Posts

Revolutionary Love

-
Image
As I drug my lazy self out of bed yesterday morning after a few days of too much pie and too much time on the couch, my devotional was from the beginning of Psalm 118: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. That staggering proclamation about God is repeated multiple times in the Old Testament – “his love endures forever.” In Ezra, Jeremiah, both books of Chronicles, several psalms . . . in fact, every single line of Psalm 136 ends with that phrase. And of course, after pondering these passages all day, now the old Chris Tomlin song quoting the verse has been running through my head. And while humming that catchy little tune, it suddenly occurred to me how very remarkable that belief is in the context of the Old Testament. I’m no ancient history expert, but I do know a bit about the other religions in the world during the time of ancient Israel when these books were written. And I don’t think any of those peoples proclaimed their gods as loving. Like, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is It Prayer?

-
Image
Last week, I wrote about a moment of accidental brilliance I had. This week, I write about a moment of unintentional snobbishness. As I’ve grown spiritually over the years, my prayer life has changed. When I talk to God, it’s usually very personal. Pretty casual. Always respectful, of course, but intimate, spontaneous and friendly. My team I work with at school is the same way. Our prayer times in the morning before the kids come in are very meaningful to me. I feel like Jesus is sitting there in the room with us, loving us and enjoying our chat with him. Prayers at my church are different – and I was irked by that during a recent service. My church is rather liturgical (which was a new thing for me), and this is usually evident in the prayer time. Most of the prayers are read. And to be honest, I just don’t care for that. Because for me, reading is not praying. It’s reading . Praying is a conversation, not a recitation. I wouldn’t have a conversation with friends by reading alou...
2 comments
Read more

The Real Lesson

-
Image
Every once in a while, I have a moment of accidental brilliance with clearly divine origins. Vocabulary is a big deal to me. I read research quite a while ago that said the biggest difference between inner city students who succeed and those who don't boils down to two things: parent involvement (duh) and a strong vocabulary. Having good words at your disposal changes not only your communication but your thinking. When you learn the word "vague", you start noticing vagueness around you and want clarification. When you know the words "irritated" and "distraught" and the subtle difference between them, you can recognize each in your friends and know better how to help them. My middle school students learn eight good vocabulary words a quarter – strong, useful, prevalent words that I think will impact their communication in positive ways if they know, understand, and use them. (That may not sound like much -- but by the end of middle school, that gives ...
3 comments
Read more

Not In Charge

-
Image
As a general rule, I don't assume my dreams have any particular meaning for me unless something really smacks me in the face for some reason. That said, I've been having some weird dreams lately. Not weird as in atypical -- they're the kind of dreams I've been having all my life. Like, I'm a student in class and I don't know where to go or what I was supposed to study and I've been missing classes for weeks. Or I'm an actor in a play and I can't find my costume and I've been learning all the wrong lines -- or even doing the wrong play altogether. That kind of dream. Yesterday, it was a teacher/director scenario. I was helping in a class with a woman trying to direct a bunch of young kids in a play. And she was making me crazy because she had no idea what she was doing. She was talking way over their heads. She passed out some freaky picture (something like an ancient mosaic) to show the kids where she wanted them each standing on the stage . . . ...
1 comment
Read more

Loving Charles Wallace

-
Image
  "But she could love Charles Wallace." Last week, I finished  A Wrinkle in Time  with my 8th graders and fought back tears as I read this final scene aloud in class. The protagonist Meg finally understands that the only weapon she has against IT, the evil power controlling her beloved little brother, is . . . love . Love is the one thing she has that IT doesn't have. Meg first wonders if she is expected to love IT; she is sure that IT could not withstand love, that it would "shrivel up and die" if she loved it. But she realizes that she is incapable of love that great. I don't think any of us are. We hate evil, understandably. Nevertheless, we can and should love those who are caught up in and therefore victims of evil. Like Meg's brother, who was a good kid, but prideful and unwise, who believed he was strong enough and smart enough to withstand IT's power, but was very wrong.  "She could stand there and she could love Charles Wallace." Y...
4 comments
Read more

Already In the Boat

-
Image
This is going to sound like bragging, I’m afraid. I’m not bragging. I’m not boastful or prideful about this at all. I’m just in wonder at it. A father spoke at our school’s chapel service this week. He told the story about Jesus calming the storm (he wore a life jacket and used an oar – this dad knows his audience). And he expressed frustration at the disciples freaking out over the storm rather than waking up Jesus who was sleeping in the boat. Why didn’t they turn to him first? he questioned. And why don’t we? And that’s when I realized . . . I do turn to God first. I didn't used to, but I do now. When I have problems in my life – big ones or small ones – God really is the first person I’m talking to, at least more often than not. Somehow over the years, I’ve grown into the sense of being in constant conversation with God. Not quite the way Brother Lawrence did it in The Practice of the Presence of God (Kolin mentioned him during chapel, too), but yeah . . . it’s like he’s ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Unanswered

-
Image
These days, I’m praying every night for sleep. Many times. I pray for it when I’m first lying down trying to shut off my brain. I pray for it when I’ve woken up in the middle of the night and fear I’ll be awake until dawn. I pray when I get out of bed in the morning that I’ll sleep better the next night. Sleep issues have been a constant in my life for almost as long as I remember (I wrote about them here nearly a year ago). I’ve had several sleep studies, seen many specialists, tried multiple remedies . . . and yet I still have seasons like right now where genuine rest eludes me. If I had a few thousand dollars lying around to cover my high deductible, I’d see a specialist again. But I don’t, so I just pray. And pray. And pray. And I still don’t sleep as well as I need to. There are many who say this is exactly why they don’t believe in a God, or at least in a personal God who loves us and is involved in our daily life. If a personal loving God existed, these people say, he would...
1 comment
Read more