cairns

If I have a student who wants to learn, who is willing to do the work I give, who listens to the corrections I offer — and then at the end of our time gets a failing grade from me, who failed?

Did they fail as a student?  Or did I feel as their teacher, leader, mentor, friend, and guide?

Me.

It is plain, simple, obvious, and inescapable.   When they are placed under my care wanting to learn and I do not teach, I have failed them.  If they do not care, are already defeated as a child, are afraid to risk new challenge and growth and I do not re-inspire them, I fail to live out my calling.  They are required to show up bringing who they are.  I am there representing the God of all power and love and it is my responsibility to love courage and strength back into the reluctant, to design experiences that teach what they are to learn, and to offer opportunities to demonstrate mastery of knowledge which fit the learner and the content of the lessons.  I stand before the throne bathed in mercy and seek new wisdom for the next round, the next students, the next subject.  But, I stand before God knowing each one is entrusted to my care for a season and that God cares very much about seeing the best happen for the “least” of them.

But, I do not see it happening in church.

I have seen us use people up, chew them to pieces, cast them aside and expect them to be grateful for the experience.  If years of sitting under sermons, lessons and trainings leaves people unchanged, deemed unworthy of service, or unfazed at our holiness and spiritual guidance, then the failure must be theirs.  They have sin in their lives, unrepentant lifestyles, spiritual barriers, or defiant hearts.  Heaven forbid they should have the nerve to become ill and fail to respond to our faith filled prayers for healing!  God forbid that should tell the truth that they are seeking something deeper than we ourselves know, have pains we do not even want to hear of, or are open enough to consider Truth beyond our walls.  We have the Truth, the power, and the saving doctrine.  And it is; well to be Biblical, it is a pile of dung — stinking, rotten, nauseating dung.

I watch a supposed pastor have people under their leadership, training, and care for years with true hearts of love and service to God, and at the end of it hear only belittling and dismissive words from this supposed shepherd, and I want to vomit.  I have no softer words.  I am no longer capable of pleasantries in the presence of it.  The situation that prompted this purging, the neglect of a departing servant was only reported to me, I was not involved, it had nothing to do with me.  But I know the territory, the pain, and the damage and I want to go as postal as an Old Testament prophet or Jesus of Nazareth with a whip.  It is wrong.

I cannot participate in a system that allows the pampered stateside worker with the decorated air conditioned office to oversee a budget of 6 or 7 figures while requiring field workers to raise their own salaries, refuse to train those who deeply desire to serve God, act in belittling and dismissive ways towards those of his own flock who are going to serve while praising his self chosen few.  I cannot participate in a place that claims to represent the God of all love and treats people in ways which deny them both just treatment and the power to speak the truth about themselves, their treatment at the hands of the organization, and the real personal and spiritual damage that has been done to them.  I cannot give material or spiritual support to an organization which cannot separate the Sustainer of the universe from their own cultural gods of business, power, politics, and warfare.

I am the failed student.  No, make that the expelled student! I understand them.  I honor their honest fury.  I can no longer even entertain the idea of behaving as if you make sense while you heap dung on the heads of those who seek the Lord.

If a student of mine ever left with those words, I would be before the throne dissolved before my Lord and King.  I would kneel before the Presence knowing I had failed in my responsibilities and use of my gifts.  I would beg for the courage to go on, to seek healing, to renew the one I failed.  If anyone from my old church reads this they will shrug me off as a sore-headed, self centered, ungovernable maverick with questionable theology.

Go with your gods then.

I go with mine and I am content.

And I pray for you if the day ever comes that you see beyond your ego into the eyes of the One who made, loves, and follows after every one you have failed to love and nurture.  Keep worshiping yourselves. I tried to come back to be with dear friends in the membership and on the staff.

I can grant you your humanity as I expect you to admit mine.

But, I cannot sit silently in the presence of the hubris that allows you to dare to speak your opinions, ideas, and prejudices as the will and Word of God.  If I am present, I will have to rebuke you.  If I thought there was a shred of a chance of being heard, I would risk your anger and your wounds for the sake of both our souls.  But, I see no ears that hear and I will not sow discord in the body even if the body is cancer riddled and abusive.  I leave you to it.  May God have mercy on our souls.

peace,

really; through all my disappointment, human frailty and disgust, I send you peace.

Just stay away from me.

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There is another reason I decided against another term for a person of all people.  We already have the word disciple used by Jesus.  Or in the book of Genesis we are told that God originally called both the man and the woman Adam as they were given the command to be and to spread throughout the Earth.  Then the story is repeated in the family of Noah remembered by God and rescued from the chaos (represented by water again) and then sent forth with the animals to spread life throughout the Earth.  And again in the story of Babel we hear God demanding that mankind spread out and become all the peoples of the Earth for God’s glory rather than their own.  Man is to be everywhere on the planet in communion with the Creator and Creation (including each other).

When the covenant is made with Abraham, (even tough often applied to one half or the other of his descendants to the exclusion of all others), the narrative indicates that the blessing was already intended to be for all people.  The slaves in Egypt (the first of many Empires condemned for exploiting the other) cry out and are heard by God, rescued, blessed, and told again to welcome and bless all people.  Solomon built a great temple and dedicated it to the purpose of blessing all people with the knowledge of God.  Having reverted to Empire themselves, they fall and are carried of into exile where the new prophets, and recorders of much of what we call the Bible, emerge.  This time the prophecies are so obviously intended for all creation that gentile (non-Jewish, pagan, “other”) Christians have never doubted these beautiful passages apply to themselves.

(Sadly many chose a broken logic which said the promises no longer belonged to Israel, to whom they were spoken, or the rest of the world as is obvious in the passages.)

Jesus came and declared that God was in our midst, that we would now worship not in one place or another but everywhere in Spirit and in Truth.  And he directed his followers to take the news to the ends of the Earth.  Then John wrote a letter of amazing symbols, images, and poetry to some of the early churches (which many again stole and found a broken logic to apply only to themselves on some magic future day) declaring that after the times of suffering would come a world predicted by the prophets where all the people of the earth worship God in song completing the order intended since creation…

The term for a person who belongs to all people is Adam, human, Jesus.  The term for a person learning to follow this Way from Jesus is disciple.  It has always been intended as the Way for all — to walk humbly upon the Earth loving justice and helping the helpless.  It is what “human” should mean.

But we have twisted the narrative, cut and pasted the passages, stolen the heritage of others and applied them as solely our own.  In my own country we still cling to our pride of Empire claiming like the Romans that we bring peace to the world by conquest.  At times each street corner church seems to believe the descriptions of man in right relationship with God will come true in a special way for only those exactly like themselves.

And, my own country led the way in developing the capacity to destroy the world at one unspeakable command.  Now, we see that our excessive consumption and overuse of the ancient substances from deep within the Earth threatens to bring about nearly the same result more slowly and painfully.  And we, with hubris beyond any the world has yet seen, declare that we do not care as long as we can defend our borders, take other’s resources, and live our lifestyle as long as possible.  We choose ignorance of the facts as our claim of innocence while continuing to make war when and where we choose through both our military and our dollars.  But the fruit was eaten long ago and we are neither ignorant nor innocent.  We have placed all creation in peril by intentional acts of the will.

And still!!  There is a Spirit moving upon the face of the deep!  The voice of the oppressed is always heard and the time for revelation of Truth draws near.  People across the globe, many of them young, are waking up to the joy of each other, to a Spirit larger than their family, houses of worship, cultures or nations.  They are spreading the hope, truth, and love like fire.

Many of us have experienced the joy sung by the prophets in worship with those of other places, colors, and languages.  Join together with global friends in worship of the One beyond all the mind can comprehend and realize that difference makes no difference as voices raise in orchestral harmony, and you are forever changed.

We are outnumbered.

But, we are aligned with the power that holds the universe together.  It is time to unify with each other to pray, to hope, to sing, to dance until the walls again tremble and fall and people are free to be

HUMAN.

peace

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Whatever happened to courtesy and manners?  Whatever happened to giving high school students who have earned top grades and been given the privilege of speaking at graduation the respect to sit quietly and listen?  Whatever happened to the respect for those who lead schools shown by honoring their request to hold applause (plus screaming, air horns, and cow bells) until all graduates are announced so that each family can hear their child’s name?  Whatever happened to honoring the request to stay seated so that the last grad to leave the floor gets the same attention as the first?

For that matter whatever happened to taking your hat off when inside a building?  Allowing a merging car into traffic?  Letting a speaker finish their sentence before you interrupt to give your response to what you think they were going to say?  Whatever happened to sitting quietly during sermons at church?  Or arriving for church, school, or any other activity on time?  Whatever happened to “Please”,” Thank you”, or “You are welcome?”

It seems none of these things are now taught at home, at school, or at church.   Everyone just does what ever they please, no matter what the setting.  It appears our only criteria is, “What do I feel like doing.”  We do not seem to consider the feelings, effort, or worth of the other person at all.

I thought the quote of Jesus was, “Love your enemy as yourself,” implying of course that people already cared about their friends.  Now it seems like we have reached a point of, “Love yourself,” or “Please yourself.”

I have outlived my world.  I miss the times when class and culture meant class and culture, not any ridiculous thing I feel like doing claiming it is kid, ethnic, biker, red-neck, or some other culture.  I fear we have no class or culture left.

I watched a number of people at the 500 trying to show class and respect by standing with caps off and hands over hearts for America the Beautiful, God Bless America, and The Star Spangled Banner because they had no idea when it was time to do what!  At least they tried.  Of course the words were changed to “God shed His grace on ME!” And the ceremonies were followed by one fellow in front of us giving the finger to a driver he didn’t like every single  lap of the race and constant public conversations using the F-bomb as if it belongs at every comma.  Even the street preacher outside was demeaning everyone in sight, especially a brave young man standing with a sign that said “Not my Jesus.”  I listened as he told the kid, “You are the kind of person Jesus came to eliminate, you effeminate little freak!”  If I was God, lightening would have struck, and not the kid — but then God shows more patience and love than I do.

ASCD is pushing for a return to “whole child” education.  I think our society is in grave danger if we do not reinstate some effort to raise the next generation with some understanding of proper public behavior, obedience to  those in authority, respect for achievement, and simple politeness — even to one’s “enemies!”

However if you disagree, I suppose the current standards of our real world allow you to cuss me out, and I am suppose to flip you off as we both go on our way proud in our isolating self-hood and no wiser than when the day began.

peace

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People who stay in people jobs long after they have given up on people, especially ones who work with children –

Conservatives criticizing government for siding with big business after chanting my whole life that what is good for big business is good for America–

Republicans after the Bush/Cheney years claiming the Democrats are too friendly with big oil –

Democrats who are still running away from the label of liberal and trying instead to present themselves as a “reasonable” version of the Republican platform –

How we keep believing that electing people who say they hate the system, but spend a fortune to get into it, will change our lives –

People who trust any talking head of any ilk to speak the Truth when their obvious agenda is building their listener base and advertising take –

People who believe that government, the church, a protest movement, education, or any other organization of man can solve the world’s problems, or even tries to do more than protect and promote itself –

People who believe that multinational corporations are more interested in their well being than their own elected government–

People who still believe there is AN answer to be found that will work for everyone in politics, education, religion, or any other life category–

People who believe school accountability programs which are based on the premise that everyone can be in the top half of any type of category (and after passing fourth grade math class!) –

People who believe that education is the problem with business while all of the jobs are being outsourced to uneducated sectors of the world willing to work as slaves–

Well, most of today’s realities :-/

Things I do understand:

Children love to learn, learn to love by being treated with loving respect, and grow up to be our future.

People deserve the right to be who they really are; their narratives are unique, life giving, and deserve to be honored.

God loves them both, and we have no right to do less.

peace

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When a skilled and caring teacher see a person with less skill or heart mishandling a child, it can be depressing.  Everything in the quality teacher’s training, heart, and soul cries out that it doesn’t have to be that way.  They know that children can be lovingly held accountable to achieve excellence in both academics and behavior.  They know that beating a child down with words or actions has never lifted up a healthy adult; neither the adult whom that child will become nor the teacher trying to establish their superiority.  And the pain of having to observe such a wrong can go deep down into the hidden parts of your being to hide as fatigue, illness, or depression.

OR, when a skilled and caring teacher sees a child receiving less than the love their place in the Kingdom of God deserves, they can look up in gratitude and realize they have a reason to exist that day.  They are in the presence of a child who needs them.  They can be the difference between a child’s day of torment, or a child’s finding a place of refuge.  They can participate in the work of heaven by living out their calling with new evidence of the importance of their presence in that place, at that time.

Until the day when The Teacher holds class for all of us little ones forever, may every holy servant of the Truth know without question that they are loved by the One who declared that the Kingdom belongs to children — loved beyond their wildest imagining and given as a gift of light in dark places and dark times.  May they rest in the simple knowledge that a very small light changes everything in the darkest of places.  May they know that the arm they place around a wounded child is met by the hand of God.

peace

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My good friend and cousin posted on Facebook about how everyone should remember the giant government takeover and slide toward socialism next election.  I understand his point of view.  But, I know too much.  I know too many families, including both the uneducated working class poor and my own adult college graduate daughters who are without health insurance when the world is left to the “good will” and “justice” of for profit companies getting the most for the least in both goods and workers.

The takeover that concerns me, and has already changed my vote to one in favor of one Republican that I had sworn never to vote for, is the takeover of foreign countries.  History is filled with accounts of powerful empires that found out you can conquer another country but you cannot rule it.  I suspect even Rome would have been in trouble if those zealots of Jesus’ day had explosives.

It has nothing to do with whether their governments were good or bad by our standards.  It has to do with whether we have the right, or the ability to decide that for them.

It has nothing to do with “justice” for 9/11 as Iraq had nothing to do with it, and our take over of Afghanistan has not enabled us to capture those who did.

It does have to do with loyalty to our brave and loyal sons and daughters who answer the government’s call to serve.  Are we more loyal to them to continue a hopeless, and in my view immoral, set of wars we cannot win; or to bring them home with honor for doing everything within human power that we asked of them and allow them to rejoin their families and get on with their lives?

And it does have to do with taxes.  My conservative friends (yes I really have them even though we disagree on specific topics) hate the idea of tax funding for health care, education, and social services.  Why don’t we hate the use of our tax dollars ($6,000,000 a missile for “shock and awe!?”) to fight wars that have no reasonable end in sight, cost the lives of our most patriotic children (even if you don’t give a damn about the lives lost on the other side, a great number of whom who are just everyday people trying to live — not to mention Christians caught in the crossfire), and are setting us up for decades of care which must be provided to unbelievable numbers who are coming home wounded and brain damaged.  Maybe if we quit spending our money to kill, it wouldn’t seem so expensive to spend it to help people live.  But, that’s just me.

I sure wouldn’t want us to become socialist like those peace loving communists in Russia and China, Vietnam, and Korea.  OK, that was snarky.

But, which way should we be more concerned about appearing like them — killing people or caring for them?  I choose the path laid out by Jesus, not George Bush, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, et al — all of whom offend me by promoting views there is no gospel support for in the name of my beloved savior.

peace, please, for your wallet and hatred of socialist methods if not for grace and love?

peace

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I met with a set of parents today making sure everything was on track for their son.  I knew I was going to get contacts after putting the children’s standardized test scores into the online grade book for the appropriate subjects.  Some called, most emailed, this family emailed and took the time to come and sit down in person.

Then they thanked me for taking time to see them.  Their most valuable relationship and deepest responsibility, second only to the one with God, their son was the topic.  They cared enough to both come, sit down, and talk about exactly how he is doing and what they can do to help him be his very best.  And they thanked me.  By the way, and it shouldn’t be surprising, their son is already a fine young man with great promise.

I still miss my little kids from the low income areas of town, the mean little guys who get kicked out of school, the children with un-empowered parents.  But, it is such an honor and delight to work with families that truly care, that stay in touch, and who support me when I am working to stretch their children in knowledge, work habits, and wisdom.  There is a gnawing place inside me that says my other little friends need me more.  It just can’t stop me from loving working with this beautiful group of kids and families.

And, I continue to learn that the Phi Delta Kappa’s study of risk in children was too true in too many areas.  Risk and pain in the midst of our culture of pleasure and consumption are pervasive in the lives of children.  Any child can show up in pain.  Every school has kids in deep need.  I was there after school one day this week to talk down a little guy working himself into hysterics after misbehaving and getting caught in daycare.  I was there today when a young man from across the hall who had spent the end of the day sitting in the office was left sitting in the hall while his parent talked to his teacher at length making sure everything was fair.  And, one of mine from last year, a girl who I literally picture living on the edge of life’s cliff, a student who worked hard all last year with me to raise her academic and behavioral levels, a kid who has been suspended this year for going to get her other homework (without arranging permission to leave the room), met me on the way out of the building today.  She brought me one of her school pictures.

If everything a person could get a thank you for was as wonderful as helping kids grow up, there would be a lot more thank-yous in the world.

Heading off to bed to rest up and teach teachers tomorrow with a prayer of thanks for those who remember to say thank-you, a prayer of support and strength for those who continue to serve in places without enough thank-yous, and gratitude to a God beyond comprehension who keeps changing my life plans and setting me in places where the feast is prepared, bountiful, and multiplied by sharing.

peace

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Have been thinking about the lesson Steve taught at a previous missions weekend about Cornelius, Peter, the vision of the sheet, the Gospel, the conversion, and the reaction of the church. I learned so much that day, that continues to make more and more sense in light of what I am learning now.

I used it for my devotional in today’s class on Standards Based Differentiated Instruction.

Simon Peter knew the Standards!! He even argues with God as if this is a test he will pass by staying true to the scriptural standards.  But God shows up and reveals a new standard, love and acceptance for all.

He goes and shares the knowledge of his own story and experience with non-Christians who are already God followers, but whom he has been taught his whole life to consider too unclean to visit. And he and those with him see them filled with the Spirit of God. Then, the real rub is that criticism comes from the Church and Peter has to convince them he did not commit a horrible act by visiting with, preaching for, and baptizing these folks who already loved God!

It just brings me up short. Who are the people we (the people I) still consider unclean? Which laws of the Old Testament (or even the New) might God be lowering on a sheet to say, “Quit clinging to these and go love who I love?”  I am sure God is at least saying, “Your interpretation of my Word, is not my Word.  Give it up and do what I am doing.”
peace

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H1N1 is taking several kids a day out of the school, although all 28 showed up for the fourth grade excursion to Vincennes in the cold rain yesterday. Only one absent today. They really behaved and paid attention well. Almost all of them are getting straight “A” report cards tomorrow, which I have made them earn. The hardest thing is getting them to engage material that actually requires them to think about information and apply it beyond what they can do instantly. They want to either give a quick meaningless answer, or give up and ask to just be told what to write.

We are getting there. But, it is exhausting. Took them through a discussion today which I hope helped them see that the real problem is not lack of intellect, or willingness to work, but fear of failure. Have three fourths of a year left to convince them to open their minds and see what amazing things travel in and out!

Everyday is an adventure. But right now I feel like I just came down Quandary and need a stop at the gatoraid store!

peace

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For God so loves the world…

not the world except for Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists or Atheists,

not except for gays,

not except for the remarried,

not except for those who recognize bull when they are told its truth,

not except for the four leggeds or those with chloroplasts,

not except for the stones that would sing His praises if allowed…

no “except for”s allowed!

God so loves the world!

If I have headed off into falsehood, somebody had better bring me some strong proof, cause this sounds like the God I just climbed the Great Wall with!

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