Good morning, God, and thanks for this new day in our lives. It's Christmas Eve, and Christmas comes tomorrow. It's a day that I love to experience every year because it's a day when we're supposed to be focused on love, peace, joy, and hope. It's a day that originally was about you "coming" to earth as a person to be some sort of savior, though since you're everywhere all the time, it doesn't seem to be all that necessary for you to have to come to earth to "save" us. You do that all the time just by being, it seems to me. We're the ones who tend to shut you out of our lives, and that could make us feel that we need an intercessor when dealing with you.
I think I love Christmas mostly because of the ways that people focus on each other rather than themselves. Of course, I realize that much of what people do for others does come with selfish motives, but all in all, during this time of the year people are willing to do more for their fellow human beings with less question than we're willing to do during the rest of the year. It gets our focus outside of ourselves and on others and their wants and needs, and gets us in a frame of mind that allows us to try to meet some of those wants and needs.
I often wonder what the world would be like if we could approach life and living and other people in that way, every day of the year. I think that Christmas acts as a wonderful reminder of what we're supposed to be like and how we're supposed to act, but the shame of it is that it's wrapped up in a day that's now more about commercialism and getting than it is about compassion and giving.
So what do we do about Christmas? How do we make it about love and hope and not so much about the presents? When I look under the tree I see a lot of presents, and it's just my wife and me--shouldn't we be able to have a simple Christmas with no presents at all, and still enjoy the day just as much? Or am I compensating too much for having had so many Christmases with very few gifts? Or am I over-analyzing, and we just found quite a few things that we simply wanted to give to each other? I know that they're not super-expensive gifts, just some things that we thought we would like. I don't want to think too much about something that shouldn't be thought about too much, like motives for gift-giving.
A reply:
Christmas is rather complicated, isn't it? It's about the story of a virgin birth many years ago that didn't even take place in December, combined with non-religious holidays having to do with the winter solstice, now about gifts and food more than about togetherness and love. The togetherness is still there for many, many people, yet it's somehow become less important than the gifts and the parties and such. While it is nice to see children get excited about getting gifts, for example, you do them a great disservice when you teach them to equate a day with such an important message to getting gifts that are, for the most part, unnecessary in their lives--they may be enjoyable things like toys and books, but the vast majority of the gifts that are given are completely unnecessary, when all is said and done.
But isn't that what often makes gifts so special--the fact that they're things that you want, but wouldn't necessarily buy for yourself, or couldn't buy for yourself? A gift should be about the recipient's wants and needs, not about just needs. There are times in our lives when there isn't enough money to satisfy many of the wants, and then it's important to focus on the needs. But all in all, a gift is a gift, and there shouldn't necessarily be a need to quantify its value or justify it.
The gift that I gave to you--the gift upon which Christmas is based--is the ability to hope and to love. That's what the holiday is about, and you can make it whatever you want. It can be just as valuable with a thousand gifts under the tree as it can with no gifts under the tree. The gifts are a beautiful reminder of how good we can feel when we put our minds on others and their wants and needs. My hope is that people remember how that feels and continue to focus on others for the rest of the year. Of course, I can't force them to do so, so most people simply get caught right back up in their own little rat races or dramas, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try!
The gift I gave to you is my love, and I ask you to pass it on, any way that you know how, all day, every day, if possible. It's yours to do with as you please, but remember that the more we share it, the more it grows. Your goal is to help it spread around the entire world and to become a part of every person on this planet. A world of human beings who all are focused on love would be a beautiful world indeed.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Family Ties
Good morning, God, and thank you for this new day that we all have to live through. It's full of possibility and potential, and I'm grateful that I have a chance to live through it and experience all that it has to offer. I'm in Colorado now, visiting my parents for a couple of days, spending some time with them for the holidays, and it's pretty enjoyable so far. It's been warm and rainy, though a cold front and a storm are in the process of moving in.
It's really fascinating to me to consider family ties. In my family, I could easily have rejected the ties--there was enough strife and enough anger and pressure and dysfunction that waling away from it and never looking back would have been a very logical act. But I didn't do it, mostly because I've always known in my heart that doing so would have been a mistake. And now that my parents are much older and life is much different for all of us, I do see just how silly--and destructive--that would have been. That said, though, I do recognize that I've spent much of my time living rather far away from them, not necessarily on purpose, but that has been the reality.
I think it's safe to say that it's pretty impossible even to define family to the satisfaction of everyone involved. There are the genetic ties, of course, but past that, there are so many ways that different families diverge in their ways of being and of treating each other that it would be useless to try to find universals in our ideas of family. And that's okay, I suppose--the important thing is for me to define family for myself and to decide how I'm going to interact with my family so that they know that I love them and that they have someone to count on, rather than focusing on what I can get from family--even though that, too, is very important.
A reply:
Family is a fascinating concept, and one that allows people to feel a bit of security in a world that's constantly changing and that offers very little in the way of consistency. Of course, your concepts of family are changing a lot in today's world, which leads many people to feel extremely insecure, for that one part of their lives that used to be consistent is not longer so--some people are just as afraid of the changes in their own concepts of family as they are of the changes going on in the world around them. These people suffer greatly, for the refuge that they could and should be able to count on is not at all available to them. Having to go through life without any sort of safety net is truly a daunting task.
You've been right to keep the ties to your family strong, though you've also been fortunate that your family is one with which you can do so. And I would challenge your assertions about family and ask you to reconsider them as ties to your parents, for your ties to your siblings aren't nearly as strong. And you know why. Your siblings bring you down, while your parents don't do so. And you know that you can do nothing personally to change your siblings' situations or relationships to life, so maintaining strong ties with them would be extremely frustrating and possibly damaging to you and to the people in your new family.
It is a very good thing that you've maintained a strong relationship with your parents, and it's obvious that you'll continue to do so. This relationship will be something that helps you out in difficult times and that allows you to give to others in the form of being there for them, and giving them something to be proud of in their own ways. You'll constantly have to decide whether or not to strengthen your ties with your siblings, and that decision will be based on whether you can handle doing so, and whether the relationship will be balanced or imbalanced, healthy or damaging. Follow your heart.
It's really fascinating to me to consider family ties. In my family, I could easily have rejected the ties--there was enough strife and enough anger and pressure and dysfunction that waling away from it and never looking back would have been a very logical act. But I didn't do it, mostly because I've always known in my heart that doing so would have been a mistake. And now that my parents are much older and life is much different for all of us, I do see just how silly--and destructive--that would have been. That said, though, I do recognize that I've spent much of my time living rather far away from them, not necessarily on purpose, but that has been the reality.
I think it's safe to say that it's pretty impossible even to define family to the satisfaction of everyone involved. There are the genetic ties, of course, but past that, there are so many ways that different families diverge in their ways of being and of treating each other that it would be useless to try to find universals in our ideas of family. And that's okay, I suppose--the important thing is for me to define family for myself and to decide how I'm going to interact with my family so that they know that I love them and that they have someone to count on, rather than focusing on what I can get from family--even though that, too, is very important.
A reply:
Family is a fascinating concept, and one that allows people to feel a bit of security in a world that's constantly changing and that offers very little in the way of consistency. Of course, your concepts of family are changing a lot in today's world, which leads many people to feel extremely insecure, for that one part of their lives that used to be consistent is not longer so--some people are just as afraid of the changes in their own concepts of family as they are of the changes going on in the world around them. These people suffer greatly, for the refuge that they could and should be able to count on is not at all available to them. Having to go through life without any sort of safety net is truly a daunting task.
You've been right to keep the ties to your family strong, though you've also been fortunate that your family is one with which you can do so. And I would challenge your assertions about family and ask you to reconsider them as ties to your parents, for your ties to your siblings aren't nearly as strong. And you know why. Your siblings bring you down, while your parents don't do so. And you know that you can do nothing personally to change your siblings' situations or relationships to life, so maintaining strong ties with them would be extremely frustrating and possibly damaging to you and to the people in your new family.
It is a very good thing that you've maintained a strong relationship with your parents, and it's obvious that you'll continue to do so. This relationship will be something that helps you out in difficult times and that allows you to give to others in the form of being there for them, and giving them something to be proud of in their own ways. You'll constantly have to decide whether or not to strengthen your ties with your siblings, and that decision will be based on whether you can handle doing so, and whether the relationship will be balanced or imbalanced, healthy or damaging. Follow your heart.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Liars and Deceivers
Good morning, God, and thank you for today--we have a new day to make our ways through, with many new possibilities to explore and people to meet. Life is going on and on, and we're making our ways to the end of the year and the beginning of a new year--a year that I have to say doesn't fill me with hope and enthusiasm, given the fundamental changes that we're going to see, as well as the conflict and anger and frustration that are going to become part of so many people's lives in the near future.
I have to say that I don't understand how many people can see the lies and the manipulation that our president-elect is saying and practicing, yet still support him. It's frightening. They seem to feel that anything is okay as long as it fulfills their personal agendas--to the point of electing a leader who can't be trusted. At all. Not with anything he says or anything he does. I'm incredibly disappointed that this man has been made president, and I'm very fearful of what he's going to do to the people of this country. Now more than ever, we need your help, it seems.
Of course, I can't let the fear control me or dominate my life. I have to do the best I can to make sure that within my sphere of influence, things stay as stable and reliable as possible. But it is very difficult to watch other people support wrong, and to be unable to do anything about it.
Of course, I can't let the fear control me or dominate my life. I have to do the best I can to make sure that within my sphere of influence, things stay as stable and reliable as possible. But it is very difficult to watch other people support wrong, and to be unable to do anything about it.
A reply:
It's going to be a difficult time for very many people. Many people will become disenfranchised, alienated, threatened, fearful, angry, hopeless. Many others will learn from the status quo that it's okay to lie, that the ends justify the means. In some cases, it will become hard to hold people to high standards of honesty and integrity when their primary model of these two qualities shows little to none of either in his life.
Your focus, though, must be on what you can do to make things more positive for yourself and for the other people in your life--your family and students and friends and acquaintances. Even for strangers whom you've never met before. Enjoy their company, help them out, model the integrity and honesty that you feel should be the norm.
Your focus, though, must be on what you can do to make things more positive for yourself and for the other people in your life--your family and students and friends and acquaintances. Even for strangers whom you've never met before. Enjoy their company, help them out, model the integrity and honesty that you feel should be the norm.
And be aware. Whenever this type of change occurs, there are other changes that happen, too. More people become concerned and are willing to step out and take action on issues that before, they would have been glad to leave to someone else. More people are often willing to speak out for the good when more people are speaking out for the bad. People pull together in ways that they hadn't before, because they feel that the stakes are higher and they feel the threat of being personally affected by the negative new paradigms. There will be new groups formed and old groups will strengthen, and these groups will fight for social good, the good of all. Join them or support them.
The sun will come up again tomorrow no matter who is in which office. It's easy to say that this sounds defeatist, but it's not. It's stating a simple fact. And what you do with your life and your resources still is up to you. Have faith--in me, in yourself, in your fellow people. Things will be okay, even though there will have to be conflict in order to make sure of that. There will be hard times, and there will be times when it seems that hope is lost--don't let those times get the best of you. It really is all up to you. Hang in there, and do good. And keep the faith. The liars and the deceivers always have their downfall, and they usually bring it about themselves.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
A Different World
Good morning, God, and thanks for this new day! Thanks very much also for a nice Thanksgiving Day yesterday, and a safe and warm place to live, as well as the work that I have and the opportunities I have.
It's been quite a while since I last wrote you. There have been several occasions when I've wanted to, but it's been difficult with all that's been going on, both in my life and in the world in general. It's very hard to get a true feeling for how things are these days--there are so many negative things going on in the world that sometimes it's hard to stay focused on the positive. From our recent election here in the States to the protests at Standing Rock to the situation in Syria and the potential problems that are going to be hitting us over the next several years, things are getting kind of difficult to comprehend, much less handle.
In many ways, it seems that the world has changed significantly over the last few years, and not for the better. I know, though, that there really hasn't been a change in the world itself, just in what we see and what other people are willing to share. Violence and hatred and greed and prejudice have always been a part of some human beings' lives; it's just that now, we're seeing more of those things because more people feel comfortable in putting them out there for the world to see.
I think that my main concern is what I should do, now that these things are out in the open so much? How should I react? Should I do anything at all different, or simply keep on doing what I'm doing as far as the teaching and the websites are concerned? Mine is a minuscule voice in this world, and I don't know that it would have any effect at all, especially on its own. But with whom can I join voices? How can I work to make my voice heard in a way that will be effective--that will help people to see what's truly important in life, things like honesty and integrity and love for our neighbors? I know that people have been trying to get/help other people see these things for as long as human beings have been on this planet, but have met with limited success. How can I be more successful--or even slightly successful?
In many ways, it seems that the world has changed significantly over the last few years, and not for the better. I know, though, that there really hasn't been a change in the world itself, just in what we see and what other people are willing to share. Violence and hatred and greed and prejudice have always been a part of some human beings' lives; it's just that now, we're seeing more of those things because more people feel comfortable in putting them out there for the world to see.
I think that my main concern is what I should do, now that these things are out in the open so much? How should I react? Should I do anything at all different, or simply keep on doing what I'm doing as far as the teaching and the websites are concerned? Mine is a minuscule voice in this world, and I don't know that it would have any effect at all, especially on its own. But with whom can I join voices? How can I work to make my voice heard in a way that will be effective--that will help people to see what's truly important in life, things like honesty and integrity and love for our neighbors? I know that people have been trying to get/help other people see these things for as long as human beings have been on this planet, but have met with limited success. How can I be more successful--or even slightly successful?
I suppose if one word could describe my overall feeling about the world and everything in it right now, that word would be "discouraged." The world right now is not a place that encourages in most places and situations, and I'm feeling more and more the world around me as I grow older/grow up. It's quite a shame, but it's very real.
A response:
You've joined a very large club, that of human beings who have been discouraged by the actions and words of their fellow human beings. It seems that many people, no matter how much positive they have in their lives, are simply too afraid of losing everything to be able to understand that life isn't to be controlled and manipulated, that it's to be lived in a manner that shares love and compassion rather than a manner that focuses solely on personal gain, especially financial.
You live in a country that is truly blessed with wealth and abundance, but that has been manipulated and controlled by a relatively few people who have money and supposed "power." You and I know that the power they believe they have is fleeting and transient, but they are able to control and manipulate others due to their influence over other people who are too afraid to stand up to them. Their control has led to many unfortunate things, such as the disparity in wealth between those who have much and those who have little, the destruction of nature, the disenfranchisement of many minority groups, and the terrible reduction in the effectiveness of public education. Your country no longer has an educated populace in general--it has many, many people who function on a visceral level rather than thinking things through, for thinking intimidates them and makes them feel awkward and impotent.
When all these dynamics work together, it leads to results such as your country saw in its recent elections--when a hate-filled, misogynistic, racist, and not very smart person is elected to the highest office in your land. And many, many people simply cannot believe that such a thing can happen--even though this is a rather natural result when so much fear is present among your people.
Discouragement is a natural response when one sees that in spite of very obvious reasons for not doing something, people do it anyway. It's a natural response to seeing people not do something that seems to make complete sense. It's a loss of faith that the people who surround you really care about the world and the people and plants and animals in it. It's the loss of sureness that all that we do serves some purpose, that our actions and mere presence on this planet actually mean something.
Sometimes discouragement comes in a very big package, and it seems to overwhelm you. It sounds like you're there now. But keep your hope, because all is not lost. Life moves on, children continue to be born, and the world still needs its guides and teachers. You have your very concrete tasks in life that you've accepted fully, and it's up to you to continue to teach and guide, helping people to face life with less fear so that fewer things like those that just happened will occur in the future. We need to build our young people up so that fear isn't their biggest motivator. Only then will what you see around you start to resemble any kind of ideal that makes kindness and love its cornerstones.
When all these dynamics work together, it leads to results such as your country saw in its recent elections--when a hate-filled, misogynistic, racist, and not very smart person is elected to the highest office in your land. And many, many people simply cannot believe that such a thing can happen--even though this is a rather natural result when so much fear is present among your people.
Discouragement is a natural response when one sees that in spite of very obvious reasons for not doing something, people do it anyway. It's a natural response to seeing people not do something that seems to make complete sense. It's a loss of faith that the people who surround you really care about the world and the people and plants and animals in it. It's the loss of sureness that all that we do serves some purpose, that our actions and mere presence on this planet actually mean something.
Sometimes discouragement comes in a very big package, and it seems to overwhelm you. It sounds like you're there now. But keep your hope, because all is not lost. Life moves on, children continue to be born, and the world still needs its guides and teachers. You have your very concrete tasks in life that you've accepted fully, and it's up to you to continue to teach and guide, helping people to face life with less fear so that fewer things like those that just happened will occur in the future. We need to build our young people up so that fear isn't their biggest motivator. Only then will what you see around you start to resemble any kind of ideal that makes kindness and love its cornerstones.
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Being Tired
Good morning, God, and thanks for this new day in our lives! We're in our ninth week of the semester, which means that we're getting closer to the end, so my extreme busyness is coming close to an end finally. There are still almost two months to go, but with significant breaks on the horizon, it definitely looks doable. It's been a very busy semester, but it's also been very enjoyable.
I thank you for the chance to work hard for a season in order to make it possible to take time off later. This seems to be how I function best--work really hard for a time, then have some down time. It's a way of life that I enjoy, of course, or I wouldn't be doing it, and I'm glad that I have the chance again to do things this way. Who knows what the future will bring? I'm going to enjoy this now.
And I am enjoying the classes, though I do find myself getting tired. I think that a large part of it may have to do with the works that we're reading--I don't enjoy the particular book that we're on, and I wish I didn't have to lead discussions on it. It wears me out. But that's part of life, isn't it? And soon we'll move on to better and more interesting and not-so-violent works that will make class much more enjoyable.
I guess that this is just a rambling note, rather than something specific, but that's okay. It's very early in the morning and my brain is kind of scattered this morning, so life will go on. Not everything has to be focused strongly, does it?
In any case, thanks again for the day and the opportunity to work with some very special young people!
A response:
You're very welcome--I hope that you enjoy this day. And you're right: not everything needs to be focused strongly. Sometimes the best thing that we can do is just put out our thoughts just as they come to us, without trying to put them in any sort of order or category. When you can do that, you can often clear the distressing thoughts from your mind--the mere act of expressing them gets them out of there, making room for more productive and positive thoughts.
It's good that you know about your own rhythms and abilities, otherwise the difficult times would be harder to handle. When you know, though, that you will have down time after the busy time for recovery, the busy time isn't as draining. You have this time now for the learning and the teaching that you can do during it, so it's important that you make the most of it while it's here--for your sake and for the sake of your students. Long breaks for teachers are very important at the ends of semesters and school years, for the rest that they provide is really the only thing that makes such an intense job possible. Everyone has different tolerance levels, of course, but because teaching is a job with such a strong need for constant giving, it's a job that drains energy rather regularly.
Enjoy the rest of the semester. You have some really good students who have a lot to give to the world in the future, and part of what they will have to give will come from what they do in college, and part of what they get from college will come from you. So don't give up, and don't give less than you can--you have recovery time ahead.
I thank you for the chance to work hard for a season in order to make it possible to take time off later. This seems to be how I function best--work really hard for a time, then have some down time. It's a way of life that I enjoy, of course, or I wouldn't be doing it, and I'm glad that I have the chance again to do things this way. Who knows what the future will bring? I'm going to enjoy this now.
And I am enjoying the classes, though I do find myself getting tired. I think that a large part of it may have to do with the works that we're reading--I don't enjoy the particular book that we're on, and I wish I didn't have to lead discussions on it. It wears me out. But that's part of life, isn't it? And soon we'll move on to better and more interesting and not-so-violent works that will make class much more enjoyable.
I guess that this is just a rambling note, rather than something specific, but that's okay. It's very early in the morning and my brain is kind of scattered this morning, so life will go on. Not everything has to be focused strongly, does it?
In any case, thanks again for the day and the opportunity to work with some very special young people!
A response:
You're very welcome--I hope that you enjoy this day. And you're right: not everything needs to be focused strongly. Sometimes the best thing that we can do is just put out our thoughts just as they come to us, without trying to put them in any sort of order or category. When you can do that, you can often clear the distressing thoughts from your mind--the mere act of expressing them gets them out of there, making room for more productive and positive thoughts.
It's good that you know about your own rhythms and abilities, otherwise the difficult times would be harder to handle. When you know, though, that you will have down time after the busy time for recovery, the busy time isn't as draining. You have this time now for the learning and the teaching that you can do during it, so it's important that you make the most of it while it's here--for your sake and for the sake of your students. Long breaks for teachers are very important at the ends of semesters and school years, for the rest that they provide is really the only thing that makes such an intense job possible. Everyone has different tolerance levels, of course, but because teaching is a job with such a strong need for constant giving, it's a job that drains energy rather regularly.
Enjoy the rest of the semester. You have some really good students who have a lot to give to the world in the future, and part of what they will have to give will come from what they do in college, and part of what they get from college will come from you. So don't give up, and don't give less than you can--you have recovery time ahead.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
A Time for Being Busy
Good morning, God, and thank you for this new day in our lives. It promises to be a busy one for me instead of a day of rest, but I'm in a busy period, and what happens, happens. I'll have my rest soon enough, so this busyness is very tolerable.
It's something that's fascinating to witness in my life--the up and the down periods, the times when my schedule is so packed that I have almost no free time for anything, and the times when I have more free time than I even know what to do with. It's perplexing sometimes, but I am learning to live with it.
I think the main danger would be in making the busy times permanent--starting in some sort of work, for example, that didn't allow me to do other things that I love doing. I love teaching, but I also love coaching cross-country with middle-schoolers, and writing, and running. If I were to have work that didn't allow me to do any of those other things that I love doing, I'm not sure what my life would be like. I'm pretty sure that I'd be looking for a way out of that work--I certainly wouldn't resign myself to it and allow myself to suffer through it each day. Unless, perhaps, it was a job that helped many, many people, and that probably wouldn't get done if I weren't doing it.
Hmm.
A response:
You're welcome for the day. I hope that you're able to make the most of it, no matter how busy you may be.
Being busy is an important topic to focus on sometimes, for I certainly did not create you and your companions on earth to simply be workers. Your lives were not designed to fit a corporate need or a law firm's need or a hospital's need. Your jobs are very important because they give you something to work for and they give you a sense of accomplishment and ways to earn a living financially, but they are not meant to take up so much of your life that you're unable to enjoy other aspects of your lives. It's a shame that so many people have to make appointments to grab a cup of coffee with their friends; that so many people never get out into nature because their weekends are filled with the chores that they weren't able to do during the week; that so many people rarely sit down to a relaxed meal with their loved ones because they're still at work doing things that benefit their bosses.
A time of being busy is different. You know that from when you taught high school and coached three sports--the seasons came to an end, and you were able to rest. Rest does come in those situations, and they literally do follow the "for everything there is a season" rule. You can work eighty hours a week for a few weeks on a worthy task, and things are fine; when you do that for years on end, though, you've put your life out of balance and you're most definitely neglecting other things in your life that could be even more important than your work.
I wish you well during this busy time. You're in it for the right reasons, I think, and it will benefit your students greatly. Try to enjoy it, even. Your rest time will come soon enough.
It's something that's fascinating to witness in my life--the up and the down periods, the times when my schedule is so packed that I have almost no free time for anything, and the times when I have more free time than I even know what to do with. It's perplexing sometimes, but I am learning to live with it.
I think the main danger would be in making the busy times permanent--starting in some sort of work, for example, that didn't allow me to do other things that I love doing. I love teaching, but I also love coaching cross-country with middle-schoolers, and writing, and running. If I were to have work that didn't allow me to do any of those other things that I love doing, I'm not sure what my life would be like. I'm pretty sure that I'd be looking for a way out of that work--I certainly wouldn't resign myself to it and allow myself to suffer through it each day. Unless, perhaps, it was a job that helped many, many people, and that probably wouldn't get done if I weren't doing it.
Hmm.
A response:
You're welcome for the day. I hope that you're able to make the most of it, no matter how busy you may be.
Being busy is an important topic to focus on sometimes, for I certainly did not create you and your companions on earth to simply be workers. Your lives were not designed to fit a corporate need or a law firm's need or a hospital's need. Your jobs are very important because they give you something to work for and they give you a sense of accomplishment and ways to earn a living financially, but they are not meant to take up so much of your life that you're unable to enjoy other aspects of your lives. It's a shame that so many people have to make appointments to grab a cup of coffee with their friends; that so many people never get out into nature because their weekends are filled with the chores that they weren't able to do during the week; that so many people rarely sit down to a relaxed meal with their loved ones because they're still at work doing things that benefit their bosses.
A time of being busy is different. You know that from when you taught high school and coached three sports--the seasons came to an end, and you were able to rest. Rest does come in those situations, and they literally do follow the "for everything there is a season" rule. You can work eighty hours a week for a few weeks on a worthy task, and things are fine; when you do that for years on end, though, you've put your life out of balance and you're most definitely neglecting other things in your life that could be even more important than your work.
I wish you well during this busy time. You're in it for the right reasons, I think, and it will benefit your students greatly. Try to enjoy it, even. Your rest time will come soon enough.
Monday, September 12, 2016
This Semester
Good morning, God, and thanks for this new day and this new week. I have a lot to do this week--a lot of responsibilities to fulfill, a lot of classes to teach, much work to do. But it's gratifying work that I enjoy doing, so it's not like having a lot to do is a terrible thing.
As a matter of fact, I thank you that I do have a lot to do--it's nice waking up in the morning with a sense of purpose, and having the chance to fulfill that sense of purpose by doing things that I love to do, and getting paid for doing so. I think that life would be rather unbearable if I didn't have things to do that made me feel good about myself and that helped me to grow as a person. Teaching is what I definitely feel called to do, and I know that I'm good at it, so I don't have to deal with frustration at having work that I struggle to accomplish.
Now that the fall semester has started up, I'm glad to be in the classroom, and I would ask you to be with me over the next few months so that all of the young people that I work with will get what they need from me in order to learn the things that they want and hope to learn. I hope that you'll be with me to help me to keep balanced and focused, and to help me to be understanding and compassionate, as well as to be open to new ideas and new ways of approaching the topics that we study.
A reply:
As a matter of fact, I thank you that I do have a lot to do--it's nice waking up in the morning with a sense of purpose, and having the chance to fulfill that sense of purpose by doing things that I love to do, and getting paid for doing so. I think that life would be rather unbearable if I didn't have things to do that made me feel good about myself and that helped me to grow as a person. Teaching is what I definitely feel called to do, and I know that I'm good at it, so I don't have to deal with frustration at having work that I struggle to accomplish.
Now that the fall semester has started up, I'm glad to be in the classroom, and I would ask you to be with me over the next few months so that all of the young people that I work with will get what they need from me in order to learn the things that they want and hope to learn. I hope that you'll be with me to help me to keep balanced and focused, and to help me to be understanding and compassionate, as well as to be open to new ideas and new ways of approaching the topics that we study.
A reply:
Will I be there with you? Of course. Will you listen to my guidance? Very possibly. Remember that I'm always there with you, and that I'm always available to help guide you. You always have decisions to make, and I can help you to make them in ways that will be beneficial to the greatest number of people. The best decisions aren't always the easiest ones, as you well know, so sometimes you'll balk at making them. Sometimes they alienate other people and seem to be arbitrary, but sometimes they need to be made.
As a teacher, of course, your decisions have an impact on your students--and you have 120 of them this semester. It's a lot of work, of course, but it's important work, as you well know. You have to decide about class content, about how much time you give to creating assignments, about whether to pass papers or not, and many other things. You'll just have to decide based on your professional judgment, being as objective as you possibly can.
And one of the things that I know you've learned as a teacher is when to be harsh and when to be lenient, when to give exactly the grade that's deserved and when to try to help the student to learn something important by giving him or her a second chance. These are the decisions that are the most difficult, and it's fortunate that they don't come up all that often. Just remember me when you have to make them, and allow me to be a part of the decision-making process, and they'll be much easier to make and much more accurate.
Ask me to be a part of the planning process, ask me to help you understand your readings clearly, ask me to be with you in class so that you can be more effective there, and I will be there. I know that you already have asked me to be there for the whole semester, so guess what? I will be there.
Now it's up to you to stay mindful of my presence so that we can work together, instead of you taking on this huge set of tasks on your own. I think that we can do a very good job together, and I look forward to it!
And one of the things that I know you've learned as a teacher is when to be harsh and when to be lenient, when to give exactly the grade that's deserved and when to try to help the student to learn something important by giving him or her a second chance. These are the decisions that are the most difficult, and it's fortunate that they don't come up all that often. Just remember me when you have to make them, and allow me to be a part of the decision-making process, and they'll be much easier to make and much more accurate.
Ask me to be a part of the planning process, ask me to help you understand your readings clearly, ask me to be with you in class so that you can be more effective there, and I will be there. I know that you already have asked me to be there for the whole semester, so guess what? I will be there.
Now it's up to you to stay mindful of my presence so that we can work together, instead of you taking on this huge set of tasks on your own. I think that we can do a very good job together, and I look forward to it!
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