What was it this time?

 

An Educational Challenge

Ok. I have an educational challenge for you. Here are the stipulations of that challenge... and I would like to see if anyone can come up with an ongoing, workable solution to this challenge. 

(This challenge is purely theoretical. Any resemblance to actual challenges -- persons, places, or schools -- is purely coincidental.)

Teacher Stipulations: 

• You must teach Geometry to a new group of students (or new groups of students) every year for 25 years. 
• You must gradually decrease the amount of material you cover over the next 25 years, so that you are covering no more than 40% of the original material. You must do this in such a way that it will still be considered a course on High School Geometry. 
• You must cover all of the material in the 180 days of school allotted to you. In those 180 days, your class time can range from 50 minutes to 45 minutes on average, with multiple days in the school year limited to around 15 minutes. 
• You may assign the student's practice for the material being covered for when they are not in the classroom, this may be titled "homework."  Over the 25 years of time, you must gradually decrease the amount of practice assigned as homework. (By the end of year 20, there will be at most 20% of students who complete any assigned homework.  See Population Dynamics for further details.)
• By the end of year 10, you must begin to learn how to use and incorporate new technologies each year. These technologies may or may not remain in use, and could at any point become irrelevant. Upon the demise of any particular technology, any work you have poured into that technology, creating e-learning experiences for your students, will no longer be available, and you will need to learn a new technology. 
• By the end of year 15, you will begin to duplicate all student materials into a digital format. These materials must be updated and hosted online for any student to access at any given time. Any work that has not been duplicated and hosted -- as well as posted in an easy to find format, will not be work that the teacher can require the students to complete. 
• By the end of year 20, you will be required to regularly create "gamified" versions of all practice materials that were originally considered homework. Eventually there will not be any practice given that doesn't have an element of fun attached to it. Anything that is purely work, though not prohibited, will be frowned upon by all colleagues and will be attributed as a potential cause for any failures. 
• You must post all grades in a program that students and parents can access at any given time. 
• You may not expect students or parents to be aware of the posted grades, so you must regularly contact both students and parents to update them on the status of their current grades. The contacts must be documented as evidence of parent contacts. Contacts must be attempted via phone calls, e-mails, and text messages. It is the teacher's responsibility to figure out each parent's preference on how and when they are contacted. 
• When you begin this challenge, any math instruction may be delivered in the form of direct instruction via lecture and the modeling of examples being worked on in front of an entire class. As the challenge continues, you must employ this method of instruction less each year, until around year 20. Direct instruction, though permitted, will be increasingly frowned upon as backward, unhelpful, and potentially oppressive.  You must research and/or create a myriad of methods for delivering content. Limiting delivery methods will not be permitted. 
• Around year 15, you must begin to offer additional opportunities for students to demonstrate competency with any unit of material presented. These additional opportunities will begin as simply "second chances" for a few students, but by year 20, you must anticipate that at least 30% of your students will be, not only utilizing these multiple attempts, but planning on them as a regular method of engaging in their classes. Additional attempts will eventually need to fall during regular class time, no student can be expected to offer up additional time outside of class for these additional attempts. 

Student Dynamics:

As the student dynamics change, you will not be allotted any additional time to compensate for any missing skills or any added distractions, but must find a way to include all required teaching into the given class time. 

• Basic Math Skills: In the first few years of teaching, 99% of all students will already be proficient with basic math skills. Each year this percentage will decrease until there are at most 50% of students proficient with basic math skills. The teacher must compensate for these missing skills by offering additional instruction during class time. 
• Basic Math Skills: Additionally, at the beginning of this teaching challenge, no more than 30% of problems may contain fractions or decimals. This percentage must decrease each year until year 20 when no student will be expected to engage with a problem that either contains fractions or decimals or has an answer that would require fractions or decimals to be considered correct. 
• Essential Algebra Skills: In the first few years of teaching, 99% of all students will already be proficient with basic math skills. Each year this percentage will decrease until there are at most 10% of students proficient with essential algebra skills. The teacher must compensate for these missing skills by offering additional instruction during class time. 
• Student Independence: In the first few years of teaching, 99% of students will be able to work independently of teacher assistance, once a new skill has been demonstrated. This percentage will decrease until there are at most 20% of students who will be able to work independently, without teacher assistance. 
• Student Independence: In the first few years of teaching, the 1% of students who will not be able to work independently, will only require additional assistance from the teacher 50% of the time. As that percentage of students gradually increases to 80%, there will also be an increase in the amount of time that those individual students will need individual attention in order to complete any work.
• Student Engagement: In the first few years of teaching, all students will be expected to engage in the lessons, regardless of your presentation style. By year 20, no students will be expected to be engaged, unless your presentation is engaging to that student. You will be expected to determine each student's preferred engagement and "differentiate" all experiences in order to properly engage each student. 
• Student Engagement: Starting around the 10th year of teaching, random students will begin to be given electronic devices that can play videos, play music, and the students can play games or contact their friends at any time. Each year, more and more students will be given these devices, until around year 20, 99% of students will have one or more of these devices regularly available.
• Student Responsibility: At the beginning of this educational challenge, the responsibility for student failures will rest on the student and the parent/guardian of that student. Responsibility for this will gradually shift, until year 20 when the student will no longer be held responsible for their failure, unless the teacher has completed every aspect of this challenge to its fullest. The parent / guardian will be relieved of all responsibility by year 25. 

The reward for accepting this challenge will be additional paperwork to complete each year, additional conferences to attend, and the opportunity to learn special stylized fist-bumps.

Again... I repeat, this is a purely theoretical challenge, meant to be humorous and silly, not meant to be offensive to anyone, and not meant to make any personal claims by me, the author of this challenge. In fact, my response to this challenge is... Challenge Accepted!

I believed...

I believed, even when I spoke:

“I am greatly afflicted”;

I said in my alarm,

“All mankind are liars.” 

 Psalm 116:10–11 (ESV)

Reign In Us: A Prayer of Bernard of Clairvaux

 

What It's About

Below is a clip from the Light and Truth Podcast from Desiring God. It is a clip from a sermon that was originally preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church by John Piper on December 1st, 1996. 

The clip should start at 5:31. If it doesn't, I encourage you to forward to that time. (Obviously, you can go back and listen to the first 5 minutes of it later.) I share this clip, because I believe it needs to be heard. ... Really heard. 

Transcript from 5:31 to about 7:18... 

Now let's just get this real clear and real straight because I have the feeling we live in such a kind of touchy-feely day that Christianity is being so psychologized and so therapeutized that we really do believe this book was written for our mental health. It wasn't.  It was written to help us get right with a wrathful God. 

God is one great massive fire of Holiness. He hates sin and cannot abide it. We are little ant-like sinners of sin. And if we got within 10 trillion miles of this God we'd be consumed. 

The problem in the universe is not our frail marriages. The problem in the universe is not my failing health. The problem in the universe is not my wayward children. The problem in the universe is not the conflicts at work. The problem that the Bible was written to deal with is I have no hope of drawing near to God without being consumed: because I'm a sinner. And unless there is some kind of asbestos-like priest who can wrap me around with all he is and take me into the center of this fire there's no hope for me at all that's what the Bible is about.

There is much more here, and the whole thing, the whole series is worth listening to, but this portion might be an important clip for YOU to hear today. It might be the reason why you have been confused about the Bible and what it is telling you. It might be the reason why you have felt disappointed with God or resentful about how your life has played out. It might be the reason why you are depressed or discouraged about the world, whether big-scale or your own little world that you interact with. 

If you have been going through life, not realizing that your biggest need and your biggest problem have a solution, created by God the Father, fulfilled by God the Son, and made available by the Power of God the Spirit, then you could easily meander through this life down and discouraged. The Bible offers incredibly good news... good news that doesn't make sense until you know the bad news... and your future could be incredibly bright, and anyone can get in on this. 

Im-Prec-A-Tory

Psalm 140

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

[1] Deliver me, O LORD, from that evil person;

preserve me from their violent thoughts,

[2] preserve me from the one who planned evil things in their heart

and stirred up war with me continually.

[3] They made their tongue sharp as a serpent’s,

and under their lips was the venom of asps. 

Selah.

[4] Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of that wicked one;

preserve me from violent thoughts,

that would love nothing better than to see me trip.

[5] That arrogant one would have hidden a trap for me,

and with cords they would have spread a net;

beside the way they wished to set snares for me. 

Selah.

[6] I say to the LORD, You are my God;

give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O LORD!

[7] O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

[8] Grant not, O LORD, the desires of that wicked one;

do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! 

Selah.

[9] As for the head of that one that wished to surround me,

or schemed secrets behind my back,

let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

[10] Let burning coals fall upon them!

Let them be cast into fire,

into miry pits, no more to rise!

[11] Let not that slanderer, that schemer, that liar be established in the land;

let evil hunt down that wicked woman speedily!

[12] I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted,

and will execute justice for the needy.

[13] Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;

the upright shall dwell in your presence. 

A rhetorical question from Amos

Amos 3:6 b (ESV)

"... Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?"

Fix the Anchor of our Hope

 Grant, Almighty God, that as you constantly remind us in your word, and have taught us by so many examples, that there is nothing permanent in this world, but that the things which seem the firmest tend to ruin, and instantly fall and of themselves vanish away, when by your breath you shake your strength in which men trust -- O grant that we, being really subdued and humbled, may not rely on earthly things, but raise up our hearts and our thoughts to heaven, and there fix the anchor of our hope; and may all our thoughts abide there until at length, when you have led us through our course on earth, we shall be gathered into that celestial kingdom which has been obtained for us by the blood of your only begotten Son. Amen. 

John Calvin (Quoted in Be Thou My Vision)

dogs and pigs

Matthew 7:6 (ESV)

Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. 

 I find it to be of great interest that this passage in Matthew, this passage, which is near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, is immediately preceded by the passage that says, "Judge not..." (Mt. 7:1-5). How can one "Not judge" and then be discerning enough to identify "dogs" and "pigs" in order to not present those "holy pearls" to them? 

Is there not a measure of, what one could call "judging"... Is Jesus not referring to people as the "dogs" and the "pigs"?  And then to refrain from presenting words, words that could be called "pearls" or "what is holy", to refrain from presenting these words to people we've deemed to be, well, doglike or piggish in the way they would receive these words: does this not require a level of judgment? 

Do not consider this to be a contradiction in the teachings of Jesus. No. Humble yourself before our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Submit yourself to his teaching and recognize the reality of clarifying words of wisdom. A verse like this does not deny, disrupt, or contradict the previous statement. Instead it gives clearer definition to the previous statement. Like a cleverly crafted lens in a pair of glasses, when placed upon your face, you can suddenly see the leaves on the tree, not just the tree, and you can now see what judging is... and what it is not. 

May it be so.

 Psalm 109 -- To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Be not silent, O God of my praise!
For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,

speaking against me with lying tongues.

They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
In return for my love they accuse me,
but I give myself to prayer.
So they reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
Appoint a wicked man against them;
let an accuser stand at their right hand.
When they are tried, let them come forth guilty;
let their prayer be counted as sin!
May their days be few;
may another take their office!
May their children be fatherless and motherless
and their spouse a widow or widower!
May their children wander about and beg,
seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
May the creditor seize all that they have;
may strangers plunder the fruits of their toil!
Let there be none to extend kindness to them,
nor any to pity their orphaned children!
May their posterity be cut off;
may their name be blotted out in the second generation!
May the iniquity of their fathers be remembered before the LORD,
and let not the sin of their mother be blotted out!
Let them be before the LORD continually,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
For they did not remember to show kindness,
but pursued the poor and needy
and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
They loved to curse; let curses come upon them!
They did not delight in blessing; may it be far from them!
They clothed themselves with cursing as their coat;
may it soak into their body like water,
like oil into their bones!
May it be like a garment that they wrap around themselves,
like a belt that they put on every day!
May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,
of those who speak evil against my life!
But you, O GOD my Lord,
deal on my behalf for your name’s sake;
because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is stricken within me.
I am gone like a shadow at evening;
I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees are weak through fasting;
my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they wag their heads.
Help me, O LORD my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love!
Let them know that this is your hand;
you, O LORD, have done it!
Let them curse, but you will bless!
They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death. 

(ESV - with a few slight adjustments by me.)

Hope

I don't know where to start. I'm not sure what to say. 

Abandoned Danville Church Burns to the Ground

That link will take you to the WCIA news story about this old abandoned church in Danville that burned down. But it was more than an old building or an old abandoned church to me. This is... was the Old Edgewood Building with the attached Hope Christian School.

From the middle of the building, looking toward the sanctuary.

Canyons and Crannies in the Bible

This is (sort of) the third post in a series. 

The First Post: Geometry and How to Think

The Second Post: Canyons vs. Crannies Theology

I am sure that there are a few people who've had their toes stepped on from my posts. If not these two, then any number of previous posts I've done, may have stepped on toes. I can admit that from time to time I've posted some things with the express purpose of toe-stepping. I can admit that. Though it was never meant to be overtly mean, I can admit that there have been a few times where I phrased things knowing that whether or not it stepped on any toes, it would still be received about the same way that a stray Lego piece is when encountered on the floor in the middle of the night... when barefoot. I could argue that some people just need to put shoes on (i.e. not be so sensitive), but that wasn't my main concern when typing these things out. Even though I can admit this with some previous posts, I want to stand by my claim that these last two posts, specifically the previous one, was not meant at all for an insult to anyone. The topic that I began to cover, I believe, is one of the most important topics that needs to be addressed in our American Church.  I believe this for two reasons. 

Canyons vs. Crannies Theology

Please don't be offended by this post. If you read anything here that you find offensive, please just talk with me. 

Anyone and everyone that believes that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, is a theologian on some level.  I absolutely believe this to be true. A person doesn't always have to be a professional theologian to be a theologian. Theology is simply the study of God, so one could be a professional theologian, investing their time and energy into this study, but they might also be a lazy theologian, deeming the study of the Word to be not all that important, at least not as important as Sports Center or their Facebook feed, but both ends of the spectrum depict theologians none-the-less. If a person believes something... anything... about God, they are a theologian. And if they also believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God, then to some degree those beliefs are shaped by their reading, or their lack of reading, the scriptures. 

Geometry & How to Think

I know that anyone that comes across this will most likely find it a bit on the boring side. I get that. I'm not trying to build an audience here, I gave up on that dream long ago. At the same time, what I am going to say, I believe has relevance. I believe it is important. I believe that it borders on essential. And so I write it, not thinking that it is a statement that will sweep the nation or the educational system or even the 5 people I know online. I write it instead, as an actual exercise in thinking, which is the core topic of this post. So I encourage you to read it, to think about it, and to communicate with me about it, not for social media hype, but for community and dialogue and for thinking... 

Geometry

The longer I teach Geometry, the more I believe that the real purpose of Geometry is not how to find angles and identify shapes and compare congruent triangles... No. All of those things are secondary to, what I believe is, or ought to be, the real purpose of a Geometry Course. Don't get me wrong, all of those things, along with slopes of lines and right triangle trigonometry and the surface area of spheres is all important: amazingly, exceptionally, actually important. The more technical our world gets, the more these things are drastically important. And even if I go another way with Geometry... the "Geometry in Construction" way, which is another course that I teach, these things are still really, really important. Houses still need to be built with the proper pitch of the roof. Rafters need to be cut, doorways need to be square, and floors need to be level. Again... all important stuff... but... But the longer I teach Geometry, the more I believe that the real purpose of Geometry is not necessarily any of these things. The real purpose may be... ought to be... probably should be or at least could be... how to think. 

I guess that if I am going to talk about this topic in this format, I should probably attempt to accomplish a few things in this "talk". I most likely need to say something about the need for our youth to be taught how to think. You wouldn't think that this would need an explanation, but it might. From there I should try to show you why I think that the Geometry classroom is the proper delivery vessel for students to be taught how to think... I think. Let's start with the need for thinking by thinking about thinking, you think?

Just an Old Table

This is just an old table. 

At some point in the fall of 1986, I sat at an old table in an art class at Hope Christian School and scratched out a message from God to my future self. 

I was a freshman in high school. My teacher's name was Mrs. Clingman. Since it was already an old table at the time, it was covered with scratches, indentations, stains and drops of paint. I can remember scratching the bubbles out of the dried paint drops. You can see that in this picture: 

I also remember sitting at the other end of the table and noticing a little indentation that looked like an eye. I was probably supposed to be working on some other project or listening to my teacher give instructions on the next project we were to be working on or an art technique that I was going to need to use, but instead, I was doodling on that eye. And I can actually remember thinking to myself, I am going to write "I see you!" for someone else, someone who would come along after me and see this little eye and its little message. 

...

This morning I swung by our little church on my way to teaching summer school. My father had pulled these old tables out of our storage shed to toss into the dumpster we had rented. He had texted that he needed help getting them into the dumpster the previous day. He had been able to pull them out of the shed, but with the heat, he thought it best not to attempt tossing them into the dumpster by himself. I volunteered to meet him after my school day and help him throw them in, but decided on my own that I would just swing by there in the morning and throw them away. These tables had been in my life for as long as I could remember. I had probably sat at them during a vacation Bible school when I was 6 years old. 

To be more to the point, the previous Saturday we had a church clean up scheduled (hence the rented dumpster). Some of us who had been a part of Edgewood the longest, especially those of us who had attended when we were at the previous building, were having a challenging time watching some of the items make it into the dumpster. They were items that needed to go, but each one had a multitude of memories attached to them. For my wife and myself it was especially difficult because it felt like our time in ministry... with the bulletin boards we had made and designed, the things we had kept for a potential future aspect of the ministry, white boards and chalk boards we had put teaching notes on... were all headed for the dumpster. 

So I didn't want anyone with me when I went to throw these tables away. I had thought that maybe these tables might make it into a futue fellowship hall. ... Foolish, I know. Who wants old tables in a new fellowship hall? Especially these old, and might I say, exceptionally heavy, tables. These old discardable tables. These old tables that were only used for loaning for garage sales. These old tables that had been there for countless potlucks, Easter sunrise breakfasts, and various fellowship meals. These old tables that I had griped about their weight more times that I could remember. These old tables that were resigned from ministry and in the shed, but now were going to make their way to a dumpster. Just some old discardable, useless tables, no longer fit for ministry at Edgewood Church. 

But on the very last table I picked up... I knew this table was there, because I wanted a picture of the paint drops I had scratched off... and it was the final table. And then I saw it. As I lifted the next to last table to toss into the dumpster.... as I was contemplating the similarity between these tables and my life and time in ministry... I saw it. 

Oh. I had seen it before and knew that I was most likely the one that had written it, but when I saw it this time, the memory of scratching those words into the table came flooding back, but instead of seeing these words for what my intention had been when I had scratched them into that table in 1986, I saw them ... no... I heard them spoken to me, and my Lord, my Savior, my King, my Good Shepherd said to me, "I see you!"

 

The Clockwork Boy Dreamed

The clockwork boy dreamed. 

To the clockwork boy, it seemed,

That all the books he’d read

With boys and men of whom its said

They dared to reach beyond their state

And out of need, fulfilled their fate

Doing deeds, that were great

So maybe clockwork boy could be

More than clockwork, he would see. 

The clockwork boy waited. 

He dared to dream a time was fated

For him to reach beyond his state

And do a deed considered great

So wait he did for proper time

In meantime reading prose and rhyme

Dreaming big he hoped to shine

So maybe clockwork boy could do

A thing that poets will write too. 

The clockwork boy observed. 

Watched for needs where he could serve

Based not on gifts he bore innate

But hoped that gifts were born of fate

So plunging in when need arose

Not a dipping of the toes

A head-first plunge is what he chose

So maybe clockwork boy could trust

That though he lacked, it’d be enough. 

So clockwork boy acted. 

And gears and springs were all impacted

By strain of acts beyond his scope

But clockwork boy did naught but hope

That maker did have this in mind

When gears installed and springs he’d wind

Crafted as… one of a kind. 

So maybe clockwork boy won’t break

If acts were done all for his sake. 

So clockwork boy functioned. 

Doing deeds with one assumption

That deeds were done, not based on skill

But acts of grace done by his will

For to proclaim the gospel call

When fools and weak give their all

Then wise and strong of world will fall

And now clockwork life exhibits

Sufficient grace in all that it is. 

Then clockwork boy seemed

To fill his hopes and live his dreams

But clockwork parts won’t this strain take

Springs will fail and gears will break

No greatness now like stories old

Deeds unwritten, life untold

Wood hay stubble now unfold

Picked-up pieces moved aside

Pondering now what he had tried. 

So clockwork boy pondered. 

“What went wrong?” is what he wondered

He thought it wasn’t based on skill

Or wits or might or force of will

Weren’t it simply gospel grace

Enabled feeble, take their place

Along with chosen glorious race

Now he huddled, parts in hand

No strength remained to even stand. 

So clockwork boy darkened. 

No longer heard the call he harkened. 

No longer see the light from sky

No longer feel a breeze go by

Now alone in depths of pit

Ridiculous joke, piece o’ shit

Absent hope, this was it. 

No clockwork repairs in the deeps

Utter despair… a miserable heap. 

The clockwork boy looked

For any hope in maker’s book. 

He longed to find a simple word

From voice of him he often heard

Convey kindness when he spoke

Loved with simple lightweight yoke

The laden who were not a joke

But crafted with eternal thought

Into this scheme clockwork bought. 

The clockwork boy was let down. 

It seemed to him he had not found

The things that maker said were true

Of what a clockwork boy could do

Where was he when springs did break

When gears did fail and did not make 

Any difference for his sake? 

Does he stand now so far off

While the scoffers choose to scoff. 

But clockwork boy remained. 

Through grief there was some faith sustained

That maker had not failed at all 

But kept a plan with greater call

Beyond the clockwork boy’s own thoughts

With greater plans and fuller plots

Tying clockwork mind in knots. 

But written by a loving hand

He trusted now the makers plans. 

So clockwork boy picked up 

Broken pieces all messed up

Worthless now it seemed to him

For anything he might have been 

Tomorrow is an unknown thing

Miseries or joy to bring

Letting go of everything

He clung now to this only thought. 

His life by shed-blood had been bought. 

To my wife on our Anniversary

To my wife on our anniversary

I loved you when

Our journey began.

I love you now and

I'll love you then.

And when this journey comes to its end,

I'll listen to the story told

Of love...

... and love again 

(Written 20 years ago for our 8th anniversary.)

I found a carving in the wood

I found a carving in the wood,
   a pedestal where something stood. 

A statue must have been right here,

   its placement had been very clear.

But now this pedestal was bare

   and statue which was carved with care

was now cast off and on the ground

   under leaves and grass around

its form so it was barely seen. 

   I stooped down now and tried to clean

debris away so I could see

   what had been and what will be.

Dead leaves, wild grass, pulled and plucked

   brushed away so I now looked

at stone now in the light of sun,

   its lines and grooves forming some

image now in my mind

   of fingers that were intertwined. 

I brushed off more and saw an arm,

   its wrist embraced with carven charm.

The form now clear a woman lay

   framed by grass and roots that stay

clinging to her female form

   in ways that seemed now to adorn,

like woven garments, nature made

   now for my eyes in woods displayed.

but something did but seem awry

   twists and contorts caught my eye

should a real arm lay this way

   what did this artist seek to say? 

Those fingers still were intertwined

   I cleared some more so I could find

what lay beneath nature's shield

   in hidden wood, in long-lost field. 

I grabbed a mass of root and vine

   and once pulled back I saw the grime

from mud and muck and trails of worms

   which slid across these carven forms. 

What I now saw seemed grotesque

   as if the artist did detest 

these models from which he must have carved

   these two hideous and starved

creatures which now before me lie

   did the artist even try? 

Or was this the point for which he sought

   to twist and deform as he wrought

and carved and chipped away at stone

   to make an image that was one

in which I stood in horror now

   beholding scene of painful bow

beneath a weight of unseen trial

   that crushed these two beyond denial. 

The dirt and grime I brushed aside

   worms and mud, old roots I plied 

away from stone so more I'd see

   of what this spectacle could be. 

As I cleared nature away

  revealed now stone to sun's bright ray

and plucked away those final twigs

   I pondered now something big.

Could I now with all my might

   set these two back up aright? 

and place them on their pedestal

   restored, returned before their fall? 

I plotted and I then heaved to

   with levered strength in what lead to

a twist a turn and then a grunt, 

   drops of sweat, give up I won't. 

And one last surge of strength divine

   these two were back, but now I find

one more thing that I must do

   to finish task and make things new. 

I turned now to a fountain near

  water trickling down so clear

from ancient stone which had been struck

   to sustain life while on a trek

to promised land so long ago. 

   A rag I dipped beneath the flow

and dripping with the water clear

   I turned and cleaned off the first ear

then a chin and down that arm

   around the fingers and the charm. 

Across a back and down to feet

   between each toe my rag did meet

every crease and crack and nook

   I stood back now to take a look

and what now did my eyes behold

   a different story than I'd told. 

What seemed to me as pain before

   now looked like love that each had for

the other one it now was plain

   that though some trauma did remain

these two weren't wretched as it seemed

   but now revealed as I'd cleaned

my view had changed from before

   and now I saw what it was for.

The pedestal in ancient wood

  was granite hand on which they stood,

when cast off from its firm embrace,

   it looked like pain upon each face,

but now returned within that grip

   each now appeared with word on lip

that seemed to say by artist's skill

   "I love you now, I always will, 

because he loved us from the start,

   and in his grip, we'll never part."

In awe I stood at artist's hand

  that could with skill and careful plan,

create a scene that untrained eye

   would perceive dread and want to die, 

but with an eye trained by His book,

   a better eye could take a look

and see the beauty held within,

   though a tragedy had been

and the art did not ignore 

   these tragic things these faces wore

the end result was very clear

   these two knew Jesus and held him dear. 

 

What shall be given to you... you deceitful tongue?

 “A Song of Ascents. 

In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. 

What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? A warrior's sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree! 

Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. 

I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!” 

(Psalms 120:1-7, ESV)

Post Pastoral Thoughts Number 2: The Church and A Church

Not an Ideal but a Divine Reality (pp. 26-27, Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream. The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God's grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. 

By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God's sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to a genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial. 

They Don't Get Him.

I don't have a lot of fight in me. I just don't. ... hence the break from preaching. So there is some hesitation in bringing this up. I know that my comments won't be able to measure up to my actual concern regarding this topic. I also know that I won't have the endurance to battle any naysayers who want to critique my critique. Well. I am still going to try and say something. 

Post Pastoral Thoughts No. 1: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

For those who are new here: 

If you are new here, then you may need a slight introduction to this post. I'll start with the basics. My name is Matt Harmless. I have been a math teacher for 24 years (with a short stint as a disciplinary dean, but that's another story). For the last 14 1/2 years I was also a bivocational pastor.  For those unfamiliar with the term, a bi-vocational pastor is one who normally would be a full-time or part-time Pastor, but would then have another job. This second job could potentially be full-time but its primary purpose was to help make ends meet. I, of course, got that backward. I had a full-time job as a school teacher and then decided to try to take on pastoral work. This inevitably led to what came next.