Song Of Memory

 

Song Of Memory

I'm not emotional but I am sentimental. I love old schools and I love old school songs. This is from November 6, 2011.
Several weeks ago, I found myself singing the Georgia Christian School alma mater. I don't know why it popped into my head but I found myself becoming misty eyed. Although I'm not an alumnus, Georgia Christian was my first teaching and coaching job right out of college and the good folks there took me in. The words went like this:

In the heart of southern Georgia
'Neath the sun's warm glow
Lies the home of Georgia Christian
Finest place we know.

Chorus
May we cherish thy traditions
Hold the banner high,
Ever guard thy name with fervor
Live to do or die.

Tho' we leave thy walls forever
Many miles go hence,
May our love for Georgia Christian
Only have commenced.

Repeat chorus

I've heard the same tune in other schools' alma maters but it isn't the music as much as the words. I guess what hit me was the return mentally to a time when I didn't know anything but I thought I did. I had no clue about the mistakes I would make or the opportunities I would squander. My salary was probably only 1/4 of what it is now but I doubt I was worth even that. That song reminds me of all the kids I taught and coached who aren't kids anymore. It reminds me of games and trips and classroom discussions and situations and growing; of building a baseball field and lifelong friendships, maintained even without being in the presence of those same friends. In short, that short song is a map to the past.

Two of the most beautiful songs I know are alma maters which coincidentally are two of the first songs I remember learning. One is the Harding College (now University) alma mater. I recall my parents singing it when I was little, even the second verse which I think few know anymore. The other was the York College alma mater which I began hearing when Dad started taking Dave and me to YC basketball games when I was four. Interestingly, I graduated from both institutions and as a bit of trivia (in case you are ever on Jeopardy!), both Harding's and York's alma maters conclude with the same word: Hail! I'm not sure why schools have alma maters but it must have something to do with memories tied into tradition and history. Maybe that's why this time of the year is so important in our culture with the emphasis, once we get past the commercialism, on family. I like the same songs and traditions and food and places that I did when I was a small child. The Lord gave us the gift of memory which can be a blessing or a curse, based on our choice of its usage. My memories focus on my parents more from November through New Years than at any other time of the year. They taught me to love those schools and those songs and most importantly, the God those schools and their anthems are founded upon. I wish I could tell you I learned that alma mater means nourishing mother while in Latin class at York High School but that would not quite be the case. It wasn't Mrs. Nettleton's fault, though; I just wasn't grown up enough to know the meaning of nostalgia. That comes with age.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Everybody needs his memories.  They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door." 
Saul Bellow

Beautiful rendition of Harding's Alma Mater
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RTFzt4GHBc

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Age Appropriate

 

Age Appropriate

School is back in session! You run across some odd circumstances like this one: my mother taught a sixteen year old in fourth grade during her education career in Arkansas. Age is sometimes no more than a number or it can be the cause for deception, as it was in this entry from June 13, 2007.

She was moving up fast in the entertainment business in 1998. Just nineteen, Riley Weston owned a leading role on the hit television series, Felicity, and was attracting attention for her script-writing skills. Weston was billed as one of the hottest young creative forces in show business, signing a huge contract to write for Disney. There was only one small problem. Instead of being a teenager, Riley Weston was actually thirty-two years old. When outed, her contracts with the television show were not renewed and the deal with Disney never was finalized. In the nine years since the scandal broke, her acting career has fizzled although she recently published a novel, Before I Go. On a recent CBS Sunday Morning Show segment focusing on honesty, Weston defended her deception as the only way she could have been hired. She also advised other actresses/actors to do the same if they want the parts that are particularly age-specific. (Rumor has it, in a reversal of such logic, the mother of a student at Westbury Christian told people she was fifty when she turned forty. Their response? "Man, you look good for fifty!") Ironically, what tripped up Weston was another set of digits the gainfully employed must possess, her Social Security Number. A suspicious co-worker checked and the numbers didn't add up. Well, they did add up but the sum total was not nineteen.

She didn't use the term but I think Riley Weston would consider her indiscretion a victimless crime: nobody got hurt. My feeling is an actress who otherwise might have landed the part would beg to differ. In 2001, youth baseball was shaken as pitcher Danny Almonte, who starred for the Brooklyn entry in the Little League World Series, was found to be fourteen, two years past the age limit of twelve. Now pitching in the low minor leagues, Almonte refuses to dwell on his brush with fame with devolved into infamy. At least he doesn't try to justify his behavior, which occurred when he was a very young teen and under the influence of adults who stood to profit from the team's success. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 21:6 that, "A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare." Dishonesty eventually gets its revenge and humiliation is the punishment. Too bad that society continues to excuse situational fraud with the mentality that it's only wrong if it's illegal. During the last week of school, the mother of one our our elementary students asked me about my wife and guessed I was thirty. My reply was that I'm still single and I'm not thirty..... and I left it at that. Hey, it worked for Riley Weston for awhile! But stay away from my Social Security Number!


Applicable quote of the day:
"Good roles are hard to find no matter what age."
Glenn Close


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

A Matter Of Trust

 

A Matter Of Trust

Some parts of my job fall into the category of things I would rather not do, but they still have to be done. Dress code is one of these things. This is about that task, taken from September 12, 2006.

As do all first period teachers at Westbury Christian School, I am in charge of dress code verification for my class. Since we wear school uniforms at WCS, this might seem a very simple exercise but it has a number of facets. Our students are required to wear one of two monogrammed Westbury Christian shirts along with khaki pants/shorts/skirt. But beside the major components of the uniform, we also have to check to insure the following criterion are met:

Shirt tucked in
Belt worn if shorts/pants have loops
Pants/shorts worn at waist level with belt showing
Skirts no more than two inches above the knee
Shoes tied or fastened
T-shirt under oxford/polo shirt must be white
Socks must be worn

After checking for a while, you can take care of the procedure with a glance. My first period class is my basketball team. My players are in a different situation than other students in that they come to school dressed to practice. I am not able to check until we change after practice and are preparing for our intercom devotional. This morning, as I was performing my inspection, I could not see socks on one of my players. Styles have changed in recent years and a number of our kids wear footies, which are cut below the visible level of running shoes. Chelsea, one of my eighth graders, responded to my inquiry about her socks by starting to remove her shoes. I stopped her and pulled her aside. I don't know Chelsea very well- she didn't play last year and wasn't in my class until this August. Her reaction to my question was that she believed she had to show me. My response to Chelsea was that I trusted her and if she tells me she is wearing socks, I believe her. Calling all seventeen of the young ladies together, I tried to make the point that trust is earned as is distrust. Chelsea is a good girl, an excellent student who is working hard in basketball, a game completely foreign to her. I trust her as I do the other girls- I have no reason not to. Honesty is a trademark of the Christian life. My Bible class students grade their daily quizzes and at the bottom of their papers, I have them write, "I will not cheat." Last school year, one of my Asian students, a young lady from China, used a slight variation, stating, "I would not cheat." I like that better. It implies that I never have to doubt her honesty, even in the smallest matter. To quote Billy Joel, "It's always been a matter of trust." I guess that even applies to socks.

To listen to Billy Joel's A Matter Of Trust, click or copy/paste the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yYchgX1fMw

Applicable quote of the day:
"To be trusted is a better compliment than to be loved."
George Macdonald


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Prayer And Major Appliances

 

Prayer And Major Appliances

Several summers ago, I received a new dishwasher, stove, and fridge as a part of an apartment upgrade. This entry, from May 1, 2010, was about when another appliance showed up in my place!

It was installed by the time I returned home from school on Thursday. The good gentlemen in our apartment maintenance department had delivered, unloaded, and set up my new GE refrigerator. They had taken what was remaining in my old fridge and carefully placed it in the right compartment in the new one; dairy, vegetable drawer, etc. They even took the magnets (Brazil mission, Hillcroft Automotive) off the old model and attached them to the new. I keep going in and gazing at it. It has quite a bit more room and an ice maker that works. The suction on the door is incredible; I am already mentally calculating my electric savings in the coming months.

You might wonder what the big deal is about a new appliance. I've lived here twelve years and the complex supplies the stove and refrigerator. My previous refrigerator still ran okay but it made noise and the big thing, its outside had been covered with rust. Several weeks ago, I asked the office if they might have possibly a refrigerator in better condition than mine that they could swap out. Our complex has five hundred units so I knew there could be a supply. Here's the neat thing. I had no idea that my replacement would be brand new, right out of the crate! I thought I would get a slightly less rusty upgrade. Instead, I was blessed with something much better, something way past my meager expectations. It's like I hit the SEARS jackpot!

Does your prayer life ever resemble my refrigerator scenario? I know mine does. I pray for something- nothing spectacular, mind you- and wonder if the Lord is listening when it seems there is no response. In due time, though, my prayer is answered in a manner so much better than I dreamed of. I think I limit the Lord mentally because I have such short sightedness. I'm not really talking about material things but situations and plans and goals. I'm glad our God is not limited by my Day-Timer sense of answering prayers. His ways are not...well, you know how that verse ends. I was thinking, though, that my old stove is kind of corroded...

Applicable quote of the day:
"One time, I went to a museum where all the work had been done by children. They had all the paintings up on refrigerators.''

Stephen Wright

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Won't Get Fooled Again! (Hopefully!)

 

Won't Get Fooled Again! (Hopefully!)

I learned my lesson as you will see here i these blog from August 18, 2018.
Whew! Day One and Two of school are in the books for 2018-2019. It was a good couple of days; I like my students and the makeup of my basketball team. My schedule was shaken up from the past several years and that will require some getting used to. I'm teaching the same classes but my lunch period was pushed back by ninety minutes. There is a possibility I will be having some hunger issues this year!

The logical lead up to the start of school is the end of inservice which for us was Wednesday. I gave my annual faculty devotional that morning on Vietnam and lost track of time but hopefully I was forgiven! After several brief meetings on event planning and social media policy, I retired to my room to finish up first day preparations. Checking my e-mail, I noticed a message from the head  of our board of trustees. Unusual but not so unusual that I didn't respond. She needed me to do a favor for her and it sounded reasonable at the time. I should add here that this lady and I go way back. She and her husband not only worship with me, they support my mission trips and have helped me numerous times with my apartment. I taught two of their children and coached one in basketball. Additionally, I preached the wedding of their oldest child  and have spent considerable time in their home. A favor? NO PROBLEM! It seemed kind of silly but she needed me to go buy a couple of gift cards and she would reimburse me. That didn't seem out of the ordinary because our board does stuff like that. The messages kept going back and forth until I had replied five times. Only then did it occur to me that this might be a bogus conversation. I had Gracie Greer, our curriculum director, take a look and sure enough, it was a fake account. On advice, I deleted the whole conversation of e-mails. Fortunately, I never forwarded any of these communications. I also was not the only recipient. At Bible study Wednesday night, I spoke with the supposed sender and she was shocked at what had come about. It's the world we live in and it's not getting better.

You know, there was a warning that popped up with the first e-mail, that it was unknown and seemed suspicious. BUT, the address looked legitimate and like I said, I'm friends with the lady and it seemed on the level. I guess I was just looking for a reason to believe to quote Rod Stewart. I was tricked because I wasn't cautious and I ignored a warning. I thought I knew better but of course, I didn't. It's that way in spiritual matters as well. Satan will do anything to deceive the sheep of the Savior's flock. There are many warnings, especially in Paul's writings, to be aware of those who would deceive us and the teachings which could lead us astray. I consider myself to be a cautious man but I let my guard down. The consequences weren't devastating this time but they could be the next. I'm considering this miscue a trial run. It assuredly won't be the last attempt to fool me. Next time, I need to pass the test.

Applicable quote of the day:
It is the fool who thinks he cannot be fooled.
Joey Skaggs

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

The Present Future

 

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

By Their Fruits...

 

By Their Fruits...

It's been several years since we had our bi-annual Chesshir family reunion in  Nashville, Arkansas! It's always good for me to spend time with relatives. This entry, from July 13, 2009, is about our reunion nine summers ago and how it relates to my coming to be!

I have to tell you, I have a soft spot in my heart for berries. My father was raised in Michigan and his folks raised blueberries to sell. With the profits from their produce, my grandparents were able to send Dad to Harding College, a world away in Arkansas, where he met the red headed young lady who would become my mom. I could make the argument that my conception depended on blueberries. That might be a stretch but I can truthfully state that blue has always been my favorite color.

On the Friday morning of our family reunion, Uncle Jack announced that we were going berry picking. I drove the pickup truck with my cousins Emma and Walker while Uncle Jack cruised ahead on his John Deere mower. On two roadside fence rows separated by a half mile, the four of us picked wild berries in the early morning Arkansas heat. Uncle Jack told us their names which I didn't recognize- I would have thought they were mulberries. An hour worth of picking yielded two large Styrofoam cups full of fruit which graced the breakfast table the next two mornings. (One is shown above in a shot wonderfully framed by the nine year old camera prodigy, Emma.)

I don't know how Uncle Jack spotted those berry patches. I could have driven by those fences forever and never discovered anything edible entwined with the barbed wire. Uncle Jack knew where to look...and he was looking. Jesus used numerous illustrations and parables using fruit as the context. The Savior compared fruit to recognition of leaders, to the harvest of souls, to the reward for hard work. His only miracle of destruction concerned a fig tree that was acting like it should be producing fruit, but was not. It's easy to see how Jesus could come up with so many applications from such uncomplicated subject matter. Picking berries for only an hour sheds light on so many things. It was hot the day we went out and there were thorns. Emma and Walker had to overcome fatigue, discomfort, fear of high grass, and bugs if they wanted success, no easy task at ages nine and seven, respectively. The newness wore off quickly with the realization that it takes a considerable number of berries to fill a cup. Sometimes, you had to reach way back to find the better berries and sometimes, it wasn't evident which berries were the better ones. But, time and persistence- and Uncle Jack's encouraging- produced a nice gathering for the benefit of the whole family. As Christians, without calculating obstacles into the equation, we expect instant gratification in our spiritual harvests. Nature has never worked that way and the Lord never promised easy results. He did promise, however, that the harvest was plentiful. Sometimes, we just have to overcome a few thorns.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup.”
Wendell Berry

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1