Facing Down Evil

Dietrich Bonhoffer

Face of Evil…those words present differently to everyone.

For a four year old? What does a four year old see as evil?  Maybe, just scary, which is plenty.

For teens?  Evil?  Would they recognize true evil beyond “American Horror Story”?

Ah, but for adults…adults see evil in its many forms. Evil comes in the form of amoral, sociopaths, psychopaths, and every other “path” in the world. Adults have the ability to sense evil coursing about them. Some adults choose to shake it off while others turn to face evil in its face. 

This is a time of great evil. 

Watching the sincere protests in the streets following the horrific murder of a man pleading for his life raises anger, no, rage at the death of this man . 

And then to see the following senseless destruction of property and people livelihoods tarnishes and displaces the righteous anger all should be experiencing.  These have distinctly different goals. Confusion remains.

Confusion can't be disregarded, but it can be pushed aside to recognize the most important evil of all: ignoring the value of each life. 

Lives matter. All lives. Lives of Black, Mexican, Native American, Asian, White, and, especially, Blue--no matter the race, each life changes history in some undefinable way.

The lives that were taken, lives that have been ignored, lives that are discounted or seen as useless---these lives cross race lines and mix into the soup of injustice.

Face evil. See it for what it is. Face it down.

"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it." Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Time of Purple Penguins

clubpenguin

Ms. Tyrone nervously brushed her new shirt supplied by PTA funds, and glanced around the classroom.  This was her 40^th year teaching, her last year.  With 100 sick-day accumulation, Ms. Tyrone would be teaching only 84 days.  How can I make it to day 84?...

She opened the door to Trailer 34 with a big smile, and received a loud welcoming and clapping.  Her 32 students wore shirts matching hers which pleased some parents but most parents were clearly unhappy.

Bath and Body Works

“Here are your desk numbers…Can you find yours!?”  Ms. Tyrone threw on a chipper, oh-this-will-be-so-much fun smile.  Confusion covered the children’s faces.  The parents who clustered in the back of the room were equally confused.

Finally smart 32 # raised her hand, bold and brave.  

“Mrs. Tyrone…why do we all have just numbers?
  
And why are the numbers followed by #, % or *?
  
And, why are we all wearing these tee-shirts of “purple penguins”?  And why…”

Ms. Tyrone held up her hand.  “I am to be called ‘Ms. Tyrone’ since that will not indicate whether or not I am married…er… 32 # .  The Purple Penguins shows all that being a girl or boy or one who is not sure, we all are exactly the same.”

Oh those parents are not happy, not happy at all.

Some really cute shirts

Ms. Tyrone continued, sweat covering her face. “Having a number completely eliminates having your own name, which invariably would indicate that you are a girl or boy or one who is not sure.” 

Dear Lord, I hate this, I hate this…

"And then finally, 32 #, we have these symbols---  # or a * or %--- next to your number. These will help me call you up by groups, to work especially with you or to arrange the desks.” 

I wonder how long that will last…

Some parents snickered, some looked confused, and a good number looked angry.

“Well, then!  26 % , will you please read the rules on the board, and we’ll get down to all the wonderful new history we will be learning this year."

I think I am going to vomit…” which she did, on 32 #.

partyplace: nice stuff

"Purple Penguins" is also a computer game in which children can play with other children in a protected site and monitored by the parent.  That is all I know.  I'll ask my gr-kids. 

For further information on this issue in education, please go to these sites:

Purple Penguins,  To Help Teachers,  What if I am a red penguin?,  Journal Star

This is a huge issue in education, and will increase.  If you want to know more, access Google where both sides will be presented.  The above sites are a mixture.
                                                    And, now....

# * %... These are entirely my idea, maybe my projection into a time where this will become reality.  A bit of 1984  thrown in, followed with Attica, The Giver, Hunger Games, and with Animal Farm on the side.

Now, "Common Core" is radically changing education.  Please research this and come to your own conclusions.  And the Purple Penguins say, "Hi!"

 Twenty years ago in a staff meeting, the Principal informed us that there were some big changes in education coming in 15-20 years.  The NEA (National Education Association, one of the most powerful unions in California, if not all of the USA), along with many lobbyist and special interest groups, were promoting changes in the curriculum that would drastically change education to reflect new approaches, all of which would require revisionist viewpoints.  

I asked what-if questions:  What if the changes conflict in the teacher's  beliefs?  What if the changes eliminate or rewrite important elements of education ?  He told me (all of us), "Those are good questions."

As a teacher and a parent, I believe that math should be taught as math, not with an agenda.  Reading and writing should promote improved reading and writing skills, not a chance to indoctrinate.  History should reflect the history of our nation and world, including every single person in those events.

I also believe that any student who bullies another student should receive severe consequences.  Anti-bullying should become part of instruction in the classroom and at home.  Every child should have a safe classroom.  

What is deemed to meet these standards should be approved by independent educators, not special interest groups.

Parents should be given back the power they once had, and teach standards at home.  They must make the decisions that were/should be theirs to make.  

Source: Very Interesting

So here we are, and he was right.  I am retired.  

Wednesday Words: Warts and All

Source: wikipedia. org.

Just the idea of a clandestine meeting thrilled Grace, whose life had been devoid of romance.  Living in a small town like Creeping Cove gave her few men options.  

Oh, there had been Stanley, whose discovery of a mastodon ten years ago had garnered moments of fame, but the mammoth warts on his nose and his face made him too garish and ugly for serious consideration.

Source

As Grace climbed down the stones to the cove, a familiar voice called out to here, “Over here!”  Grace followed the voice where a couple walked hand in hand. 

“Stanley?....” Grace gasped as she came close to the handsome man.

Stanley smirked, irony dripping with each word, “After the mastodon, I went on to discover other incredible finds.  The money allowed me to have several surgical procedures.  And this is Alice, my surgeon and my wife.”  

He paused.  “I just wanted to thank you for your kindness to me before my success. If only you could have accepted me, warts and all..."

Alice and Stanley walked away, wart-less and happy.

Grace climbed back up the rocks, cursing all the way.


Delores at Under the Porch Light faithfully posts 6 words (sometimes very odd words) as a prompt for a genre of your choice.  This week Delores also provided "...under the mat and off the grid" AND a photo.  You really must visit her site by clicking on the lonely train tracks in the right side-bar.

You will never know what you create.

The Coming of Age

This has been a full year for me, a crazy twelve months.  From this time in 2010 to now, it seems that parts of me have been torn and scattered across the country.

My mother's final year was one that cut me up inside.  She died April 2011.

Since then, I have been trying to find myself, and reassemble all the pieces that went missing during that year.  While not complete, I believe we are nearly there. 

We’d better get busy on finishing, though, because I have a big, and I mean huge, birthday coming up:  6-0. 

Sixty!  When I was young, people who were sixty were nearing the end of their lives.  Sixty was old, really old.  

 Now?  Look at all the celebrities who sixty and older:

Betty White, 89…Clint Eastwood, 80…Carol Burnett, 78…Sean Connery, 81…Jane Fonda,74…Susan Sarandon, 65…Meryl Streep, 60…Barbara Streisand, 69…  They are still alive, working, affecting society, looking good.   

Well, okay, we can presuppose that there might have been some assistance in the ‘looking good’ department.

The celebrity whose age parallels mine is ELVIRA, Mistress of the Dark!  Yes, she too is 60 years old.  Somehow, this means a lot to me.

Which finally brings this to the real news:  my husband John, daughter Erin, son John4, daughter Mary & husband Richard, and I are having a pre-birthday gathering at this very moment in Washington, DC. 

We are rejoicing, celebrating, hootin’ and hollerin’ about my 60^th birthday.  ( My son-in-law is staying home with Sunshine and Bright Eyes, who will get in on the actual birthday in December.)

But, the point is that the defining factor in one’s life is not the age. 

What is the defining factor?  When I find that one out, I will certainly let you know.  I have a feeling there is more than one involved.