Sunday, May 29, 2016

first summer book done




                                                           Pat became my hero.


Wednesday, May 25, 2016

every riven thing

God goes, belonging to every riven thing he's made
sing his being simply by being
the thing it is:
stone and tree and sky,
man who sees and sings and wonders why
God goes. Belonging, to every riven thing he's made,
means a storm of peace.
Think of the atoms inside the stone.
Think of the man who sits alone
trying to will himself into a stillness where
God goes belonging. To every riven thing he's made
there is given one shade
shaped exactly to the thing itself:
under the tree a darker tree;
under the man the only man to see
God goes belonging to every riven thing. He's made
the things that bring him near,
made the mind that makes him go.
A part of what man knows,
apart from what man knows,
God goes belonging to every riven thing he's made.

Christian Wiman: Hear him read it here. 

Monday, May 16, 2016

grades done



Summer is here!!!

How about where you are?

Cool here but school is out.

gardentrading.co.uk

Saturday, May 14, 2016

psalm 30



Edith Schaeffer, in her book, The Life of Prayer, prayed the following in response to Psalm 33:20-22;
 

            “Thank you, our Heavenly Father, for Your unfailing love. May the reality of our waiting upon You and waiting for You show You our trust. Forgive our lack of trust. Please increase my trust today and my recognition of Your love resting upon me.”

We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
 In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
 May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 33:20-22


This prayer expresses the essence of what Dr. Schaeffer called, active passivity. Active passivity is waiting prayerfully; trusting to see who and what God brings us. L’Abri has a long history of waiting, but it is a waiting in expectation for God to act and believing that He will act. 


Wednesday, May 11, 2016



Overland to the Islands – Denise Levertov
Let’s go — much as that dog goes,
intently haphazard.  The
Mexican light on a day that
“smells like autumn in Connecticut”
makes iris ripples on his
black gleaming fur — and that too
is as one would desire — a radiance
consorting with the dance.
Under his feet
rock and mud, his imagination, sniffing,
engaged in its perceptions — dancing
edgeways, there’s nothing
the dog disdains on his way,
nevertheless he
keeps moving, changing
pace and approach but
not direction — “every step an arrival.”
*arrivearrivearrive*
*arrivearrivearrive*

Eugene Peterson talks briefly on this poem and his vocation:
"She has a wonderful line in there about her dog going intently, haphazard from fire hydrant to bush to tree," Peterson says. "He knows where he's going. He couldn't articulate to you, but he knows he's got a nose for what he wants to do.
"When I read those lines, I though that's what I've been doing all my life. I never knew where I was headed and at some point I realized it was pastor."

do they ....know glory

Susanne Nilsson

Last class today of my Magnanimous Middle Schoolers who recited one of these poems of their choice: Paul Revere's Ride, Barbara Fritchie, or some of Hawaitha. They did it! 

"Perhaps this is one of the secrets of life--to know 'glory'when we see it." 
--Charlotte Mason

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Romans 7



NOTES from Tim Keller sermon from 2006:


When you first become married, your entire life revolves around your spouse but so does your self-image and your self understanding, your self-regard   is massively reprogramed by your spouse.Your self image is the product of what everyone says about you. Your parents have said things about you, your siblings have said things about you,

your friends, your parents, your teachers , your coaches, People have been saying things about you all your life. They say you are good , they say you are bad. You cull out of that a feeling of who you are. what you are good at or bad at BUT when you get married because of the power of the relationship of marriage, you can look into the face of your spouse and your spouse can overturn what everybody is saying about you. In the face of your spouse, you can have your entire self-image reprogrammed. IN other words if everyone calls you ugly but your spouse looks at you and says you are beautiful, you feel beautiful.  Your spouse has that kind of power to massively reprogram your self image, self-understanding, and your self-worth.



Monday, May 9, 2016

ebbs and flows



The waves of this time of year are ebbing and flowing. How about you? 
It seems like the holidays when everything ends and then there is a beginning
to the New Year. Teaching for this year is almost over. Last week !!!

Wrapping up Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and C. S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces

Final term exam is a to write a response to this interview:






Tuesday, May 3, 2016

year is winding up



I have been delighted to have 36 students this year. 
17 are high schooler and the rest in two middle school classes.
I have 3 totebags. It was tricky at my old age to remember to 
move a book to the other totebag. All classes did Plutarch: Poplicola ( firstRoman consul after the wicked King Tarquin is exiled ) The study guide is here
Two of the classes who meet more often did Philopoemen who lived in the last days of Ancient Greece while Rome was flourishing.
The study guide is here.

Shakespeare: 
Two classes did THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.
Two classes are winding up JULIUS CAESAR.

Middle School Classes did dictations from OURSELVES, vol 4. We learned 
the Lords in Waiting of Love. 

My high school class is English Composition, Literature, Picture Study, and this 
year I added Plutarch and Architecture Notebooks. We used this book for 
Architecture which is out of print and shown images from the internet or Kahn Academy of the places. We also used Hallliburton's :




Architecture Shown to the Children by Gladys Wynne



I have witnessed many of Charlotte Mason's principles to be true.
I have had one "chatty" class of middle schoolers that made me 
reach into wisdom from Scripture more deeply. I do realize they 
are young but need to learn to respect others. Raising hands is a new 
concept for them. Middle School moms need assurance also. 

Principle #8: 
8. In saying that "education is a life," the need of intellectual and moral as well as of physical sustenance is implied. The mind feeds on ideas, and therefore children should have a generous curriculum.

modern: 
8. "Education is a life" means that education should apply to body, soul and spirit. The mind needs ideas of all kinds, so the child's curriculum should be varied and generous with many subjects included.