Something Johnny Said.

I have to share just one of my favorite insights that Johnny wrote in his autobiography.  It reveals such a sweet simplicity in an otherwise complex human existence.  I love this.

“…I don’t believe there are any people on earth who, properly sheltered, don’t feel the peace inside a summer rain and the cleansing it brings, the renewal of the earth in its aftermath.

 For me such moments are open invitations to closeness with God.  Nature at work isn’t itself God, but it is evidence of Him, and by letting myself be drawn into its depths and intrigues, I can come near to Him: see the glory of His creation, feel the salve of His grace.”

 

Cash.

I actually finished a book this evening.  A painstaking monthlong journey through the autobiography of Johnny Cash.

I’m not a country music fan, but the richness of the culture behind it, the struggles of the sharecropper in rural Arkansas during and immediately after the depression, have brought me a new appreciation of it. 

More than that, I have a whole new understanding of the man behind the movement.  I not only feel like I know him, but I feel like we’ve been sitting on the porch evening after evening, deep in conversation.  It really was an amazing experience. 

As I continue to reflect on what I have read, what I have “experienced” in Johnny’s own words, it strikes me that Mr. Cash was the quintessential human being.  The embodiment of that daily struggle between good and evil that is the definition of being human.   I have never identified so closely with a person whose life was so fundamentally different from mine.  He was a man at war with himself, as we all are on a daily basis.  And he came out the other end with a grace we should all hope to achieve.  He could have been another Peter, or King David.  Heck, we all could.

I won’t call him my hero, because he would refuse to accept it.  But there is little I wouldn’t give just for one of those porch conversations.  It may sound strange, but I really miss him.

 

sir francis said it best.

“Knowledge is power.”  Sir Francis Bacon, late 16th century.

 I posted this quotation on the wall of the my media center, along with James A. Garfields “Ideas control the world.”  This is why I became a teacher.

If I have learned anything over the past decade, it is that information changes the world.  The more you know, the more you change.  The more you change, the more others change.  Exponential change, person-by-person.  Society by society. 

Add to that that information has never been more accessible to the person on the street.  Technologies and media have enabled us to become the most informed society in the history of the world, and any person can find any information within a matter of seconds.  It’s not just for scientists and scholars anymore–now a grocery-store cashier can go home to find the latest information on climate change, genocide in Africa, or the plight of emperor penguins in Antarctica.  You cannot be exposed to the wonders, miracles, and tragedies of this world without being changed in some way.  Then what do you do?  You share it with others.  Send an email, put it on your blog, make posters, or hold a rally.

So I have created a new page here, websites of mass instruction, on which I have posted several websites I visit often in order to stay informed.  Take a look if you want.  Or don’t.  It’s up to you.  That’s the thing about education; no matter how easy it is, it still requires action to seek it out.

 

childhood: they don’t make it like they used to.

Okay.  So I’m turning into my mother. 

Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy the humor of Shrek, Chicken Little, and Happy Feet.  It’s clever. 

But is it really necessary to have two heart-warming, endearing characters doing karoake to the Spice Girls “If you want to be my lover”?  Does the sweet heartsong of a penguin really have to include the words “I’ll make love to you like you want me to”?

I guess I just wish we didn’t rush our children to become acclimated to such concepts.  Movies that are marketed for children (even though adults enjoy them too, they ARE marketed for children–that’s what the happy meal toy is for) are becoming more and more “street” in an effort to reach children who are becoming more and more so, I suppose.  But who really cares which came first, the chicken or the egg?  The societal “development” or the marketing strategy?  The marketers are making conscious decisions to perpetuate the cycle.  Check out the Frontline documentary Merchants of Cool to get smacked in the face by the marketing world and it’s relentless manipulation of youth in the name of making a buck.  (By the way, you can watch this doc and many others at freedocumentaries.org)

When I was teaching third grade and began to notice the heavy makeup, short skirts (I don’t care if they’ve got shorts attached underneath…), and big hoop earrings dangling from the ears of 8 year olds, I began to look more closely at what they were watching and being influenced by.  Not that the makers of movies like Shrek are solely responsible, but they do offer enough evidence of the societal values that are changing children.  Thanks MTV.  Goodbye, Never-Never Land.  Cartoons aren’t for kids anymore. 

I hate that the innocence of childhood is nearly extinct nowdays.  Listen to a room of kids sing to themselves while they work intently… you’ll hear “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard” and “My lovely lady lumps” and “You can lick my lollipop”.  I’ve heard kids, kindergartners included, singing all these songs at some point in my teaching career.  Seriously.

Parents have never been more important than they are today.  Their competition is stronger and greedier than ever.

Now I’m going to return to my DVR and watch a documentary about eating disorders.  Wonder where THAT came from.

 

this one is about paul the phone salesman

I may be a little late on the bandwagon with this, but in case you haven’t seen it, take a minute to check out the newest vid on my vodpod–Paul sings opera.  It is such an amazing example of power, grace, and beauty that resides in every human being, regardless of how we feel about ourselves or are seen by others.  Tim’s blog, which I suggest you take a moment to read (go to Oct 25th post), puts flawless words to the significance of this performance.  And watch the audience closely… the effect that this man, this awkward seemingly-mediocre phone salesman, has on the people in the room.  Wow.  What a breathtaking materialization of what it means to be made in God’s image.

(by the way, thanks lil bro for sending it to me!)

 

artistic license or revisionism?

Let me start by saying that I’m not NEARLY naive enough to believe that history can be represented 100% objectively. Most of what we know about our ancient, and even notsoancient, past has come to us through a series of scholars and researchers and archeologists who have taken “clues” and drawn enough reasonable conclusions to present us with a picture of what might have been. Heck, even primary sources like diaries and letters (and these days video media) are bound to be skewed by a human perception in some way. So it’s not that I’m looking for blinding white truth. But dangit, I resent out-and-out fiction when it comes to historical events, especially in the name of making a good novel or profitable movie.

I just finished watching The Last King of Scotland–a brutal portrait of conditions in Uganda under Idi Amin in the 70’s.I’m embarrassed to admit I knew very little about the man, and while I knew that a Hollywood production (and the original novel) was not going to be the most reliable source of information, I at least expected the the characters that were instrumental to the events in the film to be reasonable representations of real people.
I know, I know. I didn’t read enough about the movie or the actual events before I saw it, but how many of us do extensive research about a subject that we’re going to see in a movie? And the fact that the main character, through whose eyes we come to know the man Amin, never really existed? How about more responsibility in depicting historical events? Can you really tell me there was no other way to effectively tell this story than to make up a person who was never there? In his defense, Giles Foden, the author of the book, did claim to base the Garrigan character on a British aide to Amin. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t comment on that version of the story, but in an article I read, it claimed that this aide had participated more vigorously in Amin’s security forces, and alternately been imprisoned and tortured in Amin’s prisons. Was there some kind of political correctness being catered to here? I don’t know–I can only speculate.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m a huge history buff, and I do love historical fiction. But blending that fact and fiction is a delicate matter in my opinion. Presenting something as truth, especially depicting a significant historical event, requires much more attention to detail and accuracy in my opinion, than simply telling a fictional story about fictional characters in an historical setting. Oh my lord, I could go on and on about this. And I probably will later. I have to go now–I’m starving.

 

naked. (same day, different post)

Speaking of Ted Dekker, I spent some time on his website earlier today, which I subsequently added to my blogroll. He’s got some interesting insights and observations about present-day Christian culture (a term with which he takes issue, interestingly enough, insofar as “Christian” is used as a label to differentiate certain aspects of our lives from the “secular”), as well as a follower of Christ’s role in it.

For a taste, check out his blog entry “Get Naked and Save the World.” This guy reads my mind.

 

stream of consciousness with punctuation.

So it’s been over a month since I posted last.
Projects started: 12
Projects followed through to completion: 1. Almost.
Projects I need to start: 63.
Being a home/pet/car owner has really infringed upon my daily routine! I’m starting to plan for my new position in the coming school year (after 10 years as a classroom teacher, I’m moving to the library/computer lab. Maybe I’ll get to teach something besides test prep now!), designing the school webpage, writing a grant to start an outdoor classroom, putting together a final project for a children’s lit class, and starting a new 3-day intensive class (9-5 for 3 Saturdays!) tomorrow. Add to that laundry, dishes, my cat’s unfortunate reaction to frontline (the flea treatment, not the pbs show), helping dad unpack (which hasn’t quite started yet), trying to get the car in for an oil change. I’ve also developed an addiction to Arrested Development dvds (thanks, brother) and Murphy’s Law episodes (my region 2 dvd player serves me well). And OH YES, since I cancelled my dishnetwork service in favor of cable, it falls to me to climb up on the roof (vertigo be damned) and disconnect the LMNB or whatever it is from the dish to pack up and drop off for ups. Seriously. I’m going to try again today, for the third time this week. And when I’m lying on the patio with my limbs positioned at awkwardly precarious angles, I will use my one good finger to dial 911 on the cell phone which I have miraculously not landed on in the fall. When I regain consciousness, dishnetwork better be ready for me. I’m coming at them like a spider monkey.

 

imagine 6,500 a day…

Last April, the country was rocked by the news of a massacre at Virginia Tech, and the media frenzy began once again as it has so pervasively after similar tragedies on American soil. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families, friends, and victims of these tragedies.

But even as the grief of these victims and their families are immeasurable, I find myself reimagining the tragedy through a global lens…

What if, instead of 32 people, FOUR HUNDRED had been brutally and mercilessly murdered without reason or warning.

Now imagine that the SAME THING happened again TOMORROW…

…and continued to happen EVERY DAY for the next FOUR YEARS.

Welcome to Darfur, Sudan.

Now imagine that instead of 400, the number of people murdered on the Virginia Tech campus had been SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED. And the same thing happened TOMORROW, and continued to happen EVERY DAY, at the rate of 6500 a day, for the next FOUR MONTHS.

Welcome to Rwanda, 1994.

The simple truth is, that while our grief is no less profound nor our tragedies no less tragic, we have become comfortably insulated in our own little (and I use the world “little” very deliberately here to emphasize the small part of the planet that we actually occupy) first-world country with little awareness of the atrocities that happen every day somewhere else in the world. We see the CNN headlines of the day when we check our email and call ourselves “aware.” But true awareness does not occur until you FEEL the headline of the day and it makes you want to THROW UP.

I realize I may sound self-righteous here, and I will take this opportunity to admit that I am as guilty as anyone else. My editorial applies just as much to myself as it does to anyone else.

My purpose, though, is to put things in perspective in a more global way. With the insight we gain from the horrific events in April, and while we mourn the senseless deaths of 32 of our own, let’s also mourn the millions of people who have been, and continued to be, slaughtered relentlessly around the world every day.

And then, let’s ACT.