that these songs are straight out of my high school years (as disturbing as that is), the songs have really got me thinking about worship and music in church settings - admittedly the first time these songs have ever got me thinking before.
So, I think that my years at Lee conditioned me to think of "worship" songs primarily as song that direct praise to God, and more generally that bring the worshipper (I) into connection with God (Thou). The point of worship is an upwards relationship, seeing God face-to-face, encountering him as he is and as I am, in honesty and vulnerability. I think that Matt Redman's "Facedown" album would be one of the best worship albums in that sense. He sings, "Worship starts with seeing You" and I think that is true in so many ways. We sing to God, we praise God, we bless God, we encounter God and we worship him.
But what about other songs that come from the heart as accurate and true representation of our spiritual life, or perhaps even our life as a whole. What if we aren't necessarily singing to God, but are singing about God? Is that worship?
My hunch is that the contemporary Protestant circles would decline to sing such songs, and perhaps that is why the more theologically laden hymns have largely disappeared from Protestant hymnals. Instead we have "praise choruses" that are designed to be a joined expression of singing praise to God.
But the old hymns used to be sung for instruction as much as anything. Lyrics and tunes were easier to learn and remember than biblical Latin, so Luther used bar tunes. Contemporary Christian music thinks it is doing the same thing when we use the six-string and the tom-toms to "Sing, Sing, Sing" or to "Lift his name on high" - which is great to do, for sure. But what if this isn't a real reflection of our spiritual life?
I love rock songs, like Goo Goo Dolls "Let Love In" or lately, "the Fray" - I used to really hate to read in Christian meaning to so-called secular songs. But one of the things that I reflect on a lot in Emergent is that the divide between the sacred and the secular is more a creation of my own mind and sub-division of my life, rather than the reality of God's presence in the world. Therefore, it is fully possible - and perhaps I should even expect it to be a common and frequent occurance - to encounter God in "secular" (or not-intentionally-written-for-church) songs. Just like we encounter truth (Truth? God?) in movies, in nature, in the faces of people we pass on the street.
And so if singing lyrics like "He is everything you want; he is everything you need" is a heart-felt, true spiritual expression, is that worship? Can our understanding of what "counts" for worship be a lot broader than our current defintions? If all creation is singing to God, does that include the top 10 pop hits?
A (bad) parable
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The Kingdom of Heaven is Like...
...yeast in dough that is baked into bread
...planting seeds in a field, and then weeds grow
...finding the greatest treasure in the world and hanging onto it
...catching all kinds of different fish with only one net
...throwing a wedding reception but different people than you would expect showed up
...paying all the workers the same amount, even though they don't deserve it
...a student who attended a Christian school their entire life. Day after day, the Word of God was preached and taught, discussed and learned. Many meaningful verses were memorized, and powerful worship songs were sung in chapel. The student loved God, but also loved the world - the words, the songs and the material things of the world.
One day, at an unexpected moment, the student heard God's voice speak. While listening to music, not in chapel or in the Christian school classroom, but over the airwaves of the radio station, while driving along the freeway. God's voice spoke clearly, in truth, in love.
"I am here too."
The Kingdom of Heaven is Like...
...yeast in dough that is baked into bread
...planting seeds in a field, and then weeds grow
...finding the greatest treasure in the world and hanging onto it
...catching all kinds of different fish with only one net
...throwing a wedding reception but different people than you would expect showed up
...paying all the workers the same amount, even though they don't deserve it
...a student who attended a Christian school their entire life. Day after day, the Word of God was preached and taught, discussed and learned. Many meaningful verses were memorized, and powerful worship songs were sung in chapel. The student loved God, but also loved the world - the words, the songs and the material things of the world.
One day, at an unexpected moment, the student heard God's voice speak. While listening to music, not in chapel or in the Christian school classroom, but over the airwaves of the radio station, while driving along the freeway. God's voice spoke clearly, in truth, in love.
"I am here too."
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Moments
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There are moments, some longer than others, that are hard to define and feel in your person, in your self, that you "belong" or "fit" or that everything is "right" - I read a play on words yesterday where the word "atonement" was broken down into "at - one - ment" - or the state of being at one....with the world, purpose, yourself, existence, the divine.
I haven't felt that for a few days - no real reason - it's just one of those longer moments for me.
I love the appleseed cast - and I love this song that's entitled "Moment #72" - it's obviously a love song, but the music, the drive, the intensity of it helps me to feel more "at - one - ment" - lyrics below:
secrets of.
curtains love.
blinds.
a hideaway.
long hand falls.
the moment slows down.
and nothing moves.
count the seconds passage.
lies.
concealed your hands.
wear this moment's wretched finery.
this moment's words fade away.
the silence says more.
the secrets fall.
you shout out lies by just standing there.
a face of smile.
i could not see you.
only my reflection
I haven't felt that for a few days - no real reason - it's just one of those longer moments for me.
I love the appleseed cast - and I love this song that's entitled "Moment #72" - it's obviously a love song, but the music, the drive, the intensity of it helps me to feel more "at - one - ment" - lyrics below:
secrets of.
curtains love.
blinds.
a hideaway.
long hand falls.
the moment slows down.
and nothing moves.
count the seconds passage.
lies.
concealed your hands.
wear this moment's wretched finery.
this moment's words fade away.
the silence says more.
the secrets fall.
you shout out lies by just standing there.
a face of smile.
i could not see you.
only my reflection
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Jesus-ism
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That term - "Jesus-ism" - is taken from a brilliant writer I just discovered, Jenell Paris, and her wonderful series of blogposts on "Things Evangelicalism Likes." #2 was "the word "Jesus" and she points out that,
"Jesus is a historical person whose actions and sayings should be cited often. Fair enough. But in addition, it seems that evangelicalism likes Jesus used as a blank screen onto which we project our notions of perfection, completion, beauty and the like. Evangelicalism may think it lifts up Jesus to use him as a master metaphor, but I’m not so sure. I’d call it Jesus-ism, turning the person of Jesus into an ideology."
I've thought about this for a few days now, and really think she is on to something. I find myself theologizing and philosophizing, and when I think something is right or true or beautiful, I automatically associate it with Jesus. In sermons, classrooms, books, and music videos, Jesus is the ideal of everything.
On the one hand, I don't think that is bad or even necessarily wrong. But the danger is that we have forgotten that Jesus was (and is) a real person. We might forget what his real words were, and instead insert some cute phrases tha we read on church signs as we drove to work. Just because it makes you feel good and it rhymes doesn't mean it's right or that Jesus said it. One of my favorite examples is the popular phrase that is attributed to Jesus to be "in the world but not of the world." It's a cute turn of prepositions in the english language, but I can't find it in the Bible anywhere (perhaps I just missed it, but the closest I can find is John 17 when Jesus prays for his disciples).
I would agree with Ms. Paris - it is common, and dangerously easy, for us to project our best conception of truth and reality onto an image of Jesus that then becomes an ideology of our own creation, and not the 1st century rabbi who subverted the common religious ideologies of his day.
That term - "Jesus-ism" - is taken from a brilliant writer I just discovered, Jenell Paris, and her wonderful series of blogposts on "Things Evangelicalism Likes." #2 was "the word "Jesus" and she points out that,
"Jesus is a historical person whose actions and sayings should be cited often. Fair enough. But in addition, it seems that evangelicalism likes Jesus used as a blank screen onto which we project our notions of perfection, completion, beauty and the like. Evangelicalism may think it lifts up Jesus to use him as a master metaphor, but I’m not so sure. I’d call it Jesus-ism, turning the person of Jesus into an ideology."
I've thought about this for a few days now, and really think she is on to something. I find myself theologizing and philosophizing, and when I think something is right or true or beautiful, I automatically associate it with Jesus. In sermons, classrooms, books, and music videos, Jesus is the ideal of everything.
On the one hand, I don't think that is bad or even necessarily wrong. But the danger is that we have forgotten that Jesus was (and is) a real person. We might forget what his real words were, and instead insert some cute phrases tha we read on church signs as we drove to work. Just because it makes you feel good and it rhymes doesn't mean it's right or that Jesus said it. One of my favorite examples is the popular phrase that is attributed to Jesus to be "in the world but not of the world." It's a cute turn of prepositions in the english language, but I can't find it in the Bible anywhere (perhaps I just missed it, but the closest I can find is John 17 when Jesus prays for his disciples).
I would agree with Ms. Paris - it is common, and dangerously easy, for us to project our best conception of truth and reality onto an image of Jesus that then becomes an ideology of our own creation, and not the 1st century rabbi who subverted the common religious ideologies of his day.
Monday, February 9, 2009
A Different Kind of "Recovery"
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http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/economic-recovery-1-and-2.html
Great post by Brian McLaren. I especially like point 4. This is a
refreshing read. If you like it then check out "Everything Must Change"
Emergent Twitter posted this article from "The American Spectator" (which I've never read before) but it is a divergent view from McLaren's...not sure how much substance there is too it, but here it is anyway.
Wow! McLaren responded, and all I can say is "Oh, snap!" Really (really) good stuff - read it here
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Suspension
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I went to church twice this weekend. I know - bad idea. I could write and whine and criticize about a lot of things, but I'll try to distill into a few paragraphs what has been plaguing me for about a year now.
The concept of Christian religion demands resolution, requires confirmed belief, invites the partaker to rest, to arrive, to be at peace. But my soul is continually in upheaval, and my questions, fears and my faith have not arrived at a point of resolution - but I think I'm still ok.
I heard a lot of testimonies this weekend. One service had an aspect in it that was really cool and really powerful. Various people from the church came out with a cardboard box that had a bad situation or a sin on one side, and then they flipped it over and the other side had the positive testimony that God had "fixed" the situation. It was moving; it was encouraging; it was effective. But it also sent the subliminal message that every Christian, although they may have problems, also must find answers - or there is something wrong with them.
So what of the Christian who is still searching? What of the believer who is loosing faith, loosing hope, and exploring doubt? What of the invalid who isn't healed? What of the marriage that ends in divorce? What of the sex addict who still thinks women are hot? What of "JESUS" isn't a magic word, a slap-it-on bandaid, and patch for any and every wound?
One phrase Peter Rollins threw out last week is still ringing in my head: God isn't the patch that we slap on to make everything alright - he is the wound that has cut us deep.
When I was sitting in church this weekend, I heard the message that whatever problem I may have right now - financial, physical, spiritual, sexual - is at its core a problem with Jesus and a problem Jesus can fix. And I heard that the problem must be fixed.
But I am still broken - and my life is still broken. So I live suspended between doubt and faith; between sickness and healing; between rupture and restoration. I look forward to and hope for and seek a resolution, but the dissonance has heightened my awareness of life. Of what it means to be human. Of what it means to say that God loves me - unconditionally.
I went to church twice this weekend. I know - bad idea. I could write and whine and criticize about a lot of things, but I'll try to distill into a few paragraphs what has been plaguing me for about a year now.
The concept of Christian religion demands resolution, requires confirmed belief, invites the partaker to rest, to arrive, to be at peace. But my soul is continually in upheaval, and my questions, fears and my faith have not arrived at a point of resolution - but I think I'm still ok.
I heard a lot of testimonies this weekend. One service had an aspect in it that was really cool and really powerful. Various people from the church came out with a cardboard box that had a bad situation or a sin on one side, and then they flipped it over and the other side had the positive testimony that God had "fixed" the situation. It was moving; it was encouraging; it was effective. But it also sent the subliminal message that every Christian, although they may have problems, also must find answers - or there is something wrong with them.
So what of the Christian who is still searching? What of the believer who is loosing faith, loosing hope, and exploring doubt? What of the invalid who isn't healed? What of the marriage that ends in divorce? What of the sex addict who still thinks women are hot? What of "JESUS" isn't a magic word, a slap-it-on bandaid, and patch for any and every wound?
One phrase Peter Rollins threw out last week is still ringing in my head: God isn't the patch that we slap on to make everything alright - he is the wound that has cut us deep.
When I was sitting in church this weekend, I heard the message that whatever problem I may have right now - financial, physical, spiritual, sexual - is at its core a problem with Jesus and a problem Jesus can fix. And I heard that the problem must be fixed.
But I am still broken - and my life is still broken. So I live suspended between doubt and faith; between sickness and healing; between rupture and restoration. I look forward to and hope for and seek a resolution, but the dissonance has heightened my awareness of life. Of what it means to be human. Of what it means to say that God loves me - unconditionally.
Friday, February 6, 2009
My new favorite website....
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...Michele Norris Facts
We are all familiar with the funny-the-first-time-but-"oh God please make it stop"-annoying-Chuck Norris Facts.
And now we have "the anti-Chuck" - NPR's Michele Norris. She's a woman; she's black' she's on radio, not TV (most of the time); she's liberal. Not an official webpage, but so funny. Here's a sampling:
We are all familiar with the funny-the-first-time-but-"oh God please make it stop"-annoying-Chuck Norris Facts.
And now we have "the anti-Chuck" - NPR's Michele Norris. She's a woman; she's black' she's on radio, not TV (most of the time); she's liberal. Not an official webpage, but so funny. Here's a sampling:
Michele Norris Fact #20
February 3rd, 2009
Talk of the Nation was originally called Norris of the Nation,
until NPR realized that Michele Norris could not be contained by this
galaxy let alone one medium-sized nation on planet Earth.
A broken system...
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...American education -
I'm no expert, for sure. Yeah I'm in my fifth year of teaching, but I didn't take one class in even basic education theory. There is no state certificate for teaching religion, so I have figured out my own way the last five years. But that's not the point -
What seems broken now is the overall mentality toward education and personal achievement in America. Nicholas Kristoff is lamenting Congress' decision to trim the stimulus package by removing money for education - and the response he gets from readers is so vicious and divided it is obvious that our country doesn't know where to go in terms of education. All we know is something is seriously wrong.
First some quotes from Kristoff:
"I’m increasingly of the view that our nation’s top priority...must be revitalizing
our education system." I wouldn't have a problem agreeing with this statement, but the "revitalization" has to penetrate beyond just the schools and into the homes of Americans.
"Come on, senators, education is the best way to fight poverty, the best
way to break the cycle of the underclass, the best way to ensure a
broader distribution of opportunity in America, the best way to
preserve our country’s economic competitiveness. And it’s just as good
for stimulus purposes as repaving a road — and you still want to throw
those school children out the window?" Right on - I'm so pissed at the latest "debates" regarding the stimulus package. Well-off senators talking about the "best interests" of Americans when it seems the concerns are more re-election and securing their "clients" (not their constituents) vote. Drinking my morning coffee, listening the updates every day, the partisan voting and "debating" - all I can say is euugghhkkkk.......How do we think throwing more money at the big corporations who are concerned with their bottom line and their CEO's salaries is going to "stimulate" the economy? I have appreciated Obama's long term view in this bill, but it seems that the Senators are to near-sighted and thick-headed to consider what "job security" is going to mean beyond next Christmas.
Beyond Kristoff's great article (and I so much appreciate his op-ed pieces lately), it is unnerving to read the comments on the blog: 336 just this afternoon, and many offering drastically different positions - pointing the blame in a hundred different directions - teachers, administration, the home, the students, lack of funding, diversity, etc. etc. This is why I'm most concerned about the nation's education system - it is so broken we are not even sure what it would mean to fix it any more. We can't locate the problem, and so we can't work to find a solution.
What I have learned by teaching for five years is that education is so much more than test scores and homework. There is an entire system (and I mean that in the most comprehensive sense) that shapes and impacts a student from pre-K through college. The biggest influence on this system is the prevailing worldview of America: Consumerism and Ego-centrism. In my opinion, this is what drives our education. The goal of students is not to learn for the sake of knowledge, for the sake of bettering themselves and society, for the purpose of development and contributing to make a more beautiful world. But rather students offer the answers they are supposed to so they can get it over with so they can get back to whatever it is they want to do - which is usually texting.
We need to paint a new picture, tell a new story and sing a new song. One that goes beyond fame and fortune, and finds beauty. We need to teach our students how to live, how to cope, how to wrestle with life and death. Instead, we are offering more money, more technology, and less education.
I hope we can find the problem soon so we can all work together to fix it - but just like the latest debates regarding "economic stimulus" have shown, the plank in our nation's eye is so huge, we are nearly blind.
I'm no expert, for sure. Yeah I'm in my fifth year of teaching, but I didn't take one class in even basic education theory. There is no state certificate for teaching religion, so I have figured out my own way the last five years. But that's not the point -
What seems broken now is the overall mentality toward education and personal achievement in America. Nicholas Kristoff is lamenting Congress' decision to trim the stimulus package by removing money for education - and the response he gets from readers is so vicious and divided it is obvious that our country doesn't know where to go in terms of education. All we know is something is seriously wrong.
First some quotes from Kristoff:
"I’m increasingly of the view that our nation’s top priority...must be revitalizing
our education system." I wouldn't have a problem agreeing with this statement, but the "revitalization" has to penetrate beyond just the schools and into the homes of Americans.
"Come on, senators, education is the best way to fight poverty, the best
way to break the cycle of the underclass, the best way to ensure a
broader distribution of opportunity in America, the best way to
preserve our country’s economic competitiveness. And it’s just as good
for stimulus purposes as repaving a road — and you still want to throw
those school children out the window?" Right on - I'm so pissed at the latest "debates" regarding the stimulus package. Well-off senators talking about the "best interests" of Americans when it seems the concerns are more re-election and securing their "clients" (not their constituents) vote. Drinking my morning coffee, listening the updates every day, the partisan voting and "debating" - all I can say is euugghhkkkk.......How do we think throwing more money at the big corporations who are concerned with their bottom line and their CEO's salaries is going to "stimulate" the economy? I have appreciated Obama's long term view in this bill, but it seems that the Senators are to near-sighted and thick-headed to consider what "job security" is going to mean beyond next Christmas.
Beyond Kristoff's great article (and I so much appreciate his op-ed pieces lately), it is unnerving to read the comments on the blog: 336 just this afternoon, and many offering drastically different positions - pointing the blame in a hundred different directions - teachers, administration, the home, the students, lack of funding, diversity, etc. etc. This is why I'm most concerned about the nation's education system - it is so broken we are not even sure what it would mean to fix it any more. We can't locate the problem, and so we can't work to find a solution.
What I have learned by teaching for five years is that education is so much more than test scores and homework. There is an entire system (and I mean that in the most comprehensive sense) that shapes and impacts a student from pre-K through college. The biggest influence on this system is the prevailing worldview of America: Consumerism and Ego-centrism. In my opinion, this is what drives our education. The goal of students is not to learn for the sake of knowledge, for the sake of bettering themselves and society, for the purpose of development and contributing to make a more beautiful world. But rather students offer the answers they are supposed to so they can get it over with so they can get back to whatever it is they want to do - which is usually texting.
We need to paint a new picture, tell a new story and sing a new song. One that goes beyond fame and fortune, and finds beauty. We need to teach our students how to live, how to cope, how to wrestle with life and death. Instead, we are offering more money, more technology, and less education.
I hope we can find the problem soon so we can all work together to fix it - but just like the latest debates regarding "economic stimulus" have shown, the plank in our nation's eye is so huge, we are nearly blind.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
"The Frames" Vid
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I was just reminded of this wonderful song - I saw Glen Hansard and Market Irglova on tour with the Swell Season, and they played this song with so much energy and passion, and they taught it to the crowd and had us sing along....oh it was beautiful - lyrics posted below video
People all get ready
'Cos we're tearing down the stand
Rebuild what's gone unsteady
And see it through with newer hands
And what has gone between us
Is a lot, is a lot
And who'll be there to clean us
If you're not, if you're not
People all get ready
'Cos we're breaking down again
Rebuild what's gone unsteady
And see it through with wiser hands
And what has gone between us
Is a lot, is a lot
And who'll be there to ignore us
When you're not, when you're not
We have all the time in the world
To get it right, to get it right
We have all the time in the world
To set alight, to set alight
People all get ready
'Cos we're breaking down the band
Rewrite what's gone already
And see it through with wiser hands
And what has gone between us
Is a lot, is a lot
And who'll be there to ignore us
When you're not, when you're not
And we have all the time in the world
To get it right, to get it right
And we have all the love in the world
To set alight, to set alight
Just look up, just look up
People all get ready
'Cause we're coming to a stop
People all get ready
'Cos we're tearing down the stand
Rebuild what's gone unsteady
And see it through with newer hands
And what has gone between us
Is a lot, is a lot
And who'll be there to clean us
If you're not, if you're not
People all get ready
'Cos we're breaking down again
Rebuild what's gone unsteady
And see it through with wiser hands
And what has gone between us
Is a lot, is a lot
And who'll be there to ignore us
When you're not, when you're not
We have all the time in the world
To get it right, to get it right
We have all the time in the world
To set alight, to set alight
People all get ready
'Cos we're breaking down the band
Rewrite what's gone already
And see it through with wiser hands
And what has gone between us
Is a lot, is a lot
And who'll be there to ignore us
When you're not, when you're not
And we have all the time in the world
To get it right, to get it right
And we have all the love in the world
To set alight, to set alight
Just look up, just look up
People all get ready
'Cause we're coming to a stop
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