Blog Archives
What Are We Teaching our Children?
Does it make you a better king if you build houses of cedar, finer than those of others? Your father enjoyed a full life. He was always just and fair, and he prospered in everything he did. 16 He gave the poor a fair trial, and all went well with him. That is what it means to know the LORD. 17 But you can only see your selfish interests; you kill the innocent and violently oppress your people. The LORD has spoken. Jeremiah 22:15-17 TEV
Our educational work should have a purpose: to elicit a change in our students, to make them grow in wisdom, to help them undergo a transformation, to provide them with knowledge, with new feelings and, at the same time, achievable ideals. Many institutions promote the formation of wolves more than of brothers and sisters by educating their students to compete and succeed at the expense of others, with only a few weak ethical standards.
As I finally got to reading my devotions today (actually tonight) I was struck by the words of Pope Francis.
It doesn’t help that as we were cleaning our garage, I found one of my old report cards, in fact, the same grade my son is entering. I showed it to him, and was amazed at the pressure he felt to live up to my standards. (I should have shown him my sophomore year of High School) Then I read Pope Francis’s words, shortly after seeing a picture of my dad and son, one of the last taken of them together.
My dad had a unique challenge – my brother was the star athlete, I was somewhat of a brain, at least by small town standards. Getting us to work together was a challenge, and competitively, we were fierce. How he got us to play and work together was a remarkable challenge, especially as he was somewhat competitive as well! Our schools weren’t so good at the task, firing us up to compete, playing on our pride and baser instincts. (My one exception was St. Francis for junior high – they taught us to work together…and those 15 kids mean the world to me still!)
My wife is a teacher, our church has a preschool and once had an elementary school. We have a lot of friends who are teachers as well. (If you are reading this, please drop the red pens for a moment!) And in a sense, I teach others, a little (and a significant amount) older than my wife and friends, but none the less, teach.
Which gets me back to Pope Francis, and his words about educating people. Are we encouraging a competitive factor in them? Are we encouraging them to be successful by standards that leave others behind? Or are we teaching them to work together, to forgive each other, to lift up each other? Are we hearing the prophet Jeremiah speaking for God as he takes on our selfish natures, as we have no problem oppressing people, or allowing them to be oppressed so we can live in peace?
We need to learn to teach like Jesus did, who though He was God, knelt down with a basin and towel and washed the feet of some pretty stubborn, argumentative and rebellious students. We need to teach them to serve each other, and those around them, whether we teach them Math, English, Geography, Computer Information Systems, World Religions or 1, 2, 3 John.
It’s a challenge, whether in preschool, middle school, college or a simple Bible Study. For what we are teaching them is to love one another…which means we need to learn to love them. As Paul says in Romans 12, really love them. For God loves them, and wants to walk with them all.
Pope Francis. A Year with Pope Francis: Daily Reflections from His Writings. Ed. Alberto Rossa. New York; Mahwah, NJ; Toronto, ON: Paulist Press; Novalis, 2013. Print.
A Challenge When Seeking High Education
Discussion Thought of the Day:
29 But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, 30 not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. 31 And yet some of you keep competing for so-called “important” parts. But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. 3 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. 1 Corinthians 12:29-13:3 (MSG))
For our purpose it will suffice to recall how Augustine tried to sum up the essential part of the Pentecost narrative: World history, he says, is a struggle between two kinds of love—love of self that ends in hatred of God, and love of God that ends in the renunciation of self. This second love is the redemption of the world and of the self. In my opinion, it would already be a significant achievement if the days of Pentecost would turn us from the thoughtless use of our leisure time to a sense of our responsibility; if they would lead us—beyond the merely rational, beyond that knowledge that can be stored up and used in planning—to a rediscovery of “spirit”, of the responsibility inseparable from truth, and of the values of conscience and love. Even if, at first, we should not arrive at what is, in the narrowest sense, strictly Christian, we should, nevertheless, already be touching the hem of Christ and his Spirit. (1)
350 In addition to being a good Christian, it’s not enough to be a scholar. If you don’t correct your rudeness, if you make your zeal and your knowledge incompatible with good manners, I don’t see how you can ever become a saint. And, even if you are a scholar—in spite of being a scholar—you should be tied to a stall, like a mule. (2)
Every year about this time, I consider going back to school part-time. I have had some people that have encouraged it in the past, and again a few are doing so, even now. To get a doctorate, either a DMin or a Ph.D. There is some interest, some desire to be challenged. Even as I do consider this, there is a fear of the change that I know could occur. A distancing of myself from my people, from understanding their lives, from speaking their language. This is without a doubt, one of my biggest fears, the loss of the ability to communicate clearly.
I fear this, partially because I know myself, I love to absorb rather than simply memorize, and that means I forget that others may not use the same language I have acquired. It’s happened before, and I’ve seen it happen to others. I don’t think it is a matter of being condescending, as much as we can forget that we’ve been part of a different environment, a different culture. At least, that is my best construction. ( I am not saying there aren’t condescending academics out there.. just I don’t think many are truly that)
So how does one stay connected? How do you continue to communicate, clearly and efficiently, without getting caught up in those 4 syllable words? How do you remember to explain things in a manner everyone can understand, without insulting people’s knowledge base? (side note: the amount of knowledge one can accumulate has nothing to do with their wisdom or intelligence – for example – guys who are great at trivia and computers who cannot tie their shoes or understand how to use tools like hammers, screwdrivers etc)
I think the key is seen in the two quotes above. First the obvious lesson in scripture. Without the love of God in your life, it is all worthless. Unless driven by God’s love for mankind, the knowledge and learning we have been given will simply echo endlessly without people to listen.
I think that is the same thing Pope Benedict is working through in the quote about Pentecost, that there is something more than just the knowledge, the data, even theological data. Something supernatural that occurs, that we may struggle with, that we need to have. It is that touching the hem of Christ Jesus.
Escriva is blunter, chastising those of us who in danger of becoming rude with our knowledge. Those whose are puffed up by it. Or those who simply do not have the wisdom to understand that others are smarter, more spiritual, more faithful, even when they can’t comprehend certain subsets of vocabulary that we find common. In our use
The answer comes back to the person of Christ, to realize His love for all of us, for us to emulate His charachter, His humility, his coming alongside everyone. To touch His robe, know His healing, and let His Spirit transform us into people who love others, renouncing our own “rights” and that which “benefits” us.
It’s a challenge for all of us, not just the academic, not just the theologian. To realize that we dwell in the glory of God, and that God can use all things, including education, for good for those that love Him, for those He calls with a purpose, His purpose, that is the key.
So let us keep encouraging each other, encouraging each other to be humble, to follow Christ, to use our gifts and ability in a way that is loving and caring…. AMEN.
(1) Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans., I. Grassl, Ed.) (pp. 153–154). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
(2) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 889-891). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Cooperate to Graduate and other Ethical Dilemnas
Finally, brothers, let your minds be filled with everything that is true, everything that is honourable, everything that is upright and pure, everything that we love and admire—with whatever is good and praiseworthy.
9 Keep doing everything you learnt from me and were told by me and have heard or seen me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 (NJB)
With a school year fast approaching, one of the challenges for students will be dealing with the temptation to cooperate to graduate. In certain classes, in order to get a high grade, there is the thought that they must deny their own beliefs, their own research, their own thoughts and give the answer the professors have been told to produce. ( Or so they think – that some professors have to toe the department chair’s or Dean’s position)
This kind of thought, this lack is thought to be one of academic independence, but in rather, a lack of room for ethical integrity. Given enough of this, the student will bring this programmed attitude into workplace as well. We reward those who work within the system, even if the cost is one of their betraying their ethics. This also deviates into politics, and even into church politics.
We program people to a form of Machiavellianism- do what it takes to get rewarded, rather than do what is true and honorable and upright and pure. No wonder morality is no longer a standard, but is bound to its situation, and needs and wants of the moment. The good end that Machiavelli justified his unethical actions isn’t even considered anymore.
This again even occurs in the church, as I noted above. Maybe the goal is to avoid confrontation, or to please people who are “important”, or rather than work through issues, we pretend that the morality or the need for confession and absolution isn’t really needed.
Can we change this? How?
The only way is to look to the truth! And scripture defines truth, quite simply – not as something, some someone. It’s a relationship, nor a matter of cloning the right answers, but giving people the time and instruction to give them those answers. It’s about helping them through the struggles, about guiding…and loving.
Its found in walking with Jesus, in looking to Him, in treasuring not just what He’s taught us, but what He has promised to do to and through us. The grace that forgives us, the love that empowers us, the Spirit that guides us. He is our priority, not the grades, not the diploma, not the promotions, or a church which pleases our denomination or the families that have always been in power, or the newcomer who wants to know if something really is sin,
Our priority is Christ, their priority needs to be Christ.
Jesus Christ Crucifix (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
That is what shall make a difference in their lives. That is what makes a difference in ours.
Patience, Professors, Persevering, and the Plan of God.
education (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)
10 You’ve been a good apprentice to me, a part of my teaching, my manner of life, direction, faith, steadiness, love, patience, 11 troubles, sufferings—suffering along with me in all the grief I had to put up with in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. And you also well know that God rescued me! 12 Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there’s no getting around it. 2 Timothy 3:10-12 (MSG)
Study. Study in earnest. If you are to be salt and light, you need knowledge, capability. Or do you imagine that an idle and lazy life will entitle you to receive infused knowledge? (1)
Recently, I chose to return to school. I have to admit some trepidation over this, I’ve never been the one to fit into most educational systems, I don’t care about the what as much as why, and that gets me in trouble at times.
My first class, two weeks in, I am struggling with the texts, and the line of thought which doesn’t going directly to the stated purpose of the course, or for that matter, to the reason I challenged and entered this program. As I was thinking last night – do I challenge the professor? Do I just drop out? Or do I trust God who opened this door, and dedicate the work to God, who makes it all possible?
The latter will be tough, it will challenge me in a way I do not like – it challenges my intellectual pride and my apathy when it comes to education without clear cut meaning. But that is perhaps where I need to be challenged the most – to do things in a disciplined way even though I don’t see the logic or reasoning. I’ve got to go through the motions, but seeing them, not just as make work, but rather as part of His plan.
We need to do this as followers of Christ as well. Maybe we don’t get why we go through the motions of liturgy, or why it is beneficial to go to Bible Study as well Sunday Church. We don’t get yet, why communion is so critical to our faith and our need to commune as often as possible. It may take some time to realize how precious the work of God is, when He baptizes a baby, or a 94 year old lady. We may know the Bible passages – we may be able to argue it intellectually, but there is something in the process of grasping the why… that takes it to a whole different level, that of our soul. That of instinctual trust, that of Christ transforming us, as we look to Him for the strength to do that which challenges us.
So pray for me inmy studies, that I could dedicate them to God, and do well… and pray for us all, as we struggle with God’s plan, not seeing His hand in it, but finding the strrength to persevere, because He is here.
Lord Have Mercy we pray!
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 868-870). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- Meditating on God’s Love (justifiedandsinner.com)
- We must bear our cross….an powerful observation…. (justifiedandsinner.com)
- A Blog of/for the Tired and Wondering if it all Matters… (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Can we be this Holy? In the face of our “enemies”? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Doesn’t God Care I am Tired? (justifiedandsinner.com)
That I may know how to…
That I May Know How..
Isaiah 50:4–10
† In His Name †
May the gifts of God’s love, mercy and peace truly sustain you when you are weary!
The purpose of being taught –
There is one phrase in our Old Testament reading that I would like to focus on this morning, and I have to admit – it is quite convenient for a day when we dedicate our staff for the new year, and we have some of our children sing.
It is the first verse of our Old Testament, there on page 5.
“The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary.”
I think if we as parents, could look ahead to see our children grown, and ready to retire from their careers, if this is a phrase that described their lives, we would be proud, and quite joyful.
If beyond what the world that counts as success, we knew they learned how to care for others; if they learned how to help others endure in life; if they learned how to care for others; how to love, then we would consider that we’ve done our job as parents and teachers and as a church well!
Think about It this way, if our children grew up to be the next Bill Gates, or Steven Spielberg, or even Tom Brady, would it be worth it, if the cost was their alienating themselves from their families; if they had no their friends and they ended up rich and famous, and alone. Would we be as satisfied and content as if they spent their life helping those who couldn’t help themselves?
We have a challenge, in this God-given task of raising children, as parents. We also have a challenge, those as the people of this church and school, to come alongside parents to support and assist and encourage them in “training up” their children.
It is a God-given task, which in order to succeed, requires that we need to trust and rely on God. For we have too accomplish in the midst of a world that would encourage them to aim for success, to look out for number one, to have it all, even though they cannot take it “all” with them.
When God teaches – we..
When Isaiah credits God for giving him the voice that speaks the words of comfort, he is crediting God for that which has trained him to be able to do so. You see, the word there for taught is used for vocational training not just academic teaching. He provides on the job training, not just schooling. Or to use our preschool’s language – God gives both an academic and developmental learning experience!
The next verse talks of how that training takes place – as God gets us to listen, to hear Him. In Isaiah that is a constant topic, as repeatedly the people of God are described as those who don’t listen, who don’t see that which God says and shows them in life. If only they did, they would not rebel, they would not get themselves into trouble, they would know peace, and their lives would not seem so broken.
In many ways, that is reflected in society today, where self-centeredness and the need for immediate gratification has made our world so dark, so narcissistic, so full of anxiety, and so little hope. We are unwilling to learn why, or why there are consequences to actions, we just take them, and the consequences be… well you know what I mean.
A great example is seen in how Isaiah talks about being able to deal with opposition, with insults, with those that would distract us from what we’ve been trained to do. In Isaiah’s day, that kind of opposition was very physical in the way it mocked and worked against those who would serve others. Today it is more subtle, more sophisticated, but the world no more understands those who try to live a life that lovingly serves others, and call them to a life that is lived hearing God.
There is a great temptation, to defend ourselves, to engage in foolish verbal fights and arguments! And often we are tempted to hit back when insulted, or when people judge us as fools, or condemn us for being “irrelevant” or out of touch. It is interesting, no its critical that we understand that it is God’s grace – His gift that enables us to have the strength to endure that adversity, as we bring the message that gives comfort and strength to those who are weary.
Learn to trust and rely on God
The message of course, is the same message that causes us to endure hardship, mockery and ever condemnation. For we learn, through experience, on the job, that it is God’s judgment we need to be concerned about, not that of others. For when we bow to the pressure of others, we become distracted. When we let the pressure and condemnation of the world affect us, we compromise, and eventually lose that faith which undergirds our message.
But when we listen to God, we find out there is no disgrace, no shame, for in His love and mercy, He has forgiven our sin and errors. It is He that vindicates us, that will judge us in the end, and He has promised that those who trust in Him, those He’s roused and who listen and trust Him, to remove all that would cause guilt. That is why we don’t have to fight – as St Paul says,
34 Who, then, will condemn them? Not Christ Jesus, who died, or rather, who was raised to life and is at the right side of God, pleading with him for us! Romans 8:31(TEV)
What happens if, in the midst of the learning, we find that we have defended ourselves, that we have treated others wrongly? If we have confidence in God, if we have learned to rely on His strength, we know what we can do, we can go back to that person, and make it right, we can apologize for our error.
Why? Because Jesus is our Model
When I started this message, I mentioned that if we want our children and the next generation to grow up well, to be the kind of people we are proud of, then the challenge is in our being the kind of people that model the faith and trust in God which develops us into such people. That we are described in those words of Isaiah as well as they are. Remember that line?
“The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary.”
How do we find the strength for this? How do we come to be able to sustain those, with a word, when they are weary – even if it is those who mock and attack us?
The key is realizing that while this passage encourages us, it is not about us, but about the one we are courage to imitate, to live like. It’s about Jesus.
For He, when beaten and scorned didn’t fight back. But instead trusted in the Father. He sustained the weary with the “word”, He gave it all and then some, and listened to God the Father and never once rebelled.
Why? To sustain us, to bring light into our dark lives, to give us hope.
Even at the cost of His life. St Paul said it well…
“5:8 But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! 9 By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God’s anger! 10 We were God’s enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! 11 But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God’s friends.
Romans 5:8-11 (TEV)
It is in Christ, united with Him in our baptism, looking to His love and mercy demonstrated in our lives every day, and every time we approach this altar, that we see our example- even as the children will see our example.
He gave it all – he didn’t despite who hated Him, He listened to the Father and learned to love, He shared His life, and eternity, even though the cost was huge personally.
It is Jesus that Isaiah’s prophecy is about – the Jesus of whom Paul said, imitate me as I imitate Jesus Christ…. May we learn to do so, may we allow ourselves to be trained, so that we can say to these children, and many more – imitate us, as we imitate our Lord, our Savior, our Friend, Jesus.
As we do, as we experience His mercy and grace, we will find that a peace comes over us, the peace of God our Father, a peace unexplainable, in which our hearts and minds are guarded, in Christ Jesus. AMEN!
Flashcards or Word Problems? How do we disciple?
On facebook these days, there are a lot of pictures of people graduating from high school or college… many of them the children of my high school peers… (which is weird because mine is only 5! – that’s another blog) But it has gotten me thinking about my school days….and the teachers that I liked the most, and now I look back at how they taught, and what it means to educate someone… and then, I look at how we disciple people in the faith.
Do you remember flash cards? You know those things you used to memorize stuff – either math facts ( 2+2=4 or was it 5?) or definitions of words in your early years of school, and languages and formulas and such later on? I hated them – because if you showed you knew the stuff once, for months they still made you practice with them! The answers were easy, and I suppose it gave you a sense of accomplishment. But it was data – and you basically ended up as a computer printer – able to print out whatever was told to you to print out.
Probably because of my dad – I learned to love those things I have heard others dread – word problems. Driving around with my dad -he would ask practical things – like how many bags of cement would we need – to extend our stone wall, or make a planter. How fast he was going over the speed limit.. Or what Carl Yazkremski’s batting average would be if he went 2 for 5 against the Yankees But then I loved them in school. There was something practical that would develop from knowing at what time the two trains coming from point a to point b ( I always rewrote the question to assume they were on the same track!) But the difference in educational strategy is simple – one causes us to spit back the right answer – the other develops in us the ability to apply what we’ve learned…
In discipleship, while making people memorize things is good, we can’t leave it there, or we have created robots, not people in relationships with a loving God who wants to be part of their life, and share His life with them. Memorizing the creeds isn’t enough, if what they teach can only be spit back, but never taken to heart. Remembering what hymn # 347 is in the old hymnal, (and getting upset when the numbers are all changed in the new one!) isn’t beneficial, enless those words as well, pierce the heart and there is a deep connection to what they are saying. Sometimes that connection is sub-conscious – sometimes not… but it is good to think through them and see how they relate to our life.
Ultimately, “word problem” faith is the kind of faith that allows us to see how God sustains us, in the midst of things we cannot understand. It gives us the ability to see God’s word as more than just laws, but the way in which He has designed us to live, how to reach what Maslow called self-actualization, what the Army calls being “all you can be” (though neither really gets it) or what we call holiness – being set apart for a special relationship, to live in a special community, one that God has crafted for Himself, and His people. It is the kind of life that finds joy in the midst of sorrow, grace and mercy in the midst of betrayal and sin, light in darkness, life in the face of death. Far to often we reduce what God has commanded to “flash card” status, not realizing that what He has commanded (See Matthew 28), (better translated commissioned ) is Creation… and for us… our new birth, that He has created us anew.
The “Word” in the midst of the problems… which aren’t so big anymore….for we have the WORD (another of Jesus’s titles) present in our lives… always.. and we get that!
So this day, as you are going about, working with the Father, crafting disciples…..teach them to treasure, to guard that which God has commissioned…
