Thoughts

All the world said to me I was naught but a pawn That was hanged between index and ring But from all of my dreams I still woke with a yawn And believed I could make myself king Then when after a stroke that had earned me some rank I was told I could now be a knight I was told, though my place was still humble and frank, At least now I could enter the fight Then when more social place did I earn through my deeds It was said I could then be a rook I looked down at myself and repeated the creeds That I’d found in a chess player’s book By the end of the game, though the battle was done, I now king, though my army was gone, I turned ‘round and in shock, for I thought I had won, I faced mate by a servile pawn. This poem communicates what can happen when we strive to earn acceptance from others through social standing.

I’m on the other side now When I look back, I see How deep was that precipice That chasm that I thought was so shallow, So ephemeral, while I traveled through it, Was more real than anything that came before I can turn back if I want, The sirens of lost love are calling, Always calling, Drawing me back to change the past If they had their way, I’d stay there forever Unlike Odysseus, I don’t close my ears, For I need to hear what they’re saying Just to know that the leaving was indeed my choice I can keep walking forward, For my steps are my own this time I walk in my own strength, Or so it seems For what strength I see is mine Is indeed his And I learn That I’m never meant to be alone.

My social studies students and I are studying Islam right now. The other day, we were reading about one of the Five Pillars, zakat (charity in Islam that means "that which purifies"). Muslims believe that giving away money helps to purify it and also "safeguards [them] against miserliness" (1). I asked the class if this was true, that giving money away makes us less greedy. They generally agreed that it does. I wanted to test whether or not they really believed this, so I handed a volunteer a $10 bill. I told the class that I would ask for the bill back the next day. I said that they should pass the bill around among their classmates, and that as a result, there would be no way for me to know who had the bill. For that reason, whoever wanted to keep the money could keep it. Even if I did learn who kept it, I told them, I would not punish that person. I wanted them to be motivated by their own honesty. The next day, I asked for the bill, and a student handed it to me...