Of Mice and Men

     I doubt anyone would argue that we live in 'interesting' times.  A time full of political correctness, terrorist threats, and really sucky presidential candidates.  And as I look through all of the news feeds, all of the internet memes and jabs, I have to wonder: why are the mice in charge? 
     Let's look at the profiles: Mice run from what they fear, keep to the shadows, lash out when they feel threatened and cornered, and squeak a lot in fear as well.  They are generally known as timid creatures.  Men, on the other hand, display bravery in spite of fear, are courageous enough to stand for what is right, remembers that we are the dominant species on this earth, and yet are humble enough to care for and do right by those around us and less fortunate than us.  
     There are plenty of both mice and men in our society, but it seems we have come to a time when the mice are in charge and squeaking louder than the men.  These mice come in the name of peace, relying on their timid nature to carry them through, and soothing people by avoiding confrontation as much as possible.  But now those mice need a reminder that they're not the top of the food chain.  These mice wish to speak out and shame the men for being men.  It hasn't solved anything.  Our country needs men to lead it, not mice.  Men are mature, mice are child-like.  Men make tough choices and stand by them, while mice run and appease all they can. 
     Our country used to be run by men, but now these mice have made us victims. We are the prey.  And the longer we let the mice lead the charge, we will be easy prey.  It's time to let our men lead again; not to show our dominance, but to be humble stewards of the world and all of its peoples and creatures.

Love's Pain

How can I show you all that I see?
Let you feel what it means to be free?
How can I give you my eyes for the night?
And show you the joy that lives in the light?
How can I quiet your tempesting fears?
How can I do more than wipe away tears?
How can I stop the pain that you feel?
What will it take to get you to heal?

Educational Coffee

     We've all heard the phrase "coffee will stunt your growth" at some point in our lives.  If you haven't, then believe me--it's something that people have said.  Now I don't know if it's a proven fact or some ingenious ploy of a mother who didn't want her kids hyped up on caffeine.  My 5'2" frame can't say anything for it either--my height was locked in for years before I started drinking coffee myself.  But regardless of its integrity, I'd like to propose that our education system in America today is being fed 'educational coffee,' and stunting our children's growth.

     I can basically sum up my discussion in two phrases: idealism without reality is simply fantasy, and those who are not educators should not try to tell those who are how to do their jobs.  Now before any offense is taken, allow me to unpack my statements and explain where exactly I'm coming from.

     First, a little background about me: I started out as an Elementary Education major before switching to an English major.  I essentially left the education side of things because of my second statement.  After three years of education classes, I could see there was a dramatic gap between what and how teachers are taught to teach and how a typical modern-day elementary class is structured.  I knew that I would not be able to adapt well to that gap, so I switched to a major that better reflects my talents and interests.

    That gap does, however, give me a great lead-in to unpack that second statement by.  I'd like to set the stage with a story.  My roommate's aunt teaches third grade, but this year is going to look vastly different from what she's been used to.  Recess has been cut.  Not simply reduced, but cut completely.  It's gone.  A classroom full of 8- and 9-year-olds will no longer have a chance to run and play outside.  Why?  Because the powers-that-be in education have decided that it needed to go to make way for more instruction time.  The teachers are to work in 'brain breaks' and stimulate situations where students interact with one another, but the primary focus is given to having 90 minutes of instruction for both math and reading.  

     Here are the problems I see with that scenario: firstly, they are kids.  They need time to run around.  Being cooped up like that all day will quickly make them stir-crazy, in turn driving each other, and the teacher, crazy.  Crazy environments do not allow children to learn.  So the first lesson: children are not mini-adults.  They cannot be made to sit still for that long and be expected to learn anything.  Anyone who has ever had kids or have worked with kids can tell you that.  The second problem with having zero recess time is that children don't have the opportunity to naturally learn how to interact with one another.  Where did we all form those first friendships that lasted all through school?  On the playground.  By taking away recess, we may be severely crippling our young students' ability to socially interact with their peers.  

      Recess isn't the only thing that is being edged out of our children's education experience.  In schools across the nation, the time budgeted for art, music, and physical education is also shrinking.   Schools used to be able to proudly say that they provide a liberal education experience, but can that statement apply anymore?  With more and more attention given to classroom instruction, I see our educational vision narrowing.  Lesson number two: children learn differently from one another; each mind is unique.  Gardener's Multiple Intelligences speaks to that fact, and is one of the things that teachers are taught.  The idea should be a 'duh' concept.  Some people (and children) have natural gifts and talents in one direction, while others might have talent and natural ability in another.  Without learning art, music, or physical education, students may not have the opportunity to discover and foster those natural talents, or connect the perspective that they gain from them to what the classroom is teaching.  Some minds need to approach things in creative perspectives, while others need to be more logical or analytical.  Therefore, taking away outlets for different approaches can really hinder a student's ability to process information.

     These two lessons are the biggest ones that I would like the powers-that-be in education to recognize.  They are, in my opinion, fundamental to a well-rounded, successful education.  So that is where my statement of those who are not educators should not tell those who are how to do their jobs comes in.

     There is another side of this that has a major impact on today's education structure, and that was summarized by my statement that idealism without reality is only fantasy.  Let me explain that a bit.  The big shove towards a focus on reading and math comes from the desire to improve those abilities in students.  There is a gap between where the average skill level for those is and where it should be.  Ideally, if we give extra attention to those skills, the average ability level should increase.  There are all kinds of tests to measure that, put in place to ensure that students are reaching the skill level that is expected of them.  Realistically, classroom instruction spends a vast majority of its time trying to prepare students to do well on those tests.  Realistically, kids learn differently, so reading and math come easier to some than to others.  The fantasy is that we can get all students to an advanced skill level in math and reading without extra help outside normal classroom instruction.  The reality, however, is that we are actually lowering the average skill level by doing that.  If we don't give students with natural ability the chance to truly soar in those skills, they cannot help to raise the average.  Likewise, some students need extra help to master those skills, and the time for that should not and cannot be taken from regular classroom instruction without negative consequences.

     Coffee is delicious, but it can stunt your growth.  The same is true of education.  All those ideals sound pretty good, but those unrealistic ideals are stunting the growth of our students.  We want them to be able to reach for the stars, but that's pretty hard when we're leaving them short.

The Rain Dance

     It was magical, the plain and simple kind of magic.  The kind a quiet evening can bestow.  Just sitting there, tea in hand, cat beside, and the sky dripping a soft, steady drip.  The light dripping grew faster for a moment, then subsided once more.  A few seconds later, the fresh scent of mint wafted on the breeze, with that wonderful wet earth smell hard on its heels.  Both were swallowed up as the rain again fell harder.  Ebbing and flowing, the sound was nature's lullaby.  Small bits of thunder and lightning would make their presence known here and there, but not enough to frighten.
     Watching the rain splash upon the pavement was almost like watching a dance.  A waltz turning into a swing, a quick spin out to be next met with a moment of quiet intimacy.  The dancers spinning and swirling again, movement everywhere, building to a crescendo.  At its peek, the dancers slow to a loving waltz again, catching their breath, enjoying each other's company.  
     It was an invitation to join the dance; I nearly did, but my unfinished mug held me back.  The wind accepted the invitation, however, adding to the dance its orchestra music.  Excited by this new development, the dancers quickened their pace.  All thought of a quiet waltz was abandoned, as the the speed was ever increased.
     Soon it was no longer a dance but a wild frenzy.  The sight before me looked very much like our own personal Midwestern hurricane had come to spoil the dance.  Thunder and lightning crashed and cracked, louder and more frequent than it had been before.
     That, and my now-empty mug of tea, were my cues to go back inside, and off the front porch.  The cat stayed where he was, and presently the rain stopped.  The orchestra ceased their playing, and the dancers all went home.  As the darkness of night fell upon their stage, they promised to come and dance again.

The Marketplace of Free Ideas

     "I have an opinion.  It's a valid opinion too, because all opinions deserve equality in their acceptance.  So I want you to listen to my opinion, accept it, and hey--I expect you to automatically love everything about it.  What's that?  You have an opinion you want to share with the Marketplace of Free ideas too?  Great!  Wait--your opinion is a traditional one that goes completely against my opinion? Then sit down and shut up.  You're not allowed to have an opinion.  We don't want to have any bigots or haters here."

     I see scenarios like this happening day after day in our society.  True, it's never stated as bluntly as that, but in essence, the above is what it boils down to.  This argument has been used for centuries and for many different topics.  One of the most current issues is that of an acceptance and embracing of a gay lifestyle. 
     I personally cannot support a LGBT life choice/style.  I hold to a traditional view of marriage, one that has its roots in the Bible and a Christian faith in God.  Plain and simple.  That's how I view relationships.  But a view like that is met with such hostility now.  "It's people like you who would have us living in the Dark Ages!  You're just full of hate, and you're teaching your children to be full of hate too!"  That's the general response to a view like mine.  The only reason this response holds any clout is because it works from a lot of misconceptions.
     Misconception # 1:  Tolerance.  Society's acting definition of tolerance is that only the popular, mainstream ideas can be accepted and encouraged.  Anything else has no place, and must be shut down immediately.  True tolerance is recognizing differences, and working together peacefully despite those differences.  It's like we tell our young children:  You may not agree, but share/work together/play nicely anyway.
     Misconception # 2:  People ARE their actions.  The two can't be separated.  But we know that's not true.  An occasional beer does not an alcoholic make.  Nor is smoking or drug abuse necessarily life-long difficulties.  A night owl may still have to wake up early for work.  Bottom line--our actions are the results of our choices, and as such can be modified.  
     Misconception # 3:  Faith is for those who lack reason.  To say that there are no intelligent people who have a saving faith in Christ is ridiculous.  I know a lot of smart people who not only believe in the message of the Bible but have also put in quite a few hours into the study of what they believe.  Yes, sometimes it appears like science and the Bible are at odds, but science still has many unsolved mysteries to it.  We really DON'T know everything.
     There are other misconceptions involved, but many can be tied back to these three.  And after (or sometimes even before) these misconceptions can be dealt with, someone always tries using the argument that claims truth is relative.  "What's right for you isn't what's right for me."  This argument, again ages old, is idiotic.  
     Nothing in this world actually works in a 'relative truth' fashion.  For instance, the average workday goes from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, and employers expect their employees to comply to that.  Imagine this scenario:  "Mr. Boss, sir, I know that you pay me to come in at 8:00 and work till 5:00, but I feel like that's just not right for me.  So from now on, I'll come to work at noon and leave around 3:00.  But you can still pay me the same."  "Well, Mr. Employee, you are no longer required to come to work at all.  You're fired."  
     No matter how one might wish to live in a world where truth is relative, one cannot get away from absolute truth in this world.  (And for the record, there's no colonies of humans on other planets.  That's still science fiction.  Sorry.)  We see absolute truth in how our society works, and even in how the earth itself functions.  Math, for instance, is a major component of human life that is always absolute truth.  Under relative truth, I could argue that all grass always appears pink.  But science has told us that is impossible because of how the chloroplasts function in plant cells.   So no matter how you slice and dice it, truth is always absolute.  
     My general point to all of this is to highlight how the Marketplace of Free Ideas has become a huge joke, and maybe provide a little insight as to what the problems are and how they can be fixed.  Call me traditional and idealistic, but I'd like to see FREEDOM of speech restored to all before it's gone for good.  

The Pain Family

There's a family that came to visit
Nay, they came to stay.
Their presence follows me around sometimes
Their touch invading the every day.  
There's Father Pain, a big strong man, who carries a crushing weight. 
Mother Pain, a quiet woman, who permeates everything with melancholy.
Then Child Pain, so young yet, who comes on hot and fast, energy spiking and fading quickly.
They come 'round one by one, sometimes in pairs, sometimes by their three.
Their presence is unwelcomed, but how can they be asked to leave? 
How can these hospitable responsibilities be relieved?
They need another invitation, but not from this poor soul.
But that offer's already extended, I just need to let them go.

Vacant

I've been thinking a lot lately about friendships lost.  Here's the current results:

Vacant

You're dealing with a memory,
The friend you hug is not fully me.
The chains are loose, my heart's now free
To remember who you used to be.

I've let go, I've moved on
The bond we shared is no longer strong.
This plays out like a bad love song.
To stay the same just feels so wrong.

I've checked out, I can't wait forever.
Attached heartstrings I had to sever.
My endurance of the pain would last? Never.
My emotions just aren't that clever.

I'll still be around, I'll still care
But the friendship we had won't be there.
I'm not being mean, I try to be fair,
But now you'll know why when you don't find me there.