August 17, 2008
· Filed under Authors, Books, God, Quotes
I am on a Chaim Potok reading spree right now. I just finished my sixth book of his and I continue to be fascinated with the Jewish world that his books reveal. Four of his books that I have read have characters who are members of a Chasidic community.
There were two quotes that were said by the Rebbe in “The Gift of Asher Lev” that were laden with truth and brought me great comfort as I continued to digest them. Here they are:
“My father, of blessed memory, once said to me, the verse in Genesis: ‘And He saw all that He did and behold it was good’–my father once said that the seeing of God is not like the seeing of man. Man sees only between the blinks of his eyes. He does not know what the world is like during the blinks. He sees the world in pieces, in fragments. But the Master of the Universe sees the world whole, unbroken. That world is good. Our seeing is broken.”
“The Bratslaver Rebbe taught that obstacles are given us in order to make our desire even stronger. The more a thing is hidden from man, the more he desires it, and the greater chance that he will one day discover it.”
The second one immediately made me think of our invisible God. God often feels distant and it is hard to sometimes feel that we have an intimate relationship with HIm. This quote therefore reminded me that perhaps God chooses to remain more hidden out of His love for us. By remaining hidden, we will not be able to take God’s presence for granted or mistakenly view Him as common; we will thus seek Him more and through that seeking will be blessed by Him.
August 17, 2008
· Filed under God, Quotes
Those who believe that they believe in God but without passion in their hearts, without anguish in mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, without an element of despair even in their consolation, believe only in the idea of God, and not in God Himself. -Miguel de Unamuno
January 22, 2008
· Filed under God, Quotes, Social Justice, Teaching
I’ve had the privilege to use some of MLK’s writings in my classroom this year. He is one of the most spiritually lucid men that I’ve ever read. Here is a quote from his letter from Birmingham Jail that speaks of a standard that, as a Christian, I find myself accountable to uphold.
excerpt from “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Junior
“Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea.”
November 8, 2007
· Filed under Authors, Books, Quotes, Teaching
Today I began to prepare lessons for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Somehow I have managed to get this far in life without ever having read this classic. From my cursory study today, my interest has been piqued. Here is a quote of Mark Twain’s that I read today that contributed to my excitement to learn more about him and read his book.
Patriotism “is a word which always commemorates a robbery. There isn’t a foot of land in the world which doesn’t represent the ousting and re-ousting of a long line of successive ‘owners’ who each in turn, as ‘patriots,’ with proud swelling hearts defended it against the next gang of ‘robbers’ who came to steal it and did—and became swelling-hearted patriots in their turn.”
“I have no race prejudices… All that I care to know is that a man is a human being – that is enough for me; he can’t be any worse.”
October 14, 2007
· Filed under God, Quotes, Social Justice, The Presidential Election
I work in the kind of Christian environment where Hillary is a bad word and if your main source of news isn’t Fox News, then you best stay out of a conversation because no one will listen to you. Beyond work though, I typically find myself surrounded by Christians who are more willing to think beyond the Christian Right agenda. I was thus encouraged today to find–in a Christian bookstore– a relatively well known Christan magazine that’s popular amongst teens and young adults that had a quote said by Barack Obama.
“But somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and faith started being used to drive us apart. Faith got hijacked partly because of the so-called leaders of the Christian right, all too eager to exploit what divides us. At every opportunity, they’ve told evangelical Christians that Democrats disrespect and dislike their church, while suggesting to the rest of the country that religious Americans are only about issues like abortion, gay marriage, school prayer, and intelligent design….There was even a time when the Christian Coalition determined that its number one legislative priority was tax cuts for the rich. I don’t know what Bible they’re reading, but it doesn’t jibe with my version.”
quoted from Relevant Magazine.
Just to clarify, this is not a political endorsement on my part for Obama– although I may end up voting for him. It was dignifying to have him acknowledge that Christians do have other concerns beyond the few we are often associated with. We’re concerned about the war and poverty and caring for the elderly and providing health care to the underprivileged and civil rights. I personally would like to move beyond the suffocating assumption that if you’re Christian, then you must be Republican. It’s not so black and white, and more importantly, we must be careful to not put an inappropriate amount of hope in a political party to bring about the change the church wants to see in the world.
P.S. It has been maddening to see all those tax cuts that Bush has made for the richest of the rich.
August 21, 2007
· Filed under Quotes, Teaching
I began my American Literature course with several lessons revolving around Native Americans. In addition to reading a creation account and the Iroquois Constitution, we also read articles about the history of the Native Americans post-European arrival. I feel a deep sense of sadness for the way they were treated, and am horrified yet again by the sin of man that can be so dominant that it leads to genocide in a quest for self-aggrandizement. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve learned more about Columbus then I’ve ever had and have really come to abhor the actions of that man. He was a bad man. As such, I can no longer think of Columbus day as anything other then a deluded sense of American history and an honor that that has been rewarded to an undeserving man. Sure he “discovered” America for white Europeans, but what about the kind of man he was? What about his character? Let me just name but a few of his many offenses: raped Indian women, took slaves, stole whatever was desired from the Native Americans, including gold, cotton, and food. When you compare him to another man that we ‘give a day’ to- MLK Jr.- and consider the quality of man he was, it’s hard to see how they could ever be put on any sort of common ground by both having their lives honored with a national holiday remembrance day.
Consider this quote: “No sensible Indian person,” wrote George P. Horse Capture, “can celebrate the arrival of Columbus. Cherishing Columbus is a characteristic of white history, not American history”
Here is another quote that sends chills down my spine when I read it. There is something very powerful about the voice that comes through in these words; maybe it’s the history that emerges from it that is so often overlooked and under-regarded:
“Away back in that time-in 1492-there was a man by the name of Columbus who came from across the great ocean, and he discovered the country for the white man. . . What did he find when he first arrived here? Did he find a white man standing on the continent then? . . . I stood here first, and Columbus first discovered me.”
– Chitto Harjo, Creek
On an end note, we read the short story, “Indian education” by Sherman Alexie, which is a fictional account of a young boy’s experiences growing up on an Indian reservation. I recommend it. It has moments of humor where you must laugh but, in its depths, its story and characters evokes a very real, visceral response and invites the reader to feel compassion for the Native American experience in modern day America.
August 13, 2007
· Filed under Quotes, Social Justice, The Presidential Election
Did you get to see the Democratic debate hosted by You-Tube and led by Anderson Cooper? If not, you can see it all on You-Tube! It was the first of its kind in the history of debates–all the questions that were posed to the candidates were from citizens around the country who submitted their question via video.
Chad and I liked this idea that was said by John Edwards:
“You can’t wait for big companies and interest groups to give away their power, you have to take it from them.”
It is a noble idea, and a much needed one, but is it just empty rhetoric? After all, it would take more than just the President for this notion to be realized in Washington. So the deeper question that arises is how will the President persuade those in Congress and Senate to unite in a defensive that is willing and able to take back the power from the interest groups?
June 7, 2007
· Filed under God, Quotes
Somehow I acquired a little square of paper containing this quote that was said by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I have kept in my Bible and each time I read it, it challenges and inspires me in the way that I respond to others and in the way that I am to view myself in light of God’s righteousness and my sinfulness. It always leaves me humbled.
Bonhoeffer referred to its principle as the Ministry of Meekness:
He who would learn to serve must first learn to think little of himself. Only he who lives by the forgiveness of his sin in Jesus Christ will rightly think little of himself. He will know that his own wisdom reached the end of its tether when Jesus forgave him. He will know that it is good for his own will to be broken in the encounter with his neighbor. But not only my neighbor’s will, but also his honor is more important than mine. The desire for one’s own honor hinders faith. One who seeks his own honor is no longer seeking God and his neighbor. What does it matter if I suffer injustice? Would I not have deserved even worse punishment from God, if He had not dealt with me according to His mercy?
April 15, 2007
· Filed under God, Quotes
I am not what I ought to be.
I am not what I wish to be.
I am not even what I hope to be.
But by the cross of Christ,
I am not what I was.
-John Newton
March 18, 2007
· Filed under Quotes, Social Justice
“True compassion is more than flinging coins to a beggar . . . it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
April 4, 1967
