tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post3969795232697541317..comments2024-03-21T05:30:03.220-04:00Comments on Science teacher: Obvious, but not intuitivedoylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-84233251580717526112011-06-13T06:36:16.623-04:002011-06-13T06:36:16.623-04:00Dear Mary Ann,
The irony is, of course, that if A...Dear Mary Ann,<br /><br />The irony is, of course, that if Achieve and their ilk succeed in confusing people what it means to be educated, what it means to think, they will fool even more people with their nonsense.<br /><br />Not sure why truth and power bump heads in our culture, but I have faith in people, and faith in truth, and eventually people will remember what matters, and what makes them happy.<br /><br />In the meantime, I'll keep planting seeds.<br /><br /><br />Dear John,<br /><br />Grace, of course, exists, and folks who read here have a sense of how I view the universe. Folks also know my views on the unknowable change minute by minute.<br /><br />Grace cannot be explained through data, and day to day grace not only keeps us alive, it makes living worthwhile.<br /><br />I don't trust anyone who cannot see grace, some because of arrogance, some because of ignorance. I do, however, truly feel for them.doylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12901661320505882735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-26227627565995094572011-06-12T23:47:14.622-04:002011-06-12T23:47:14.622-04:00Tonight I helped the kids pick tomatoes and onions...Tonight I helped the kids pick tomatoes and onions in the garden. We’re making salsa. I taught them how to find ripe vegetables. They taught me how to find joy in smelling a fresh tomato. The tomatoes are exploding in red. The onions are hiding behind the dwindling death of their of their flowers. <br /><br />Salsa. <br /><br />A garden dance. <br /><br />Grace. <br /><br />I didn’t do anything beyond adding some water. For much of the garden, we didn't even plant the tomato seeds. What came from compost? What came from rotting plant? I haven't the slightest idea. <br /><br />I need tangible moments like this as a reminder that God is real. No, it’s not that. I believe he’s real. I need moments like this as a tangible reminder that God is good and that what I believe is not crazy. <br /><br />Maybe I am crazy. Maybe I'm much too spiritually conservative for most of the readers of this blog. But my thoughts are both incredibly empirical and incredibly intuitive when I'm in the garden. <br /><br /> Blame it on the evening sunlight or the cooling evening temperatures (and by cool, I mean ninety degrees), but it felt magical. It felt like a slice of heaven, hand-delivered when I least expected it. <br /><br />And here’s the thing: as amazing as the tomatoes and garlic and onion were, the real gift was the joy I saw on my children’s faces. <br /><br />Grace. <br /><br />I didn't earn it. <br /><br /><br />In a very secular sense, I don't trust leaders who don't get grace. I wonder how many gardens Bill Gates, Arne Duncan or members of the Khan Academy keep. I wonder if they can tell me where their food comes from. I wonder if they've ever made salsa from their own backyard.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10956056168256756705noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4956989639073843954.post-51862092516823122052011-06-12T22:09:58.077-04:002011-06-12T22:09:58.077-04:00I listened to representatives from Achieve a coupl...I listened to representatives from Achieve a couple of weeks ago and thought how naive and foolish, as their VP spouted a bit of rhetoric about literacy. "Literacy" and mathematics were positioned as means to gain greater goods and winning some pitiful race. I see now as they add science to their repertoire of things to kill--that they are consistent; a one tune wonder.<br /><br />I want to stop this madness and I know that there will be those who will read the crap from Achieve and think it brilliant and repeat soundbites over and over and over again until science and economy are interchangeable and the former can no longer be observed, just tallied.<br /><br />I will point all to this post with its shiny truth--obvious enough, and for some, intuitive.Mary Ann Reillyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14349201167828984708noreply@blogger.com