Thoughts

In regard to the darkness With but a flicker in sight, Collect what is left Of the diminishing light. When truth bows to strength While the law chooses might Your calling stands firm To remain in your fight. As your soul turns numb To the gathering night, You channel your hope To burn ever bright. Survey your past When you cowered in fright When you followed the gales Of another man’s kite. Turn at that time To see a new way To brandish new eyes To see with new sight. Turn with eyes forward In a world gone trite And choose at that moment To gather the light.

I'm excited about the upcoming school year. Not only do I have some new practices I plan to develop in my classes, but there are changes that my team is anticipating (or perhaps are apprehensive about). I plan to start a blog for my classes, on which they will respond to the class novels they're assigned; and, in class, I plan to teach units, or at least projects, based on those novels. This last part, especially, will be a significant change from my previous teaching because the themes will be related to a single historical fiction story and will come from a single author's perceptions over a long-term reading of a novel, rather than from several short stories written by several authors. In short, I hope to build relevance by basing our understanding of literature on an author's understanding about life. This quality, relevance, has always been my foundational principal as a teacher, but I have not always put this principal into practice. I have had good intentions i...

I'm sitting now in a dorm room at Stanford University. It's the echo of a memorable experience I had in Boston. For the past month, I had the privilege of staying at Emerson College in that city to teach two two-week summer school sessions to high school students from around the country and world. Along with the program director, I taught college preparation. From everything I learned about subject-- which was a lot, given that I applied only to one school-- I got the impression that getting into college today is more difficult than it was even ten years ago, when I was applying. In any case, I enjoyed the learning experience and, especially, being in Boston for one month. While there, we had the opportunity to visit several universities-- prestigious ones, like Harvard and M.I.T.-- tour the city, visit museums, shop at famous places like Quincy Market, go to a Red Sox game, and just wander. The city is active, with green space for play, concerts, plays, and more. Most peop...

The gates opened to reveal a crisp set of two-story buildings at the base of a lush, towering mountain. To the right of a green courtyard stood the new straw-thatched gazebo that last year’s team gave money to build; to our left, a new elongated concrete planter complete with ferns and a bench for rest. Whether its members were coming for the third time or seeing it for the first, the team that traveled to the Hands and Feet orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti, discovered that day the result of God’s people coming together to serve. They found a place of comfort for orphans; they found a place of provision for Haitian staff; and they found a place of purpose for short- and long-term missionaries alike. Throughout that week, in fact, our team found ourselves fulfilling very real needs. Having purchased a large piece of land behind the orphanage proper, the missionaries there plan to build homes for the orphans who have become adults, a step that will ease each orphan’s transition into the wor...

I returned to Haiti for my third trip earlier this month. It was nice to feel useful there. We stayed at the same orphanage in Jacmel, and helped to build a dirt road behind the orphanage on their expanded property. It's purpose was to make a path for a truck so that a well could be installed. Eventually, this property will serve as additional room for orphans. We also passed cement to Haitian workers who were building the wall around this property. At the beginning of the week, we were asked to move rocks closer to the area where the workers were building the wall so they would have stones to install as part of the wall. A highlight for me was that I was asked to visit a church in Port-au-Prince because the church who sent us is interested in becoming partners with it. They needed to know if it was a legitimate church, so they asked me and a teammate to talk to the pastor and see the church. It was beautiful, and the pastor and associate pastor talked about their experiences durin...

The eyes of one see darkness in the sky, Within the cosmos a fruitless revelry; They witness hell unchecked and miles high, Deceit as common as droplets in the sea; Their tears poured hot in vain find no reply, For all the empty pain and iniquity. Another's see the coming death of night, Inside our world an ebullient panoply; Their paths laid bare from flames that give them sight, Truth their only root that nourishes the tree; The tears that fall give passion to their fight For all that fills man's hearts with nobility.

My leadership students, their families, and I just celebrated the school year tonight with a banquet. We began with dinner, which was followed by speeches from our student council president and three leadership students. We then watched an imovie that highlighted the year's events, which was followed by what at least some thought was the best part of the evening. Eighth-grade students took the stage for a candle-lighting ceremony. After they lined up along the front of the stage, I lit the candle of one student. She then lit the candle of the next student, and so on until all candles were lit. Seventh-grade students then took the stage and the eighth-grade students turned to light their candles. Thereafter, one of the two emcees explained the symbolism behind the ceremony, and as seventh grade stepped forward to take the front of the stage, eighth grade stepped back and blew out their candles. It symbolized a passage of leadership from the current eighth-grade students to next year...