Last evening I was part of two back-to-back jail ministry services at our local Stark County Jail working with two great men from my son's church. Both services went especially well and the Holy Spirit was abundant in His presence. Two specific things happened last evening that I took to bed with me in my exhaustion and have awakened this morning with both events still churning in my mind.
Event one was played out in the lobby / front entrance to the jail before entering the security check point. It was an especially active place when I arrived. The event that hit me very hard was in watching this African American family, I guess they were a family, but two ladies and a man in their thirties I would assume. And with them was this precious about two year old little girl. Others in the lobby area were men and their girl friends waiting to go into the jail for warrant violations but it seems, generally, everyone in the lobby was loud and angry and bickering about various things. The culture of the lobby was dank and depressing as I was trying to prepare my mind and heart for the worship services to come. But then there was the precious two year old little girl.
I was captivated by her as the laughed loudly, strolled the lobby with reckless abandon, engaged everyone there but there were no takers for they were absorbed in their own puddle of anger and I realized they were all angry at each other. This little girl came running to me as I entered the glass doors smiling widely and gave me a "rock" with her hand; precious. As the next fifteen minutes unfolded, I became angry in watching the two family members of the child blatantly hand slapping her in the mouth, across the face and later the back of her head sending her flying across the floor. Each time this child popped back up like nothing happened and reignited the culture of darkness abounding in that lobby. In a flash I realized the power of light when it is brought into darkness for the darkness is melted and the light controls the darkness. I yearned to hold that child because of what I saw but also because of seeing the tons of love our Ms. Hope is now so used to and how loving she can be, just like that little ray of light in the darkness of Stark County Jail. Jesus was the light that entered this dark world and that came back to blaringly to me in watching this child be physically abused and verbally attacked.
The second event was in the second service last night when a nice looking African American young man that had attended previous chapel services was especially attentive the entire service with tears flowing during the singing and responded to the call / invitation for salvation at the end of the service. He asked to speak with me when the service was over in that two minutes before the deputies returned the inmates to their cells. As I sat with him he began to pour his heart out through tears and what he told me was that he had just be sentenced to 6 - 25 years prison time and was leaving this morning to begin that process. He was devastated.
Mind you I am not denying nor justifying he wrong he did was robbery and aggravated physical hurt inflicted on someone; he deserves the consequences for those acts and he readily admits that. But here is yet another case of a young twenty something young man, broken home, life of having to survive gangs, no job, no family, poor choice of friends, etc, etc. I hear it and see it so much that it is easy to grow ambivalent to it but it is very real and the long term implication on our culture is very concerning. This young man gave his heart to a loving God last evening and he was thrilled about having made that decision. I encouraged him to link up with the prison chaplain and that I would be writing him to encourage him at times.
Light in the dark -- That precious little girl
Dark lifted by the Light -- That is priceless in that young man
I was reminded all over again in why jail ministry continues to draw me to it and it is always so humbling and such a blessing.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Fear
The definition of Fear I have used and believe deeply in my heart is that fear is the absence of knowledge or, in other words, people are only afraid of that which they do not know or understand. One of the more interesting eyeopeners I have discovered this semester with my students was ushered in by my mandate for my students to read the daily articles I publish with my commentary on the article and expect a reply from each student on what the article says to them that same day. I think seal the circle by speaking to the articles, at times, in my classroom comments or will actually take class time to have team / class debates on the issues of the article's core issue. That is powerful I have learned for that is where real learning is seeded; when the student can and does express their ideas in a qualified manner.
In that process I realize I have uncovered a tender morsel of so many students having to face up to the issues that comprise the patchwork of our very complex and fearful world. I have had a hunger to understand since I was a small boy and that hunger is insatiable. Having experienced much of this world in my Goodyear career in seeing many cultures, dealing with many complex matters, having seen the ugly side of people, businesses, economies, countries; that is a powerful elixir for me to seek daily to try and understand the many dots that in some way must be connected. Having now forced that energy into course work on my students, I am finding in the replies in many ways words that they are realizing a deep fear of our world resides in these young minds.
But let me go back to definition of Fear that you only fear that which you do not know or understand but, therefore, the pain of fear, for me, is actually motivational as these young minds are stretched in new directions, different paces and myriad hues and colors. I yearn to ignite a hunger in my students for them to want to understand the major issues of this every shifting planet of complexities. Why? I believe the more you understand, the richer decisions are made going forward based on knowledge. That learning is wrapped into the core course objectives thus putting the ribbon on the gift I believe.
My wife at times will ask me why is important to understand "all that stuff" for "there is nothing you can do about it .." Great questions with few answers but my response is that the more you know and understand, the better the decisions to slow the rot and enhance the good is triggered. I sincerely believe that.
At the aggregate of the Why my mandate to my students is simple; these minds are the cultural leaders of our future. It is they that will make the decisions. It is they that will die in wars yet to be fought. It is they that will run businesses. It is they that will birth their future and build into that future the cultural values my students are learning today and I get to be part of that equation; how powerful is that?! How motivating is that?!
I do not seek to make my students always comfortable and warm and fuzzy. I do seek to find a way to get to places in their brains via education that will open new avenues and hungers to want to understand for in doing that, fear, the terrible shadow of fear is triggered. When I read or hear, "I never had a clue about x, y or z .." or "I have often wondered about that but never had to think about it ...! Those are statements that tell me the brains are being opened and filled with the phenomenal stimulant of knowledge thus accelerating the evaporation of the ghosts of fear. I hate fear and seek to make it go away by replacing it with the sweet cool taste of the water of knowing.
As we begin week four of this semester, I will find new ways to stretch the minds but at the same time to always be there to explain, to illustrate, to challenge my students to debate. I tell my students that education does not happen in the classroom with a professor reading from a PowerPoint but education takes place when a student hears something in a class room, gains competence in that new knowledge and then takes the initiative to engage someone outside the class to share and debate that new knowledge. Competence, you see, leads to Confidence.
In my selection of articles and in my commentary, I seek to find a very different focus of the article from the previous days submission. I want my students to get a sense of the constellation of events and issues such as the latest QE3 or then the teacher strike in Chicago or then the, see what I mean?
My distribution list for the articles is rather vast and diverse with many students from years gone by, business leaders I have worked with around the world, military leaders I worked with, childhood friends; a very eclectic clientele but the primary target audience is the current semester of students; the Makers of the Tomorrrows!
In that process I realize I have uncovered a tender morsel of so many students having to face up to the issues that comprise the patchwork of our very complex and fearful world. I have had a hunger to understand since I was a small boy and that hunger is insatiable. Having experienced much of this world in my Goodyear career in seeing many cultures, dealing with many complex matters, having seen the ugly side of people, businesses, economies, countries; that is a powerful elixir for me to seek daily to try and understand the many dots that in some way must be connected. Having now forced that energy into course work on my students, I am finding in the replies in many ways words that they are realizing a deep fear of our world resides in these young minds.
But let me go back to definition of Fear that you only fear that which you do not know or understand but, therefore, the pain of fear, for me, is actually motivational as these young minds are stretched in new directions, different paces and myriad hues and colors. I yearn to ignite a hunger in my students for them to want to understand the major issues of this every shifting planet of complexities. Why? I believe the more you understand, the richer decisions are made going forward based on knowledge. That learning is wrapped into the core course objectives thus putting the ribbon on the gift I believe.
My wife at times will ask me why is important to understand "all that stuff" for "there is nothing you can do about it .." Great questions with few answers but my response is that the more you know and understand, the better the decisions to slow the rot and enhance the good is triggered. I sincerely believe that.
At the aggregate of the Why my mandate to my students is simple; these minds are the cultural leaders of our future. It is they that will make the decisions. It is they that will die in wars yet to be fought. It is they that will run businesses. It is they that will birth their future and build into that future the cultural values my students are learning today and I get to be part of that equation; how powerful is that?! How motivating is that?!
I do not seek to make my students always comfortable and warm and fuzzy. I do seek to find a way to get to places in their brains via education that will open new avenues and hungers to want to understand for in doing that, fear, the terrible shadow of fear is triggered. When I read or hear, "I never had a clue about x, y or z .." or "I have often wondered about that but never had to think about it ...! Those are statements that tell me the brains are being opened and filled with the phenomenal stimulant of knowledge thus accelerating the evaporation of the ghosts of fear. I hate fear and seek to make it go away by replacing it with the sweet cool taste of the water of knowing.
As we begin week four of this semester, I will find new ways to stretch the minds but at the same time to always be there to explain, to illustrate, to challenge my students to debate. I tell my students that education does not happen in the classroom with a professor reading from a PowerPoint but education takes place when a student hears something in a class room, gains competence in that new knowledge and then takes the initiative to engage someone outside the class to share and debate that new knowledge. Competence, you see, leads to Confidence.
In my selection of articles and in my commentary, I seek to find a very different focus of the article from the previous days submission. I want my students to get a sense of the constellation of events and issues such as the latest QE3 or then the teacher strike in Chicago or then the, see what I mean?
My distribution list for the articles is rather vast and diverse with many students from years gone by, business leaders I have worked with around the world, military leaders I worked with, childhood friends; a very eclectic clientele but the primary target audience is the current semester of students; the Makers of the Tomorrrows!
Saturday, September 8, 2012
The Spectrum of Reflection and the Challenge of Projection
On this dark, rainy Saturday morning and after a good cup of coffee and having gone through my global array of news, I am more focused on the events of this ending of the first two weeks of my semester. As my wife and I were concluding our morning time with God, my mind begin to whirl as some of the events in just this two weeks which, frankly, formulate a spectrum of some really great high points and some really terrible low realities. So this morning will be about reflection but really in reflecting, I will drill into some projection. So the Spectrum of Reflection will hopefully yield a Challenge of Projection.
This week we have witnessed in a political party platform deliver a distinct and very public disgruntlement on the absence of the person of "God" intentionally excluded from the platform. This week, yesterday, a young student of mine was shocked into a horrific reality that his mother had been killed apparently by a drunk driver in a head on collision. This week the world has yet again witnessed the infamous boy from Arkansas dazzle the cameras in the form of Clinton. Who would have imagined someone so rightly trashed while a sitting POTUS would rise to the global status of the Savior of the Party? Only in America, right? This week I have been absolutely thrilled to see the caliber of some really great students as they embrace the work of my teaching methodology, getting their teams organized and beginning to manage the resources of the teams they have been charged to lead. This week I have been awed by what I consider an inordinate number of students dropping classes when, in my opinion and in the opinion of their peers, are of an age and generation that at the first scent of actually having to work and engage, they will simply walk away or cut and run. See what I mean by the Spectrum for many highs and lows in just two weeks and knowing many more are yet to come.
Those that may not know me well or even at all that are reading this cannot know my heart and passion about what I get to do. See, for me, teaching is two interconnected realities; it is first a God-granted ministry that I get to be this close to so many lives many of which are injured in many ways, wounded and hurt and that, even in the heavy lifting of the educational process I use, find a way to get closer to the point of pain in my students. Secondly, this work, this ministry of teaching, is bounded not by a semester but by a lifetime projection. I know that the process, the interface, the heavy lifting is formulating our future thus this work is going to touch the lives of these people but also their spouses, parents and yet unborn children. That reality thrills me but challenges me to be and do my very best at all times either face-to-face, via email, text, a look, a handshake, a pat on the back, a harsh critique; whatever means required to get to the best of each student.
The matter of the inordinate number of students dropping courses or enrolling and then never showing up is very troubling for me for I simply do not understand. I must but reflect on the world when I was their age which was a world of high inflation, a terrible war in Vietnam, a military conscription system that was too many times unfairly executed, a drug culture that turned to a societal cancer we are still reeling from today; that was the world when I was in my late teen years. Today, there is no conscription, which I vehemently disagree with. We are paying young people to fight our wars and protect our shores in a all-volunteer concept. I strongly believe that if you are going to live in this great nation, there should be a price to pay for that gift. But I find more and more a sense of pure entitlement mentality abounding in far too many students. This issue is now multi-generational so as one of my students stated yesterday, if a kid never sees his parents work, have to stive for anything with the government giving it all to them, then why should the student strive for something better; how truly sad!
Shirking of responsibility to the class, to the team or to themselves is far too rampant. I attack that with all I have when I see evidence of that for those that take on that banner are what I call the "20% Club" and they are the ones that impede, slow and frustrate the progress of the 80% Champions. But the projected reality is that if these young folks will shirk, cut and run, avoid today, you can know they will replicate that behavior when they seek to find employment, raise families, be adults. It really is very predictable and that is very sad to me but so true.
I could go on and on but let me move to Projection. I am still greatly impressed with this generation of young folks. I may not personally care for the array of tattoos which scar their bodies and I know that in a few years when gravity kicks in they will regret having done that but that is really not a big deal for me. I did have to smile yesterday as I was observing a many-tattooed student asking questions about some of them, great young man by the way, and he sincerely said, "well Professor Williams, they are all religious .." ... I did have to bite my lip not to laugh out loud on that revelation.
The reality is that the 80%ers will rise up to carry the load of the world and the 20%ers will be the anchors and issues of our tomorrows; Pareto was so right on his theory!
So my Projection for the future; I hope I live long enough to get to see these 80%ers rise to the positions they rightly deserve to control, lead, direct, drive, CHANGE their world for their value systems are strong and growing as they prepare for the journey. Yes, I am encouraged!
This week we have witnessed in a political party platform deliver a distinct and very public disgruntlement on the absence of the person of "God" intentionally excluded from the platform. This week, yesterday, a young student of mine was shocked into a horrific reality that his mother had been killed apparently by a drunk driver in a head on collision. This week the world has yet again witnessed the infamous boy from Arkansas dazzle the cameras in the form of Clinton. Who would have imagined someone so rightly trashed while a sitting POTUS would rise to the global status of the Savior of the Party? Only in America, right? This week I have been absolutely thrilled to see the caliber of some really great students as they embrace the work of my teaching methodology, getting their teams organized and beginning to manage the resources of the teams they have been charged to lead. This week I have been awed by what I consider an inordinate number of students dropping classes when, in my opinion and in the opinion of their peers, are of an age and generation that at the first scent of actually having to work and engage, they will simply walk away or cut and run. See what I mean by the Spectrum for many highs and lows in just two weeks and knowing many more are yet to come.
Those that may not know me well or even at all that are reading this cannot know my heart and passion about what I get to do. See, for me, teaching is two interconnected realities; it is first a God-granted ministry that I get to be this close to so many lives many of which are injured in many ways, wounded and hurt and that, even in the heavy lifting of the educational process I use, find a way to get closer to the point of pain in my students. Secondly, this work, this ministry of teaching, is bounded not by a semester but by a lifetime projection. I know that the process, the interface, the heavy lifting is formulating our future thus this work is going to touch the lives of these people but also their spouses, parents and yet unborn children. That reality thrills me but challenges me to be and do my very best at all times either face-to-face, via email, text, a look, a handshake, a pat on the back, a harsh critique; whatever means required to get to the best of each student.
The matter of the inordinate number of students dropping courses or enrolling and then never showing up is very troubling for me for I simply do not understand. I must but reflect on the world when I was their age which was a world of high inflation, a terrible war in Vietnam, a military conscription system that was too many times unfairly executed, a drug culture that turned to a societal cancer we are still reeling from today; that was the world when I was in my late teen years. Today, there is no conscription, which I vehemently disagree with. We are paying young people to fight our wars and protect our shores in a all-volunteer concept. I strongly believe that if you are going to live in this great nation, there should be a price to pay for that gift. But I find more and more a sense of pure entitlement mentality abounding in far too many students. This issue is now multi-generational so as one of my students stated yesterday, if a kid never sees his parents work, have to stive for anything with the government giving it all to them, then why should the student strive for something better; how truly sad!
Shirking of responsibility to the class, to the team or to themselves is far too rampant. I attack that with all I have when I see evidence of that for those that take on that banner are what I call the "20% Club" and they are the ones that impede, slow and frustrate the progress of the 80% Champions. But the projected reality is that if these young folks will shirk, cut and run, avoid today, you can know they will replicate that behavior when they seek to find employment, raise families, be adults. It really is very predictable and that is very sad to me but so true.
I could go on and on but let me move to Projection. I am still greatly impressed with this generation of young folks. I may not personally care for the array of tattoos which scar their bodies and I know that in a few years when gravity kicks in they will regret having done that but that is really not a big deal for me. I did have to smile yesterday as I was observing a many-tattooed student asking questions about some of them, great young man by the way, and he sincerely said, "well Professor Williams, they are all religious .." ... I did have to bite my lip not to laugh out loud on that revelation.
The reality is that the 80%ers will rise up to carry the load of the world and the 20%ers will be the anchors and issues of our tomorrows; Pareto was so right on his theory!
So my Projection for the future; I hope I live long enough to get to see these 80%ers rise to the positions they rightly deserve to control, lead, direct, drive, CHANGE their world for their value systems are strong and growing as they prepare for the journey. Yes, I am encouraged!
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Plato's Cave the Allegory
Many years ago I was exposed to this great work about human behavior.I do wish I could remember how or who brought it into my world for teaching that allegory has become standard upload for any and all courses I teach. That allegory now extends to thousands of jail inmates as well in my comments for changing one's reality is the beginning of change, right?
Now that this semester is in full swing and I have again stood a class of students around the wall, heels and palms against the wall while standing for a long period of time, lights in the classroom off to capture just a flavor of a cave ambiance, I still marvel at watching the students process this whole Cave story. Of course, I embellish the story a bit and add some humor but the crux of the work by Plato remains central; Man's behavior is pretty predictable especially when exposed to a new reality. Those of us still "chained" in our reality translated as comfort zone, have no real interest nor desire to cut the chains and embark on a journey to truly understand what causes the shadows on the Cave's ceiling we are all familiar and COMFORTABLE with for that is our reality. So the question, got any shadows in your world that have formed your cocoon of reality which may or may not be good?
In watching the scores of students begin to tire from standing with hands and palms pressed against a wall with eyes shut and not looking around and I am the only voice in their then current reality, I can see the wheels of so many begin to non verbally dredge up pains and frustrations of their lives that align with the context of Plato's Cave. I sometime ask for stories if they wish to share and they always want to share but then within hours I will begin receiving emails telling me their stories of angst, anger, frustration, disgruntlement, fear of their own person Cave and their yearning to escape the bindings of that old reality that has taken them down a painful pathway.
See, for me, education is Plato's Cave for it goes directly to the heart of changing one's reality. The more interesting component of Plato's work is that once a person has escaped the chains, made their way out of the cave of reality, the rest of us are still comfortably chained in the comfortable reality, to examine why the shadows bouncing around on the wall are there. Once we see the bonfire and dancing native around the fire outside the cave and had the aha moment of "now I understand" the shadows, it is the lack of acceptance by those still chained in that old reality that reject not only the message of the new reality but also the person bringing that message. THAT is the driver, to me at least, of why education is so vital; it holds one's head under the water long enough that it forces the rapid intake of new information via the oxygen of a new reality.
The world in which we reside is screaming for change and leaders to lead others to that exit from the chains of current reality to discovery and understanding of the new, forward reality. Education is kinetic, not easy and happens not in the sanitized casings of a class room but in the daily lives and conversation of those cut loose from their chains holding them in the current reality and stories and lore. It is the engagement by those experiencing the new reality with their friends, associates and hardest of all, their family, in conversation about the new reality; that is education when a student has the guts, competence and stamina and courage to begin to teach others their new reality. And then more and more are engaged in the discovery of the new reality.
This whole Plato's Cave teaching element is potent and each semester I realize the reason it is so important and eye opening is that the chains of this world are holding great minds to the wall of the cocoon but that cocoon is shielding and hiding more and more painful, disappointing and discouraging realities for the young minds. See, they reflect the rapidly and deterioration values and mores of our society and it angers me greatly to see the pain in these young people as they strive for something new, something better.
All of this is what fundamentally drives me to expend far too many hours and thoughts into building and executing a course but it is not about me but about the minds of these young people that challenge me to the very core to given them all I have to cut loose the chains binding their minds from finding a new escape, to smell the sweet smell of a new, enlightened reality and then to enjoin others to cut their bindings to see that reality. That is powerful stuff! That is what teachers teaching with their heart exact from the minds and hearts of their students. That is why I do what I do!
This work, teaching, is a noble work but it is also a work of great value for it unleashes the forces of change for the new tomorrows. This is not a job for me, this is a ministry I GET TO DO! And who receives the richest blessing of all? That would be me!
Now that this semester is in full swing and I have again stood a class of students around the wall, heels and palms against the wall while standing for a long period of time, lights in the classroom off to capture just a flavor of a cave ambiance, I still marvel at watching the students process this whole Cave story. Of course, I embellish the story a bit and add some humor but the crux of the work by Plato remains central; Man's behavior is pretty predictable especially when exposed to a new reality. Those of us still "chained" in our reality translated as comfort zone, have no real interest nor desire to cut the chains and embark on a journey to truly understand what causes the shadows on the Cave's ceiling we are all familiar and COMFORTABLE with for that is our reality. So the question, got any shadows in your world that have formed your cocoon of reality which may or may not be good?
In watching the scores of students begin to tire from standing with hands and palms pressed against a wall with eyes shut and not looking around and I am the only voice in their then current reality, I can see the wheels of so many begin to non verbally dredge up pains and frustrations of their lives that align with the context of Plato's Cave. I sometime ask for stories if they wish to share and they always want to share but then within hours I will begin receiving emails telling me their stories of angst, anger, frustration, disgruntlement, fear of their own person Cave and their yearning to escape the bindings of that old reality that has taken them down a painful pathway.
See, for me, education is Plato's Cave for it goes directly to the heart of changing one's reality. The more interesting component of Plato's work is that once a person has escaped the chains, made their way out of the cave of reality, the rest of us are still comfortably chained in the comfortable reality, to examine why the shadows bouncing around on the wall are there. Once we see the bonfire and dancing native around the fire outside the cave and had the aha moment of "now I understand" the shadows, it is the lack of acceptance by those still chained in that old reality that reject not only the message of the new reality but also the person bringing that message. THAT is the driver, to me at least, of why education is so vital; it holds one's head under the water long enough that it forces the rapid intake of new information via the oxygen of a new reality.
The world in which we reside is screaming for change and leaders to lead others to that exit from the chains of current reality to discovery and understanding of the new, forward reality. Education is kinetic, not easy and happens not in the sanitized casings of a class room but in the daily lives and conversation of those cut loose from their chains holding them in the current reality and stories and lore. It is the engagement by those experiencing the new reality with their friends, associates and hardest of all, their family, in conversation about the new reality; that is education when a student has the guts, competence and stamina and courage to begin to teach others their new reality. And then more and more are engaged in the discovery of the new reality.
This whole Plato's Cave teaching element is potent and each semester I realize the reason it is so important and eye opening is that the chains of this world are holding great minds to the wall of the cocoon but that cocoon is shielding and hiding more and more painful, disappointing and discouraging realities for the young minds. See, they reflect the rapidly and deterioration values and mores of our society and it angers me greatly to see the pain in these young people as they strive for something new, something better.
All of this is what fundamentally drives me to expend far too many hours and thoughts into building and executing a course but it is not about me but about the minds of these young people that challenge me to the very core to given them all I have to cut loose the chains binding their minds from finding a new escape, to smell the sweet smell of a new, enlightened reality and then to enjoin others to cut their bindings to see that reality. That is powerful stuff! That is what teachers teaching with their heart exact from the minds and hearts of their students. That is why I do what I do!
This work, teaching, is a noble work but it is also a work of great value for it unleashes the forces of change for the new tomorrows. This is not a job for me, this is a ministry I GET TO DO! And who receives the richest blessing of all? That would be me!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Ah, the Newness of Fall
Each Fall, I can vividly recall getting my new textbooks and new pencils and paper and the smells of newness that would trigger a new level of excitement about school. Even as a little boy those thoughts are so ingrained into my memory. I felt that same sense of excitement and exhilaration in the last two days as I finally got to meet and speak with my four classes for the Fall semester. Silly perhaps but I still get so excited about a new semester and all the challenges that lay ahead. I tingle in finally getting to execute countless hours of planning, syllabi's preparation, logistical coordination, establishing communications nets with my students; you know, the smell of new textbooks!
Now I realize that my energy and passion just sort of blows all over the room when the students are coming in and I am shaking hands in welcoming them. It is the first time they have met this person, that would be me, that has made contact via an elaborate email with several attachments they received many times within minutes of them enrolling in my classes. That would be me that fills their In Box with daily articles I select and comment on as I seek to "ignite a hunger for them to want to understand" this world. It is always interesting when I call on one of these newbies to answer the question, "so what did you think, really, when you opened that first email from me?" I realize that is quite out of the ordinary but then teaching should be quite out of the ordinary I believe. I seek to establish new heights of creativity and new levels of connectivity with my students long before we even meet. I want them to feel the energy, the strength of passion about the work and the new terrain that looms before them. I want them to smell the new textbooks of education.
The nearly 180 students I have this semester, after the drops and adds, are great people. They range in age from 17 to 79. I have an unusually high number of males versus females. I have very few military veterans versus what I usually. But really what I have is a large group of opportunities that need to be developed, challenged, stretched and pushed to reach levels of learning perhaps new and thus frightening for them. That is the part I love most, frankly, for that energizes me even more. The power of learning is a potent, unstoppable force I can, more and more, understand why, throughout history, when a dictator comes to power, the first thing they do is have the teachers killed for teachers breathe new life into stale, fragmented minds and paradigms.
So my blog message this morning to my students, old and new, and to the parents and grandparents of these young minds I say, they are in good hands and covered by daily prayer for their well being, their stretched minds they are about to experience as they prepare for life in a new, frighteningly scary and every changing world. It is going to be fun so hang on!
It is a great generation and what a blessing to get to touch the future and their unborn children and grandchildren. Yes, I view what I GET TO DO through that prism meaning it much more than just time in class for it is about changing a generation. That is powerful stuff isn't it?
Now I realize that my energy and passion just sort of blows all over the room when the students are coming in and I am shaking hands in welcoming them. It is the first time they have met this person, that would be me, that has made contact via an elaborate email with several attachments they received many times within minutes of them enrolling in my classes. That would be me that fills their In Box with daily articles I select and comment on as I seek to "ignite a hunger for them to want to understand" this world. It is always interesting when I call on one of these newbies to answer the question, "so what did you think, really, when you opened that first email from me?" I realize that is quite out of the ordinary but then teaching should be quite out of the ordinary I believe. I seek to establish new heights of creativity and new levels of connectivity with my students long before we even meet. I want them to feel the energy, the strength of passion about the work and the new terrain that looms before them. I want them to smell the new textbooks of education.
The nearly 180 students I have this semester, after the drops and adds, are great people. They range in age from 17 to 79. I have an unusually high number of males versus females. I have very few military veterans versus what I usually. But really what I have is a large group of opportunities that need to be developed, challenged, stretched and pushed to reach levels of learning perhaps new and thus frightening for them. That is the part I love most, frankly, for that energizes me even more. The power of learning is a potent, unstoppable force I can, more and more, understand why, throughout history, when a dictator comes to power, the first thing they do is have the teachers killed for teachers breathe new life into stale, fragmented minds and paradigms.
So my blog message this morning to my students, old and new, and to the parents and grandparents of these young minds I say, they are in good hands and covered by daily prayer for their well being, their stretched minds they are about to experience as they prepare for life in a new, frighteningly scary and every changing world. It is going to be fun so hang on!
It is a great generation and what a blessing to get to touch the future and their unborn children and grandchildren. Yes, I view what I GET TO DO through that prism meaning it much more than just time in class for it is about changing a generation. That is powerful stuff isn't it?
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Nets up!
Another early morning get up for me as I face a pretty busy day but certainly not complaining. As I have gone through my FB wall in last couple of days, I have found it interesting at the many photos put up by parents sending their children off to a new school year and our two children are certainly no exception. I have enjoyed seeing all the photos but the process of sending children off to school after a long or short summer is a very defining moment in the lives of those children, those parents, those teachers, our world!
For me, while I still do not understand, as a new semester approaches launch, I find myself going into the super excited, adrenalin-driven state of anticipation. I remember that same "rush" before a big basketball game in high school and college or the few minutes before the birth of our children. I have often wondered why that sense becomes so real and almost overwhelming. My sleep need goes away for my mind will not shut off. My heart races with each new student enrollment notification and I have this giddy sense of feeling really excited about seeing "another one" choosing to take the journey. I take it as a personal lose when a student withdraws from a class and all of this before I have even met the student. Why is that I wonder!
See, a semester of courses for me begins about two weeks into the precious semester. The amount of mental preparation and work I invest into building a course, and each one is a new construction project for me, saps energy as my brain goes into hyper-drive in creating this Road map of work that will take the class down a pathway that is rich in learning, experiencing, affording opportunity to learn in a massive scale; that excites me and thus becomes a driver to get into a Word file a process of learning with is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. Why? because the student is worth it for I realize more and more that I am getting the blessing of touching the lives of our future.
At sixty-four, I am ever reminded that I do have more years behind me than I do in front of me. Now that may sound weird but when that reality becomes evident, some will run from it but some embrace it and seek to maximize every moment. I am truly in category "B" for my life continues to fill with activities, interfaces and interventions with people be they a friend, a student, a jail inmate, a child, grandchild, wife, etc, etc. In other words, realizing more clearly than ever before that every breath is a blessing when you feel good and you find joy in what you are doing.
Those that know me know I have always found myself in a multi-faceted life style. Teaching, singing, counseling, living, etc, are all pieces and parts of my life and like I wrote a few weeks ago, the power of "I Get To" instead of "I Have To" creates a powerful force. With each passing day I find myself wanting to do more and more when stereotypically people think that now in retirement for almost a decade I should be relaxing 24/7; how boring is that?!
I LOVE the life I Get To live. Do I do too much? Probably! Do I glean a richer more satisfying value from the things in my life? On a scale I could have never imagined! See, I think I am probably a slow learner for it has taken me too much of my life to come to some real insight on this thing called life. One of the most integral elements about life I have learned via seeing it in my own life is that God gifts each of His children with certain talents. Some He may grant more than one. But more importantly, as you seek to live in God's Will for your life, part of that is seeking to fully utilize and maximize your gifts for His Glory. So that term "spiritual gifts" is very real and very tangible for I can stand on my own stack of days as testimony to that reality.
As the Fall semester begins finally to unfold, the energy and exhilaration I feel is energizing. It matters not the inordinate hours spent in building a semester of work, of selecting, communicating with and preparing the team leaders for the work ahead and then working directly with the nearly two hundred students I will work with in four classes. THAT IS SO EXCITING TO ME! Why? because I KNOW that be the end of the journey if the student will commit to the journey, carry their load, invest themselves into the work, a wealth and richness of learning will have taken place that will better posture each student for the headwinds of life; this I KNOW!
So my challenge to each of you, what is your spiritual gift for you have one more more? But more importantly, how are you mining that gift to touch, move, motivate and enrich others which is a far more important analysis for each of us. I love to see peoples' lives touched and changed through my teaching, my singing, my interface for in seeing that, I know God is blessing and rewarding the use of the gifts He has given me; it really is that simple but so rewarding and so powerful.
So getting the Nets Up is precursor to preparing the fields for planting, cultivating and harvesting in each and every life put before you. What a phenomenal blessing life becomes when you live long enough to realize this. So to my students, hang on for the journey is worth it IF YOU COMMIT to the journey. This will be a great semester I know for I know the NETS ARE UP! So now I get to watch, guide, direct, cheer lead the process as it now begins to unfold ... and yes, I am already thinking about the Spring semester with some new innovations to educate. Thank you God for the gift of teaching you gave me!
For me, while I still do not understand, as a new semester approaches launch, I find myself going into the super excited, adrenalin-driven state of anticipation. I remember that same "rush" before a big basketball game in high school and college or the few minutes before the birth of our children. I have often wondered why that sense becomes so real and almost overwhelming. My sleep need goes away for my mind will not shut off. My heart races with each new student enrollment notification and I have this giddy sense of feeling really excited about seeing "another one" choosing to take the journey. I take it as a personal lose when a student withdraws from a class and all of this before I have even met the student. Why is that I wonder!
See, a semester of courses for me begins about two weeks into the precious semester. The amount of mental preparation and work I invest into building a course, and each one is a new construction project for me, saps energy as my brain goes into hyper-drive in creating this Road map of work that will take the class down a pathway that is rich in learning, experiencing, affording opportunity to learn in a massive scale; that excites me and thus becomes a driver to get into a Word file a process of learning with is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. Why? because the student is worth it for I realize more and more that I am getting the blessing of touching the lives of our future.
At sixty-four, I am ever reminded that I do have more years behind me than I do in front of me. Now that may sound weird but when that reality becomes evident, some will run from it but some embrace it and seek to maximize every moment. I am truly in category "B" for my life continues to fill with activities, interfaces and interventions with people be they a friend, a student, a jail inmate, a child, grandchild, wife, etc, etc. In other words, realizing more clearly than ever before that every breath is a blessing when you feel good and you find joy in what you are doing.
Those that know me know I have always found myself in a multi-faceted life style. Teaching, singing, counseling, living, etc, are all pieces and parts of my life and like I wrote a few weeks ago, the power of "I Get To" instead of "I Have To" creates a powerful force. With each passing day I find myself wanting to do more and more when stereotypically people think that now in retirement for almost a decade I should be relaxing 24/7; how boring is that?!
I LOVE the life I Get To live. Do I do too much? Probably! Do I glean a richer more satisfying value from the things in my life? On a scale I could have never imagined! See, I think I am probably a slow learner for it has taken me too much of my life to come to some real insight on this thing called life. One of the most integral elements about life I have learned via seeing it in my own life is that God gifts each of His children with certain talents. Some He may grant more than one. But more importantly, as you seek to live in God's Will for your life, part of that is seeking to fully utilize and maximize your gifts for His Glory. So that term "spiritual gifts" is very real and very tangible for I can stand on my own stack of days as testimony to that reality.
As the Fall semester begins finally to unfold, the energy and exhilaration I feel is energizing. It matters not the inordinate hours spent in building a semester of work, of selecting, communicating with and preparing the team leaders for the work ahead and then working directly with the nearly two hundred students I will work with in four classes. THAT IS SO EXCITING TO ME! Why? because I KNOW that be the end of the journey if the student will commit to the journey, carry their load, invest themselves into the work, a wealth and richness of learning will have taken place that will better posture each student for the headwinds of life; this I KNOW!
So my challenge to each of you, what is your spiritual gift for you have one more more? But more importantly, how are you mining that gift to touch, move, motivate and enrich others which is a far more important analysis for each of us. I love to see peoples' lives touched and changed through my teaching, my singing, my interface for in seeing that, I know God is blessing and rewarding the use of the gifts He has given me; it really is that simple but so rewarding and so powerful.
So getting the Nets Up is precursor to preparing the fields for planting, cultivating and harvesting in each and every life put before you. What a phenomenal blessing life becomes when you live long enough to realize this. So to my students, hang on for the journey is worth it IF YOU COMMIT to the journey. This will be a great semester I know for I know the NETS ARE UP! So now I get to watch, guide, direct, cheer lead the process as it now begins to unfold ... and yes, I am already thinking about the Spring semester with some new innovations to educate. Thank you God for the gift of teaching you gave me!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
The Juices of Fall
Another morning of waking at 0400 with visions, not of sugar plums dancing in my head, but of last minute details to finalize the infrastructure upon which my four classes I will be teaching will function smoothly. Getting the team leaders identified, readying them by calming them to the task before them, finalizing the scheduling of speakers to my classes, finalizing hosts of the Study Missions, setting up separate meetings with my team leaders by class prior to the launch a week from Monday, making sure the syllabus work flow is clean and clear; those are the plums dancing in my head!
Recently I was consulting with a client in a new business start up and what the start up had basically entailed was destabilizing every element and person in his life and he was reaping the agonizing benefits of that destabilization. In my final counsel to him, the words of Sun Tzu returned to me; the brilliant Chinese military commander and strategist in 5000 BC gave us one of his principles of strategy and leadership is that the leader must stabilize the force.
Stabilization brings a sense of calm in the wake of an oncoming storm. Never fear the storm if your preparation is done well. I saw one of those great and pertinent church signs yesterday that read, Smooth Waters Do Not Make for Skillful Sailors. It is not the job of leaders to calm the waters but to prepare the boat and its sailors for the squall ahead.
As the professor of approaching 200 students in four classes this Fall, I am so excited to get this journey up and running. I know, KNOW, that much will be accomplished, growth will be witnessed, the thrill of victory will fill the noses of those that commit to the journey and the agony of frustration in having to deal with me or the rest of the team members not feeling the winning juices will be present as well. It is in that panacea of emotion that I seem to find the greatest sense of worth and satisfaction in seeing young people rise above what they think they can do or cannot do and attain something greater than they are; a blessing to watch and to be part of!
I do love what I get to do with and in my teaching on a scale I could never have imagined. Those that serve as team leaders formulate the infrastructure of success and to watch them build their culture in their respective teams is always simply amazing. Then the Chief Operating Officer, who a team leader as well, has the additional coordination and direction responsibility of cat herding the actions of the nine other team leaders and their folks, pulling all the work for hand in together in a specific manner and then see the smile when they literally hand the completed ten teams' work to me for grading; wow what a small but grand victory I see in the eyes of that COO.
Teaching is a joy but only if you invest in the students' lives, get to know them, respect them, challenge and stretch them, mentor them, be tough with them if not performing, expect more and more and you will get more and more. Teaching, at least the way I teach, is very kinetic and energy generating. It is an energy that exudes exhilaration with the victories and wisdom with the losses but then turning the losses into victories is wisdom on steroids. Watching the dozens of young minds reach outside themselves, be dependent on others and all that entails, grasp the concepts of what real, on the ground leadership looks, feels, tastes and smells like is the greatest of joys for me for I know those learned skills will play forward in years to come.
So on this beautiful Saturday morning looking into the next two weeks of meetings and then the launch, I know there will be much concern, worry and exasperation but I also know that past those clouds reside a sunrise most of these young people have not even thought about. Yes there will be those that choose not to engage, the 20%ers, so it will be for me as the CEO to rid the class of their anchoring weight or move them to the 80% group; winners and some losers but predictable. But for me that is part of the victory to see that 20% impact on the whole class when dealt with properly.
So who gets the blessing of the countless hours of preparation and coordination? Certainly it is I in witnessing the phenomenal thing called Learning take place. Never could I have imagined that in my life but I realize more and more that this is part of the blessing and ministry God has given me to do so who gets the blessing? Yup, that would be me!
Recently I was consulting with a client in a new business start up and what the start up had basically entailed was destabilizing every element and person in his life and he was reaping the agonizing benefits of that destabilization. In my final counsel to him, the words of Sun Tzu returned to me; the brilliant Chinese military commander and strategist in 5000 BC gave us one of his principles of strategy and leadership is that the leader must stabilize the force.
Stabilization brings a sense of calm in the wake of an oncoming storm. Never fear the storm if your preparation is done well. I saw one of those great and pertinent church signs yesterday that read, Smooth Waters Do Not Make for Skillful Sailors. It is not the job of leaders to calm the waters but to prepare the boat and its sailors for the squall ahead.
As the professor of approaching 200 students in four classes this Fall, I am so excited to get this journey up and running. I know, KNOW, that much will be accomplished, growth will be witnessed, the thrill of victory will fill the noses of those that commit to the journey and the agony of frustration in having to deal with me or the rest of the team members not feeling the winning juices will be present as well. It is in that panacea of emotion that I seem to find the greatest sense of worth and satisfaction in seeing young people rise above what they think they can do or cannot do and attain something greater than they are; a blessing to watch and to be part of!
I do love what I get to do with and in my teaching on a scale I could never have imagined. Those that serve as team leaders formulate the infrastructure of success and to watch them build their culture in their respective teams is always simply amazing. Then the Chief Operating Officer, who a team leader as well, has the additional coordination and direction responsibility of cat herding the actions of the nine other team leaders and their folks, pulling all the work for hand in together in a specific manner and then see the smile when they literally hand the completed ten teams' work to me for grading; wow what a small but grand victory I see in the eyes of that COO.
Teaching is a joy but only if you invest in the students' lives, get to know them, respect them, challenge and stretch them, mentor them, be tough with them if not performing, expect more and more and you will get more and more. Teaching, at least the way I teach, is very kinetic and energy generating. It is an energy that exudes exhilaration with the victories and wisdom with the losses but then turning the losses into victories is wisdom on steroids. Watching the dozens of young minds reach outside themselves, be dependent on others and all that entails, grasp the concepts of what real, on the ground leadership looks, feels, tastes and smells like is the greatest of joys for me for I know those learned skills will play forward in years to come.
So on this beautiful Saturday morning looking into the next two weeks of meetings and then the launch, I know there will be much concern, worry and exasperation but I also know that past those clouds reside a sunrise most of these young people have not even thought about. Yes there will be those that choose not to engage, the 20%ers, so it will be for me as the CEO to rid the class of their anchoring weight or move them to the 80% group; winners and some losers but predictable. But for me that is part of the victory to see that 20% impact on the whole class when dealt with properly.
So who gets the blessing of the countless hours of preparation and coordination? Certainly it is I in witnessing the phenomenal thing called Learning take place. Never could I have imagined that in my life but I realize more and more that this is part of the blessing and ministry God has given me to do so who gets the blessing? Yup, that would be me!
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