Friend Of Caesar

 

Friend Of Caesar

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, I would like to remember the wonderful lady who taught me that ancient language, Latin. It printed originally in May of 2007.

Mrs. Nettleton died yesterday. I have a morbid confession to make. The first thing I look at when I visit my online hometown newspaper, the York News-Times, is the obituaries. She was there this morning. Ruth Nettleton was my Latin teacher at York High School. The obituary gave her age as one hundred one; I assumed she died years ago. Like most kids, I would have guessed Mrs. Nettleton was close to the century mark when I was in her classroom, thinking she babysat for Julius Caesar in his formative years. Upon leaving junior high, my folks strongly encouraged my taking two years of a foreign language in preparation for college. There were only two options; French and Latin. In retrospect, French could have helped me on my mission trip to Haiti, if I had retained any of it. But, the die was cast and it came up Latin. So, for my freshman and sophomore years, I sat at the feet of Mrs. Nettleton. She was a very nice lady who loved Latin. She was a very good teacher although it would be hard to prove based on my retention, consisting of the ability to count to ten just like men of Rome centuries ago. She was kind to me, even though I thought what she taught was a waste of my precious fourteen-fifteen-sixteen year old time. I skated through, content to get by with minimum effort. It was my loss.

We were cleaning up this afternoon in one of my classes after a period of counting pennies for our Honduras orphanage project. One of the boys was acting like a fourteen year old boy, which he just happens to be. One of the girls rolled her eyes and shook her head. She has no concept of how a young man can be so goofy. I understand; I walked in those tennis shoes a few decades ago. There was so much going on that went by without my comprehension just like it does with many teenage boys of this generation, maybe every generation. There is a Biblical definition of me at that awkward stage of development:
"I saw among the simple,
I noticed among the young men,
a youth who lacked judgment." (Proverbs 7:7)
Man, I missed alot. At some point, the light flickered on and I realized that I knew very little and so many people could teach me so much. Mrs. Nettleton belonged to that group but my opportunity passed. Tonight, I found several video clips of her on the Internet talking about farm life in Nebraska as a girl in the early twentieth century. It was obvious she had a wealth of wisdom to share and was eager to do so. Too bad I wasn't listening when I had the chance.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Potius sero quam numquam." (It's better late than never.)
Livy

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

A Gathering Of Adults

 

A Gathering Of Adults

One of the best weeks of the year is upon us! This is from May 7, 2008!
If you are in education, you know it's time for Teacher Appreciation Week! Our WCS family does a terrific job of making us feel wanted, from the PTO to the administration to the kids themselves. Businesses have special deals going on- free sandwiches for instructors tomorrow at Chik-Fil-A! Our staff will be treated to a terrific lunch of Friday by our parents, a tradition I love. I don't remember any of this going on when I was a kid or even in my early years of my career. You'll never hear me complain about this fairly new holiday!

I found an envelope on the wall outside my classroom door this afternoon. Inside was the note posted above. It was penned by a member in our National Honor Society and as an NHS alumnus, (York High School, York, Nebraska chapter), I was honored. Ordinarily, that would not in itself be the subject of one of my nightly treatises but it is because of the opening line which I have highlighted. You see, as a preface to delving into any mature subject matter in my five class periods, I always state, "We're all adults here......." It's the heads up from teacher to student that I expect them to handle what we discuss in the manner of someone who is older and more mature. I'm not sure when I began quoting myself several times per week but it  has slipped into the realm of tradition, which often has no well-defined point of origin. The point is that the kids get the point. 

One of the best known passages of scripture comes from Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:11 which defines the path of maturation:

When I was a child, I talked like a child,  I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

As I interact with every child K-12 in WCS with our Honduras-Haiti project, it's important to know my current audience. You don't speak to a five year old as you would an eighteen year old. Examples for seniors often are not fitting for first graders. Emotional and intellectual growth are processes as Paul  reminds us. So is spiritual growth, or at least it should be. It won't be long until these youngsters graduate into an ugly world, a world made ugly by many adults who inhabit the population. The soon to be grown ups are going to have to make big folks' decisions that will have repercussions in their family, their community, and their church. Hopefully, they will appreciate my treating them as quasi-equals someday. I absolutely already appreciate these nearly ninety kids entrusted to me. Several times a year, I ask, "What you would call me without you?" The answer? Unemployed. That's an adult thing to have to deal with.


Applicable quote of the day:
I was in high school, and when you get to be 14, 15, you start to feel a little more like your own person so that you can assert your adulthood a little bit.
Damien Chazelle

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Derby Day

 

Derby Day

This entry from May 6, 2018 is about one of my favorite songs!
I have a college friend, Bob Wisener, who is an acclaimed sports writer in Arkansas. Early yesterday, I saw on his Facebook page several posts from Louisville where he was covering the 144th Run For The Roses, better known as the Kentucky Derby. (SPOILER ALERT: Justify won if you didn't already know.) I'm not a racing fan myself. Two times cutting class and chapel at Harding University and consequently losing all the money I was carrying cured me of the gambling fever! Still, Bob's reminder of the biggest sporting event of the day brought back racing nostalgia but not the kind you might expect. It triggered a pleasant stroll down my musical memory lane.

While at Harding, due to the influences of those in my orbit of friends, I developed a liking for the music of Jerry Jeff Walker, probably best known for writing Mr. Bojangles and getting a shoutout in the chorus of Waylon Jenning's Luckenbach, Texas. One of my favorite Jerry Jeff compositions was Derby Day, a love song written to his wife, Susan. In the spoken introduction to the song,  Walker tells us that, "This here is Derby Day, written on the day of the Kentucky Derby when Foolish Pleasure lost..." I really liked the song since the day I heard it at Harding. Some thought this morning hit me to google Foolish Pleasure, who I had heard of, and find out why his loss was included in a song all those years ago. Surely, I reasoned, it must have been a major upset. Here's what I discovered when I did a little bit of digging. Foolish Pleasure actually did not lose the 1975 Kentucky Derby. Instead, he came from behind to defeat Avatar and Diablo with a time of 2:02.00. The rider that day was Jacinto Vasquez and Foolish Pleasure was trained by LeRoy Jolley. I found all that on the Internet.

Here's my thought for the day. I was wrong for decades about the winner of the major race in our country simply due to a few words on a forty year old album. The funny thing is the mistake doesn't even show up on the lyrics posted on the web- you have to hear them on the ninth track of the album, A Man Must Carry On. I have no idea why Jerry Jeff made the mistake that day. It was a live recording and perhaps it was such a good cut, they left it in. Maybe it was an inside joke. Maybe all of the musicians in the recording process believed Foolish Pleasure had lost. It doesn't matter. And it doesn't matter that I've been mistaken all these years. But it does bother me to think it might not be an isolated incident. From the time we're little, we take in information from all kind of sources and usually take it to be true. We're taught to trust parents, teachers, and adults in general, at least the ones our folks know. As we get older, some of the blinders come off and we begin to question some of the things presented to us. I've told outlandish things to classes and they accept it without blinking an eye. (I tell them the truth afterwards!) When we take quizzes, I challenge them to challenge me on what the scripture they just read says. I don't lose many of those but I want them to know they have to think for themselves and not be afraid to use the incredibly complex minds the Lord gave them. Keep reading, keep studying, and keep questioning. And maybe I just need to find a more reliable source to feed my sports' trivia addiction!

Applicable quote of the day:

"This is the day for anyone involved with horse. The dream is to win the Kentucky Derby, because there's nothing like it."
Billy Turner

To listen to Derby Day, copy/paste or click the link below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-P5HpEItG4

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Where Credit Is Due

 

Where Credit Is Due

Debt is an insidious master.  This entry, from April 29, 2007, is about paying off the car I owned at the time. WHAT A FEELING!

Tomorrow is a big day for me. Last week, my income tax return arrived via the mail, providing me with a nice spring bonus. Two days ago, I called the 1-800 number listed on my monthly bill from Toyota Financial Services and talked to Nick who relayed to me the exact amount of the buyout option on my 1999 Corolla. With my IRS refund safely deposited in the bank, I have enough to pay off my car seventeen months before its original due date. Tomorrow, I will make the final installment, saving a chunk of money in the process. According to Nick, the title will be in my hands within ten days of the check arriving in Dallas. When people ask me what kind of car I own, I tell them a Toyota. But in reality, it's the property of Toyota Financial Services. That's about to change.

I hate debt. The Toyota is the fourth car I have financed and I have despised every minute. I don't like owing anything to anybody but unless you are a millionaire, sometimes there is no option. I'm pretty sure I have paid each car off early but that interest eats you up. I'm happy that I have been able to pay off my debts quickly and not become a slave to the bank or the credit card company. But there's one debt I can never handle myself. My debt of sin is probably equivalent to the national deficit. I can't pay it off or work it off. Jesus told several parables in which unpayable debts were erased by a gracious master with compassion. My obligation was absorbed by the payment of blood, the only currency valuable enough to clear my account. On my coffee table is a little sign reading My Boss Is A Jewish Carpenter. That's catchy but I'd like to add Estate Planner to his job description. After all, he took care of my debt and arranged for my permanent retirement. I don't think I'll be needing that Toyota long-term.


Applicable quote of the day:
"Debt is the worst poverty."
Thomas Fuller


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

The Musician

 

The Musician

I try to find out as much information about our students and I am always amazed at how little I actually know about the youngsters who reside in my classroom five times per week. The following, from 2006, is about a young man who I found I knew little about.

He was sitting in the upper school office right at the end of school this afternoon. Daniel, an eighth grader from Korea, had a instrument case on his lap. Our middle school American History instructor, Ruby Parker, requires each of her students to display a talent in her section on vaudeville. Some of the kids did skits or interpretive dance. Daniel played the violin. At the urging of several faculty members, he opened the case and played us a song. Actually, it was a piece by Bach. Chaul, one of my Chinese students and a senior, was standing there and, as a fellow violinist, identified the work for me. She told me Bach's compositions are difficult. From my non-existent musical expertise perspective, Daniel performed it flawlessly. I was blown away. As he concluded and we effusively praised him, I discovered Daniel is a student with perhaps the most prestigious violin teacher in Houston. Maybe he's the next Itzhak Perlman! At thirteen, Perlman won a talent competition in his native Israel, facilitating his studying at Julliard in the United States. From there, he has gone on to be what many consider the premier violinist of his generation. That journey sounds suspiciously like the one Daniel has embarked on. And I just thought he was another boy in my third period Bible class!

Teaching school gives me the chance to spend considerable time with good young people. Sometimes, we see them in a narrow slice of their lives. This afternoon, I saw Isa, one of my favorite all-time students, standing in the hallway. I didn't recognize her at first because she was not in her school uniform. She didn't look any different but her outfit wasn't WCS regulation gear which is how I have viewed her for three years. There is so much more to these kids than is readily apparent as they sit in front of me in wooden and metal desks. Two weeks ago, I found out that Brian, a student in Daniel's class, is one of the highest rated skiers in his age group in the country. Like Daniel, Brian is quiet in my presence and his exceptional talent went unnoticed by me. Jesus saw gifts in people that his contemporaries were blinded to. He saw a former demon possessed maniac as a missionary who could tell of God's great mercy. He gazed into the hearts of the sinful and saw faith where others only detected fault. He looked up in a tree and called down a tiny tax collector and labeled him a child of Abraham while Abraham's other sons called him a thief and a traitor. The Lord looks down on Daniel and beams at a young man with extraordinary musical gifts. Until today, I just saw an eighth grader who I wish would study just a little bit more. Today, I listened to Bach being brought to life on a violin and maybe, just maybe, I heard what Jesus sees.

Applicable quote of the day:

"I sounded like a thirteen year old with alot of promise."

Itzhak Perlman

God bless,

Steve

Luke 18:1

Husbands And Wives

 

Husbands And Wives

During all of my years of teaching and coaching, I've been struck with the difference of the way girls and boys view life. The following, from 2005, illustrates the point.


I read Sports Illustrated last night. It's a weekly ritual. When it comes in the school mail, Trinka Sandahl, our receptionist, pulls it from the mail basket and saves it for me. I take it home, devour it, and return it the next morning. The first thing that struck me in this issue was not the cover (Tom Brady) or any article. What hit me was the first ad. It's a wedding scene. The bride is gazing at the preacher while the groom is leering at the bridesmaid. That's the nutshell view of marriage in much of American culture- a joke. The cover story in the gossip magazines at Wal-Mart this week? The breakup of Nick and Jessica- the rumors! the betrayals! the sleaze! And the public eats it up.

Our senior Bible classes at Westbury Christian School are in the middle of a project. Boys and girls are matched, given a dollar amount for a budget, and instructed to plan a wedding. I hear rumblings in the hall that some of these matches made in heaven are squabbling. Take the case of Katie Felts and her betrothed, the honorable George Russell. Allegedly, Katie is less than pleased with the input of her intended. It probably has something to do with George's suggestions that they should rent Katie's wedding gown and their wedding bands as well as honeymooning in Pennsylvania instead of at the beach. I'm not a prophet but I see imminent premarital counseling on the horizon. The seniors are learning it's not easy, even with only make-believe money at stake. I admire their instructor, Stan Caffey, requiring them to go on a dry run before the real world confronts them. In that universe, mistakes cost thousands of dollars and a lifetime of regret in emotional scars.

Marriage is huge. After the decision to follow Jesus, it's the greatest choice we face. I have been blessed to participate in six weddings as a minister. Each wedding involved one of my former basketball players, the sister of one of my players, or my assistant coach. I love preaching weddings but I try to avoid them if not in the wedding party- they make me nervous. I have one rule for attending these joyous affairs: leave before they start throwing stuff. Everybody thinks it's cute for bachelors to catch the garter but that's a little too much for me. As a social science teacher, I gave bonus questions on tests about songs. They might be Coach Hawley's Four Favorite Songs About Colors (Red Rubber Ball-The Cyrkle) or Favorite Songs About Numbers (Two Divided By Love-The Grassroots.) One extra credit list was always a sobering one. It was-
Coach Hawley's Four Favorite Songs about Marriage:
1. You Better Sit Down, Kids-Sonny and Cher
2. That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be-Carly Simon
3. Skip A Rope-Henson Cargill
4. Husbands and Wives-Roger Miller
Cher sings of breaking the divorce news to the children. Carly Simon worries about happiness as she observes the mess her friends/parents have made of their marriages. Cargill sets last night's family squabble to a jump rope rhyme. My favorite of the four is Miller's. Better known for humorous lyrics, (King Of The Road, You Can't Rollerskate In A Buffalo Herd), Husbands And Wives is a poignant view of the struggle to make it in the marital arena.

"Two lonely hearts, lonely, looking like houses
Where nobody lives.
Two people having so much pride inside
Neither side forgives.
Angry words spoken in haste,
Such a waste of two lives.
It's my belief pride is the chief cause
In the decline in the number
Of husbands and wives.

A woman and a man
A man and a woman
Some can and some can't
And some can."

Those lyrics are haunting, especially the comparison of lonely hearts to empty houses. Relationship experts say money and communication are the biggest causes for divorce. Miller's pinpointing pride as the main culprit in the destruction of marriage is more insightful to me. The Bible tells us to put our spouse before ourselves- pride would never allow that sort of submissive spirit to our mates. This Christmas day, my parents will celebrate their 56th anniversary. I can't say as kids we made a big deal- I mean, it was CHRISTMAS DAY! But I learned from them. I learned a family takes care of each other and it starts with the parents. I learned you love each other because that's what parents do. I learned that kids liked hanging out at our house more than their own because they felt love. And I learned it's hard to love each other if you don't love God. I hope our seniors are gaining practical experience in planning what many girls consider the most important day of their lives. I hope they also realize the "I Do's" and the cake are just the beginning. Someone elegantly put it this way:
"The question is asked: 'Is there anything more beautiful than a young couple clasping hands and pure hearts in the path of marriage? Can there be anything more beautiful than young love?' And the answer is given: 'Yes, there is a more beautiful thing. It is the spectacle of an old man and an old woman finishing their journey on that path. Their hands are gnarled but still clasped; their faces are seamed but still radiant; their hearts are physically bowed and tired but still strong with love and devotion for one another. Yes, there is a more beautiful thing than young love-old love.' "
I could not have said it any better myself.

Applicable quote of the day:
"In Hollywood, brides keep the bouquet and throw away the groom."
Groucho Marx

To hear Roger Miller sing Husbands And Wives, copy and paste the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vZc_GZ-L_0

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

In Praise Of First Cousins

 

In Praise Of First Cousins

I've been blessed with a wonderful family! My cousins are amazing! This is from November 20, 2005.

I watched them as I sat in Houston's Hobby Airport on Sunday, preparing to fly to St. Louis for Thanksgiving. The woman was in her mid-thirties, very pretty and stylishly attired. With her were her five perfectly groomed children. One was in a baby carriage. Three daughters were dressed almost identically and could have stepped out of a Benetton's catalog. The oldest was a boy, whom I would estimate to be nine years old, also clothed fashionably. They were the picture-perfect family, minus the father. I would guess there is a man in the picture; everything in the scenario said there had to be. What struck me was not the attractiveness of the mother and her kids or the manner in which the youngsters conducted themselves. What I found interesting was the number of kids in this family. The students in my classes come from small families. A number are only children. I don't think I have one student who comes from a family with five children. When I ask my classes how many children they would like to have themselves, overwhelmingly, the most popular answer is two. Smaller is the trend in families in our society. There are obvious cultural reasons. Women are going to college and into the work force, thus marrying later and postponing pregnancies. Children are also more expensive than ever so each baby decreases the amount that can be spent on remaining siblings. I understand all that but I think the downsized family carries with it a measure of sadness. The concept of one big happy family is less and less applicable in twenty-first century America.

When Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped in Utah, authorities immediately faced a dilemma. Suspects in abductions start with family. The problem in this case was the size of the family. She had eighty-one first cousins....that they knew about. There could have been more but law enforcement could not be sure. I can't conceive of that- 81 first cousins! This afternoon, as Dad and I returned home from the St. Louis Science Center, I asked about the immediate families of my grandparents. It turns out my Chesshir grandparents and my Hawley grandparents all came from large families. Grandpa Chesshir was one of seven kids and Grandma Chesshir was from a family of six children. On Dad's side, Grandpa Hawley came from a clan of seven offspring and my Grandma Hawley was one of, get this, eleven Petersen children! So, the aunts and uncles of my Mom and Dad totaled thirty-one. Dad told me he has no idea of how many first cousins he was blessed with and how many of those are still alive. Doing simple math leads me to conclude that just by maintaining the average number of kids from their families of origin, my dad's aunts and uncles could easily have bestowed on him many more first cousins than even Elizabeth Smart has. I think it is neat that Dad has first cousins he has never met. That means I have alot of cousins I have never been introduced to either! This may seem rambling but the point I am trying to make is that children are a gift from God. In recent years, segments of our society have implied it is socially irresponsible to have more than X number of children. I think that flatly contradicts the scriptures, assuming the parents are willing and able to care for their next generation the way the Bible teaches. Let me make a practical application. My Grandpa Chesshir was the youngest of seven. Imagine if my great grandparents had decided that having one more was not the culturally advisable course of action. Walker Jordan Chesshir would never have seen the light of day which means that among others, Nelda Chesshir Hawley could not have been conceived, which leads us to the overwhelming probability that I would not have been born. And so, during this week where we focus on gratitude for our blessings, I thank God for moms and dads who brought a good number of little ones into the world and raised them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That is the true definition of planned parenthood.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see."
John W. Whitehead

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1