The Present Future

Todd Rundgren never gets old to me. This is from August of 2012.
In 1931, Aldous Huxley gave a fictionalized view into the future with his novel, Brave New World. The title, taken from the Shakespeare play, The Tempest, envisioned humanity in London in the year 2540, AD. I'll be honest- it's one of those books I've read about but never actually read, which seems to be the manner in which some approach the Bible. Still, I knew enough about it, and books like Orwell's 1984 and Toffler's Future Shock, to understand that the prognosticators foretold a much different life in the distant years and did not paint a rosy picture of what is to come. (However there is one futuristic song, I love, Todd Rundgren's Sons of 1984 which you can listen to on the link below!)

You might wonder why I'm leading off this entry with literary references about the future and the unknown. Well, yesterday, our school took a huge step into the unknown. On August 20, 2012, Westbury Christian officially became a laptop school, or more accurately, a MAC institution. Every student in grades 8-12 has been issued an APPLE computer and every classroom is now connected to the wireless Internet. I'll be honest- I've been dreading this. I'm not techno savvy and I'm comfortable with the way I've been teaching. There are so many questions and issues to consider and potential problems that will pop up. And so after two days, my reaction to everything is.....terrific! There are still bugs, mostly with the consistency of the Internet feed in classrooms and apps not quite working yet but that will come. I really like the kids taking notes on their laptops and my students have done a terrific job. Maybe it's just the novelty but all changes start out as novelties. I'll adjust; I have adapted to the use of computer grades and projected notes and video clips. What did Jesus tell us?
 “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Since no one is more tech savvy than these children sitting in front of me, I guess His advice is still valid to me! When Jesus went into the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth, they handed Him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and He found the passage He was searching for and when He read, He stood up. Now, we'll find that passage on biblegateway.com instead of a scroll, but we'll still stand up when we read aloud just like He did. Some things will never change.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Worlds of tomorrow,
Life without sorrow,
Take it because it's yours,
Sons of 1984."
Todd Rundgren (from Sons of 1984)

To listen to Sons Of 1984, click or copy/paste the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT_VdkJeZOw

*Props to our WCS tech gurus Karen Long and Sam Abels for guiding us wisely and skillfully into our new direction!*

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com