I've had conversations with a couple of parents of kids in schools these days. One of them was my daughter this morning. We sat around solving the worlds problems...and still didn't get her lawn mowed. By the way, my neighbor has faithfully mowed his twice now, taking off at least a quarter of an inch each time.
I'm not the first to say that one of the tragedies of school these days is the education toward taking a test. Unfortunately, some PhD in Washington decided that we needed to aim everything toward teaching kids how to take a test and get the answers right. That's not learning...by a long shot.
First, that encourages cheating (and I'm not justifying that by any means). If you are evaluated by the answers then you do whatever it takes to get the right answers. That may include using your iphone or ipod or other electronic device to store the answers. It may mean the administrators of the tests will need to go back over the scores and change some of the answers as they are accused of doing in the DC school district.
That is not learning. Let me say it now. The greatest tragedy of our current education system is that we aren't teaching kids the joy of learning. It takes a motivated, inspired, enthusiastic teacher to motivate children to learn. They need to see the personal application to the subject matter they are being exposed to. What is the joy of learning? It is the thrill of grasping new information and concepts that impact your life today.
I first learned that when I was 34 in a seminary class on Church History taught by Gerald Brunk. He showed how when Constantine marched his troops through the river to "baptize" them all to being Christians it transfers to experiences of person today who think that getting baptized is all there is to Christianity. It might be all there is to Christianity but it isn't all there is to being a follower of Christ. Ah, but I am chasing a rabbit.
I am thankful that over the years I have been inspired by many to the joys of learning. They included teachers, others who ate, slept and lived their fields of study and parents. Let's talk about them. Parents. So Mark Zuckeburg gave $100M to the Newark city schools of which $99M still sits in the bank while they argue how to spend it! That $100M will not touch the parents of those kids who need to be supporting the learning process.
If parents aren't as excited about the process of learning they aren't going to be able to help their children focus on the facts while Facebook and Twitter call them. I'm reminded of how Ben Carson's mom restricted his TV time so that he would be inspired to learn and not just vegetate in front of the boob tube. He became the premier child neurological surgeon of our time.
I was reminded of the movie Finding Forrester about the young man who was inspired to learn by one of the neighbors in his inner city community and the movie I can't remember the name of right now where the teacher inspired her kids to write. They were "low achievers" who were inspired to learn by a motivated teacher.
So we need capable teachers, interested parents and finally, an involved community. I'm not touched directly by the school system in my area. I don't have kids attending any more but my grandkids and the future young men and women who are being "educated" there are going to run the world I'll retire in. So I better get involved or I will taste the fruits of my disengagement.
On a closing note, Pat and I were talking the other day about how she has finally gotten inspired to read books. I have enjoyed reading for many years but she didn't have the encouragement to discover the joys of reading. She had to wait until she was 55 or so before she discovered the fun of learning from books. That seems like a tragedy to wait that long to discover the joy of learning. But we're educating another generation with that same lack as we speak.
What are we going to do about it?
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Hope
Anyone who has cooked Italian food will know that it's always better the second time around. That's because the spices have a chance to permeate the whole dish. I learned a trick from an Italian cook once when he was doing lasagna...take it out of the oven for about 30 minutes and it fakes out the spices and allows them to saturate the dish.
Hope is like that. It takes some time to simmer. Hope is not the kind of thing that you get in a flash of Holy Spirit power but is rather built over time. It grows when you see the Father show up to bring you his resources. He doesn't always come right away, in fact, I have a friend who says that God is always late...at least based on his timetable!
Unfortunately, we put our hope in the wrong things...a job, a big bank account, dependable cars, friends. All of those things can go away in just the flash of an instant. But if that's all we've ever trusted in then that's what our hope is built on. And it will fail.
Hope is knowing that the Father will show up. In order to learn that you have to put your hope in Him and not in other things. That's scary. That's because we have interpreted the Father's hope based on hope in things or people. They've been kind of our security in case God doesn't show up. That's why so often when people and things let us down we interpret the Father's heart as being just as fickle. We blame Him for the failure of those we have put our hope in.
It's a hard habit to break and one that takes lots of God's grace to master. By His grace He pulls the rug out from under us, takes away the things we rely on and leaves us with only one hope...Him.
Growing in a mature hope is like Italian food. The circumstances have to simmer some. They have to permeate the dish. They need time to make the best meal.
As I age I see that God is a lot slower about some things than I would like Him to be. He doesn't like to microwave my hope but rather to let it saturate slowly over time. When I left my job last September the colleagues who let me go said that I would have a job quickly. They were sure. That wasn't based on a revelation from God but just nice words to leave me with.
It hasn't happened that way. I am trusting in the hope that the Father knows my gifts. He knows my needs. He knows where he wants to put me. And He is letting me enjoy the time off. I have read 40 books since the beginning of the year. I finished some remodeling projects (and started others) that I have dreamed of doing for 3 years. I used to lament that I wished I had a week to work in my yard, a week to work in my shop and a week to work on something else. I've had them. Gifts from my Father who has instilled in me hope over the last 6 months.
My hope isn't built on the economic stimulus package put together by the President and Congress. It isn't set on a broad circle of friends that I sit with every week. It can't be measured in how much money I have in the bank. It can only be valued by the relationship that I have with my Father. My hope is built on nothing less.
Hope is like that. It takes some time to simmer. Hope is not the kind of thing that you get in a flash of Holy Spirit power but is rather built over time. It grows when you see the Father show up to bring you his resources. He doesn't always come right away, in fact, I have a friend who says that God is always late...at least based on his timetable!
Unfortunately, we put our hope in the wrong things...a job, a big bank account, dependable cars, friends. All of those things can go away in just the flash of an instant. But if that's all we've ever trusted in then that's what our hope is built on. And it will fail.
Hope is knowing that the Father will show up. In order to learn that you have to put your hope in Him and not in other things. That's scary. That's because we have interpreted the Father's hope based on hope in things or people. They've been kind of our security in case God doesn't show up. That's why so often when people and things let us down we interpret the Father's heart as being just as fickle. We blame Him for the failure of those we have put our hope in.
It's a hard habit to break and one that takes lots of God's grace to master. By His grace He pulls the rug out from under us, takes away the things we rely on and leaves us with only one hope...Him.
Growing in a mature hope is like Italian food. The circumstances have to simmer some. They have to permeate the dish. They need time to make the best meal.
As I age I see that God is a lot slower about some things than I would like Him to be. He doesn't like to microwave my hope but rather to let it saturate slowly over time. When I left my job last September the colleagues who let me go said that I would have a job quickly. They were sure. That wasn't based on a revelation from God but just nice words to leave me with.
It hasn't happened that way. I am trusting in the hope that the Father knows my gifts. He knows my needs. He knows where he wants to put me. And He is letting me enjoy the time off. I have read 40 books since the beginning of the year. I finished some remodeling projects (and started others) that I have dreamed of doing for 3 years. I used to lament that I wished I had a week to work in my yard, a week to work in my shop and a week to work on something else. I've had them. Gifts from my Father who has instilled in me hope over the last 6 months.
My hope isn't built on the economic stimulus package put together by the President and Congress. It isn't set on a broad circle of friends that I sit with every week. It can't be measured in how much money I have in the bank. It can only be valued by the relationship that I have with my Father. My hope is built on nothing less.
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