Sam I Am ....Or Not

 Sam I Am ....Or Not

"You can call me Ray. Or you can call me Jay... " That means nothing to most of you! This is from November 22, 2015.

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know that I work out every day. I belong to a fitness club about a mile from my place which meets my needs perfectly. On the weekend, I go in at 8:00 AM and come back in the afternoon. Typically, I lift and then swim although Sunday is a pool only day. On school days, or Monday through Friday, I start my workout at 5:45 AM. Technically, they don't open until six but they are getting things ready for the day and don't mind if I get a head start. A little over a month ago, a new guy started up at the same time as me. He had just become a member and is an administrator in the public schools. He introduced himself as John and I told him I was Steve. We greet each other every morning except Wednesday, his Sabbath from lifting. There is one slight problem. I see him first usually as he wears headphones and I get his attention.
"Good morning, John."
He smiles and replies:
"What's up, Sam?"
That's right- he thinks my name is Sam. I let it go so to John, it is Sam.

I presented the situation to my seventh period Gospels' class, all juniors, on Thursday. They were appalled that I was not handling it. I explained that I am handling it by ignoring it.
"But Coach, what if he finds out?"
He won't.
"But what is he sees you wearing something with your name on it?"
I don't wear stuff with my name on it.
"But what if someone calls you by your name and he hears it?"
The little old ladies who come in don't know what it is.
They still were unanimous in their incredulity. Except for Micah R. He had my back.

I don't care if John thinks I'm Sam. In my view, it might embarrass him if I broke the news.  Look at the list of apostles. Several have multiple monikers like Peter aka The Rock aka Cephas aka Simon. Maybe I would make a good Sam; maybe John sees something in me that I don't! Names matter- I try to call each student's name every class period- but to me this isn't a big deal. It might if John were my boss but he isn't. I do hope he suspects I have a third name as well- Child Of God.

Applicable quote of the day:
“It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.”
W.C. Fields 

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

resolC ehT

 

resolC ehT

This is from April 25, 2020!
I wrote a blog last week about how I've become almost, and I hesitate to use this word, addicted to reruns of the television show, The Closer! It became imperative to me that especially during this quarantine I keep the 5-7 PM time slot open each night so I could get my fix of back to back episodes on NBC channel 2-4 here in Houston. Last week, the swan song  season, # 7, finished up so they started back at the beginning. My guess is that I've seen 2/3 of the 120+ shows and I don't watch anything a second time. Plus, it was starting to interfere with my exercising time which is a dilemma when you are a month removed from the gym with no certain time of return. But, I found an alternative! There is an Internet website that has all the episodes in order and I can watch them for free! They even provide a synopsis of each plot so I can know in advance if I've already watched Season 4, Episode 6, or whatever. My life has become easier! I can still watch one show every day but when I want. I can pause it or even watch half and come back later. It's perfect!

Well, it's almost perfect. You see, on about half of the episodes that I've watched online, the image is inverted. (My guess it has to do with some copyright disagreement.) There are two tip offs to the reversal. The first is that the opening credits are backwards. The second comes in car scenes where the driver and the passenger have switched places, at least in the manner of American automobiles. If it wasn't for that, I would never know! OK, maybe if Pravenza is wearing a Dodgers' jersey and it comes out sregdoD, I might raise an eyebrow but that's it.  The story doesn't change or the audio or the voices or the crime or the verdict. Like I said- I can't tell. And what's worse, or maybe better, it has ceased to bother me. I guess I can handle being deceived.

How many things in life have I gotten backwards? Ideas or judgments on others or risk versus reward in certain situations? Who knows? Maybe I still get lots of stuff backwards. I pray for understanding and discernment but maybe not as often as I should. I think we all interpret things through the lenses of our upbringing and personalities and I would guess the Lord is not as hard and fast on many issues as we seem to be. But in the time of Isaiah, there were those who deliberately were reversing things that mattered:

Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter. (Isaiah 5:20)

Are those folks still around today? Undoubtedly! I'm not talking about political philosophies. I mean the ones who say right is wrong and wrong is right. That stuff comes from the devil, the wolf in sheep's clothing, the foe of God's people. He's the deceiver. He turned things around in the Garden of Eden and unlike The Closer, his show was never cancelled. He wants us to see things backwards so we don't perceive correctly or worse, it doesn't matter to us. We have to be vigilant in an ever changing and often bewildering world. Johnson Oatman called the goal of the struggle higher ground in his hymn of the same name. Our reward is coming if we hold fast to the truth. The enemy? His reward is coming as well. The rewards will be as varied as good and evil.

Applicable quote of the day:
God created man in His own image, says the Bible; philosophers reverse the process: they create God in theirs.
Georg C. Lichtenberg

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Zacchaeus, As Played By Angelo

 

Zacchaeus, As Played By Angelo

This is from April 24, 2024! One of our assignments this week in our juniors' Gospels' classes was to rewrite the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 from the perspective of the tax collector. This is from Angelo and is used with his permission!
"I grew up as a poor boy. I did not like to see my family go through hunger and trouble like that ever again. Luckily when I was just a teenager, I met an important Roman politician. He felt badly for me, so he took me by his side. He trained me in the worlds of economics and politics. I also learned to speak multiple languages under him. Later in life, he made me a tax collector. After collecting from my countrymen, I gave a sum of money to him, and he gave a quite comfortable amount of money for me and my family. There is a downside in my life- I am a very short man. The people hated me because they thought I was a puppet for the Romans. I only cared about my family and no one else; I did it for them. I do not like to be hated, but it is a consequence for working under the Romans. I simply got used to it while always wishing it would stop. One day, I heard that a man named Jesus would walk through my city of Jericho. The rumors were that he can do miracles and can even forgive sins! In the big crowd that gathered, I could not see him due to my height. I climbed a tree so that maybe, Jesus could see me! While I was sitting in the tree, I thought to myself, "Maybe if I gave the people my collectibles and belongings, maybe they would like me." And then,Jesus saw me sitting in the tree! He came up and said that he wants be in my house and have dinner. So I called my servants and asked them to give all my belongings to the people. Jesus said that I have reached salvation and that I was saved! I still work for the Romans as a tax collector, but I give the excess money I make back to the people. I help build synagogues and local kitchens for the poor. Praise be to God for His mercy on me!"

God bless, Steve Luke 18:1

The Leader Of The Band

 

The Leader Of The Band

This is one of my favorite blogs- it's from April 23, 2020.

I've been nostalgic today. This morning, I drove to our campus and, of course, no one was there. It was 7:15 and I left a chalk message like others will do on our driveway for our seniors who will pick up their caps and gowns this afternoon. It was at the time when I would typically be getting my room ready for the day and making sure stuff was in place for 1st period basketball practice but I was by myself. As I left the parking lot, I was reminded of the line from Joni Mitchell's classic song, Big Yellow Taxi:

"Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you got til it's gone."
Seniors doing senior stuff? No big deal..... until it is. A teacher doing teacher stuff for a normal day? No big deal..... until there is no school. I think from now on, a lot of no big deals will become big  deals again.

As I departed our campus, I popped the CD back into the player. (This may be another blog for another time but the CD is ''Coach Hawley's Groovy Tunes, # 8!") The fourth track came on, Dan Fogelberg's haunting The Leader Of The Band. It's a tribute to his father, Lawrence, pictured above. The senior Fogelberg was a long time high school music teacher/band director in two Illinois high schools. It was written before the elder Fogelberg passed away but the son expressed the sentiment many of us feel; it takes time and distance and maybe even death to realize the sacred place a father (and mother) can hold in the lives of their children, even if the children are full grown. Eight days ago was the 12th anniversary of Dad's passing and almost out of nowhere, I began weeping. I'm not sure why- other April 15ths have passed without emotion. Grief comes in stages, sometimes with long intermissions between scenes and acts. The funny thing is that others appreciated my father more at the time than I did and I'm guessing Dan Fogelberg, who died in 2007, probably would have agreed with that sentiment. But with the help of the Lord, who gave us fathers, we can work through it over time, especially if our relationship with our dad was a good one. 

Please say a prayer for Maria and Kelly. These two wonderful young ladies were students of mine in Tennessee and both lost their fathers within the past several days. I can't say I recall their dads but our paths might have crossed at graduation or other school functions. I know they are hurting terribly because...... I know. And I intellectually understand that kids are grieving the loss of a rite of passage that won't get a do-over. Honestly, all that stuff didn't mean much to me but maybe it's because I got to do it. I'll experience all the traditional school stuff again as a teacher, Lord willing, but maybe I'll pay more attention next year. We don't know what we've got til it's gone. I miss you, Dad.

To listen to Leader Of The Band, click or copy/paste the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQmkoMZyvOQ

Applicable quote of the day:
“My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man, I'm just a living legacy to the leader of the band.”
Dan Fogelberg

God bless,
Steve/Son of Roger
Luke 18:1

Speaking Plainly

 

Speaking Plainly

I'm reminded daily as I grade online papers how many of our students are from Asia. This is about how things are not always what they seem to be. I wrote it on December 7, 2008. Melanie now would be 26.

This is Melanie. This delightful ten year old was adopted at one year from a Chinese orphanage, being found abandoned shortly after her birth. Her adoptive mother is an American Christian. Last year, Melanie came home from Sunday school and told her mom they had to go to China and help the little children. Melanie and her mom, a school teacher, raised the funds through much hard work and prayer and made their pilgrimage to Shenyang last July. That's where I met them. Melanie and I became big buddies. We spent a great deal of time together as she was the only child on our mission team and my maturity level allows me to relate easily to that age group. Her mom came to me one day and asked if I had any ideas concerning an obstacle she was unexpectedly encountering. People on the streets would see Melanie and this white American woman and assume the Asian-looking girl was her translator. When they began speaking to Melanie in Chinese, she would not respond and those trying to communicate with her thought she was rude. Little did they know she understood no more than her mother. Melanie survived. She is a world class young lady and an aspiring artist- I have one of her framed masterpieces in my classroom. Horses are her specialty and I treasure mine. All this brings me to last Friday. We had tests in all my classes and I encourage my students to add a prayer request to the bottom of their exam. This was penned by one of my sophomore scholars, a young man from Taiwan:
"Thanks to God for letting the Chinese minister come to my school. Sometimes, I didn't understand what American preachers pray. Because of him, I can understand. I can pray together."
You see, on Thursday, Eric Tan, a Chinese-speaking minister from Singapore who is working with our congregation, spoke in a special chapel for our Chinese students. He obviously made a deep impression on this tenth grader. Understanding is everything, isn't it? Just to make a point, I Googled English-Chinese Translations. I found a website and typed in my student's prayer request to be interpreted. Here is his prayer request in Mandarin:
对上帝的感谢让中国部长来到我的学校。 有时我don' t了解什么美国部长祈祷。 由于他，我可以了解。 我可以一起祈祷。
(I'm not sure why the word don't showed up but it did, even after I retyped. Maybe there is no comparable symbol so it makes sense just to put it into English.)

How many of you can comprehend that prayer request when printed in Chinese? Like me, you have no clue... unless you are one of my Chinese readers. Sometimes, we need some assistance and sometimes we need some explanation. Sometimes, we just need someone to speak in our native tongue so concepts make sense to us. In 1st Corinthians 14, Paul, discussing speaking in tongues, stresses the importance of others being able to understand what is going on in worship. Along those lines, maybe I assume my foreign students comprehend more than they actually do when I teach them from God's word. Maybe it took a prayer request and a Chinese preacher to help me re-examine my methods. It is no more plausible to believe that my Chinese students completely understand me than it is to expect Melanie to be able to converse on the streets of Shenyang, China. But, my Chinese students are rapidly improving their English fluency and who knows if Melanie will one day be curious about her native tongue that is now foreign to her. Until then, thank God for the Eric Tans of the world, who can make the Gospel plain in more than one language. I struggle with only one.

Applicable quote of the day:
"There is the fear, common to all English-only speakers, that the chief purpose of foreign languages is to make fun of us. Otherwise, you know, why not just come out and say it?"
Barbara Ehrenreich

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Living Out Matthew 5:6

 Living Out Matthew 5:6

The young lady mentioned below, Cristina Granados, was my teacher's aide her senior year! This is from April 18, 2015.

I'm not sure when I learned her name but she is the kind of youngster who impresses you quickly. Every afternoon when the final bell rings, I stand at the confluence of our upstairs hallway as an adult presence when many of our middle and high school kids are wanting to make a fast exit. It's a chance for me to interact with our kids, both returners and transfers. She was not shy and it didn't take long to learn after a few fist bumps that her name is Cristina, and she is a new student in the freshmen class. She invariably has a huge smile on her face and she addresses me and other men as Sir. (I have not ascertained if the same applies to my female counterparts but I expect it does.) Typically, I ask about her day and she always has positive feedback. One day, in early December, we went through our post school day routine and she asked me my plans for the night. I replied that I was returning to WCS for the annual Christmas band concert. She told me she wasn't aware there was such an event and she inquired if students were allowed to attend. Of course! She told me she would try to although privately I doubted she would be able to make it due to the snarl of Houston traffic after sundown. And yet, she and her mother were there! Cristina introduced me to mom and it was obvious that English was her second language and a bit of a struggle. It was equally obvious that she was extremely proud of her daughter and joyful that she is at WCS! Fast forward to this past Tuesday evening and our Spring band concert. Guess who was in the crowd once more? Cristina and her mom! I told her she ought to join our band next year and she told me is thinking about it. She plays guitar and piano, not typical concert band instruments, but our directors, Michael and Linda Smith, are masters at taking our kids abilities and turning their collective talents into an awesome assemblage of musical skill. I think Cristian would fit right in.

That first paragraph was just an introduction. What I really wanted to talk about happened yesterday. Friday is a Bible test day at WCS, along with Wednesdays, and my three Gospels sections all took Test # 8 yesterday. The material covered in this exam was the death of John the Baptist, the feeding of the 5000 and the feeding of the 4000, and Jesus and briefly Peter walking on water. My test days coincide with SACT days. SACT is a twenty-five minute mini period between 2nd and third periods. It is set aside for club meetings and tutoring or taking a short break if you have nothing scheduled. On test days, I offer a voluntary review session in my room in which I cover the material on the exam. (Some days without announcing I even bring food!) As we began, Wendy, who is a junior, walked in and who should come with her but Cristina, who will not be in my class for two more years. I told her she was more than welcome to listen and of course, she smiled. As we reviewed, I noticed Cristina was writing something in a notebook. I asked what she was working on and to my astonishment, she told me SHE WAS TAKING NOTES! To say I was taken back was an understatement. There was no academic advantage for Cristina to be there and especially to put pen to paper..... and yet she did. When the bell rang, she thanked me and told me she had learned a good deal. I hope she comes again.

In all the years I have taught, this was a first. Not all the kids come- there would not be room if they all showed up- but truthfully, many of the kids don't need the extra help. Some who need the help don't come because they are hungry and they can buy snacks in the cafeteria and I absolutely understand that. But I also sense that Cristina coming and writing down  Biblical points suggests a different kind of appetite. In the Beatitudes in His most famous sermon, Jesus taught in Matthew 5:6 that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. Sometimes I fear I lack the hungering and thirsting of years gone by. Remember the line in Oh For A Closer Walk With God?
"Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I saw the Lord?
Where is the soul refreshing view
Of Jesus and His word?"
Fortunately, sometimes the Lord sends us excellent examples disguised as teenagers. I took note of the one taking notes. I pray I take the lesson to heart.

Applicable quote of the day:
“Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.' Not only do the followers of Jesus renounce their rights, they renounce their own righteousness too. They get no praise for their achievements or sacrifices. They cannot have righteousness except by hungering and thirsting for it (this applies equally to their own righteousness and to the righteousness of God on Earth), always they look forward to the future righteousness of God, but they cannot establish it for themselves. Those who follow Jesus grow hungry and thirsty on the way.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (from The Cost Of Discipleship)

Godbless,
Steve
Luke 18:1 

The Background Of Peanut Butter

 

The Background Of Peanut Butter

This is from April 20, 2020!

Last Friday, I made my weekly excursion to the WAL-MART market near my school. I was trying out my new mask, graciously made by the grandmother of Jordyn, one of my former basketball players. (Sadly, no one seemed to notice!) As I lift weights regularly, I need a reasonably healthy and inexpensive source of protein for my post workout snack. I gave up protein bars which tasted great but cost an arm and a leg. A little googling and I came to a simpler, less expensive regimen; hard boiled eggs and peanut butter which I put on bananas or apples or sometimes rice cakes. A bit more online sleuthing and advice from a healthy friend narrowed my selection to Laura Scudder's All Natural Peanut Butter over the more well known Jif, Skippy, or Peter Pan brands. Like most men, I prefer chunky. (Most women favor creamy, according to polls!) But as soon as the quarantine began, Laura Scudder's went AWOL from the WAL-MART shelves...... until last Friday.

Three days ago, I checked the PBJ aisle but I wasn't hopeful- my last purchase had been Peter Pan. But there on the top shelf were several jars of Laura Scudder's crunchy! Being a non-hoarder, I only picked up one as I know there are others of like mind. At home, I posted a FACEBOOK picture, rejoicing in finding something that's been elusive. Don't get me wrong- I haven't done without and I didn't go to look for it but it was a little bright spot in my day. Lots of people, more than eighty, liked the post and there were comments like Teresa's who was thrilled when she found Gold Medal Flour! But there were comments that caught me off guard but it didn't have to do with Laura Scudder. It had to do with Autumn and Dave. You see, I took the picture on a coffee table which holds, as coffee tables do, pictures and magazines. I got a message from Autumn who spotted herself as a 7th grader with her teammates right behind the peanut butter in the Lady Wildcats shot from the FBBA tournament. And there were those who instantly recognized my brother, Dave, on the magazine cover on the shelf below the jar! Dave's response was I need to get some new reading material! Here's some bragging about those two- Dave is the winningest high school tennis coach in the US and Autumn is, Lord willing, going to begin medical school in May! What I don't know is their peanut butter preferences. I should have asked them when I had the chance.

Here's what I think is fascinating- we  see what we want to see. Most people saw the big picture but some absorbed the more minute details as well. If you don't know Dave, you wouldn't have recognized his likeness on the East Wichita News. And if you didn't play on that 2010-2011 team, you would have no clue about that basketball photo. There's something to be said about both groups of my Facebook friends. It's obvious what I was trying to say. Most of my students grasp the main points of a Bible story. Today, we are studying the Parable of the Minas from Luke 19. Some of the kids won't get past the facts of this teaching but some have a deeper level of understanding and make an application. The more I teach, the more I see what I never saw before. Jesus several times made references to prophecies from Isaiah to this point. In Matthew 13:13, He says, "Though seeing, they do not see;
    though hearing, they do not hear or understand."
My thought is that He means there are those who simply don't want to fathom  the teachings of God. It may be easier for us to decipher the scriptures two thousand years later with the Bible on our phones and commentaries an Internet link away. Of course, this has nothing to do with Laura Scudder Peanut Butter. But I only knew it hadn't been there because I was looking for it. There are seekers out there looking for Him. Maybe they see Him in us when the world just sees another stranger. People were looking for Autumn and Dave; they found them.

Applicable quote of the day:
The trouble with remakes is that people fall in love with the original. It's like peanut butter. If you try to change the taste of peanut butter, you're in trouble. 
Sylvester Stallone


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1