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The Power of Teaching: SNQ

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Recently, I was filling out a series of security questions for an online portal. I was surprised when one of the potential questions was, “Who was your favorite teacher?” The question caused me to think through all of the incredible men and women who have affected my life and helped forge me into the person I am today. My wife, Amy, has been in public education all of our married life. She has worked as a teacher, consultant, and now as an elementary school principal. This has given me many opportunities to see and experience education from every angle possible.

The level of love and sacrifice a teacher must exemplify when married to all of the  ongoing equipping and life-skills coaching required day to day is amazing. Here are some teacher quotes to inspire and remind you of the power of being a teacher!

A teacher affects eternity: he can never tell where his influence stops. ~Henry Adams

What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the rising generation. ~Marcus Tullius Cicero

Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well.  ~Aristotle

We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own. ~Ben Sweetland

Grammar speaks; dialectics teach us truth; rhetoric gives colouring to our speech; music sings; arithmetic numbers; geometry weighs and measures; astronomy teaches us to know the stars.  ~Latin Maxim

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.  ~Albert Einstein

To me, education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil’s soul.   ~Muriel Spark

Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich,  for the hopes of the instructed are better  than the wealth of the ignorant.  ~Epictetus

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”   ~William Arthur Ward

A good teacher is a master of simplification and an enemy of simplism.  ~Louis A. Berman

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings.  The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.  ~Carl Jung

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.  ~Kahlil Gibran

A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others.  ~Anon.

Modern cynics and skeptics see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing.   ~John F. Kennedy

Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in. That everyone may receive at least a moderate education appears to be an objective of vital importance.  ~Abraham Lincoln

I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well”  ~Alexander the Great

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.  ~Victor Hugo

When you teach your son, you teach your son’s son.  ~The Talmud

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. ~Lily Tomlin as “Edith Ann

Teaching is the calling that most reflects the character of God for it requires love, knowledge, understanding and grace.  ~Monty Wright

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Advent Longing…

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The Advent season is always pregnant with possibilities.

A subconscious knowing resides deep within gnawing, in an awakening way, opening eyes and heart to a truer reality available only to those who seek it.

There is so much more to life…there is a deeper peace… a greater capacity to love…an irremovable anchor of hope.

Imagine feeling an inescapable smile, an unexplained joy resonating deep within, and a sliver of grace that pierces your soul for no apparent reason.

These are around and available all the time, yet we rush around with Black Friday hearts and choose to settle for far less than God graced our planet with and offers through  benefits of the Incarnation.

I like what Thomas Kelly, a 20th century Quaker wrote:

“Over the margins of life comes a whisper, a faint call, a premonition of richer living which we know we are passing by. We have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power. If only we could slip over into that Center! If only we could find the Silence which is the source of sound!”  ~Thomas Kelly

The following line of Kelly’s causes me to pause, “We have hints that there is a way of life vastly richer and deeper than all this hurried existence, a life of unhurried serenity and peace and power.” Ah…he is onto something here.

This is not a pipe-dream for God lovers and seekers, rather it is available, right now right where you are. No matter what stress, struggle, hurt or habit has you submerged, Advent shouts  God came to earth…God came and infused His divinity with humanity…Jesus, then is the definition of who God is…Jesus came to rescue, not condemn, and He offers everyone a better hope of drawing near to God.

Advent also reminds us of longing…the longing for Messiah to come…

The longing for God to show up…

The longing for help beyond our capabilities…

The longing to know that we all matter, and that God cares and is involved…

The longing for the better hope of God’s presence,

May you slip over today into that center and find the silence which is the source of the sounds of life.

Monty

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Founding Father Ruminations

As election season wraps her sinuous hands around a sound-bite driven electorate, I thought it would be good to have an infusion of some of the  thoughts, quotes, and ponderings from the founding fathers of our nation. So take a break from the mud slinging and Facebook political overload and refresh your mind with thoughts from the minds that birthed a dream called America.

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Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government.

~George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796

All see, and most admire, the glare which hovers round the external trappings of elevated office. To me there is nothing in it, beyond the lustre which may be reflected from its connection with a power of promoting human felicity.

~George Washington, letter to Catherine Macaulay Graham, January 9, 1790

I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong.

~George Washington, letter to Francis Van der Kamp, May 28, 1788

I hope, some day or another, we shall become a storehouse and granary for the world.

~George Washington, letter to Marquis de Lafayette, June 19, 1788

(T)he foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; …the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained…”  

~George Washington, First Inaugural, April 30 1789
A constitution founded on these principles introduces knowledge among the people, and inspires them with a conscious dignity becoming freemen; a general emulation takes place, which causes good humor, sociability, good manners, and good morals to be general. That elevation of sentiment inspired by such a government, makes the common people brave and enterprising. That ambition which is inspired by it makes them sober, industrious, and frugal.
~John Adams,Thoughts on Government, 1776
But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.~
~John Adams,letter to Abigail Adams, July 17, 1775

Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, the people alone have an incontestable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to institute government; and to reform, alter, or totally change the same, when their protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness require it.     ~John Adams, Thoughts on Government, 1776

Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety. ~ Benjamin Franklin

He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing.  ~Benjamin Franklin, from his writings, 1758

How many observe Christ’s birth-day! How few, his precepts! O! ’tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.

~Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1743

Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.     ~Benjamin Franklin, letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, November 13, 1789

A judiciary independent of a king or executive alone, is a good thing; but independence of the will of the nation is a solecism, at least in a republican government.     ~Thomas Jefferson, letter to Thomas Ritchie, December 25, 1820

And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.

~Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query 18, 1781

But with respect to future debt; would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare in the constitution they are forming that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself can validly contract more debt, than they may pay within their own age, or within the term of 19 years.

~Thomas Jefferson, September 6, 1789

Excessive taxation will carry reason & reflection to every man’s door, and particularly in the hour of election.

~Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Taylor, November 26, 1798

If it be asked, What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be, An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws — the first growing out of the last…. A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government.

~Alexander Hamilton, Essay in the American Daily Advertiser, Aug 28, 1794

A nation under a well regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support.

~Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1792

But where says some is the King of America? I’ll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain…let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING.

~Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

If, from the more wretched parts of the old world, we look at those which are in an advanced stage of improvement, we still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised, to furnish new pretenses for revenues and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without tribute.

~Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791

The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.  ~Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

~Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 1, December 19, 1776

We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in.

~Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 4, September 11, 1777

Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  ~John Adams

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.”  ~Patrick Henry

“The balance of power is the scale of peace. The same balance would be preserved were all the world not destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside … Horrid mischief would ensue were one half the world deprived of the use of them … the weak will become prey to the strong.”  ~Thomas Paine, Thoughts on Defensive War

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Elementary My Dear Watson.

I will admit it…I have been a huge Sherlock Holmes fan all of my reading life. I have the anthologies, every story scribed, and even the modern authors who tried to find the voice of Holmes and write new cases for him to solve.

There is a new show that premiered this week called “Elementary” starring Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu which is a modern day adaption of Arthur Conan Doyle’s infamous characters. I haven’t seen it yet, but I hope too, and more so, I hope it doesn’t destroy the incredible characters invented in the genius of Doyle.

As I saw a commercial for the new series, my mind went to some famous Sherlockian quotes, so I am sure you can probably deduce by now, that this wee=ks Sunday Night Quotes are coming from Sherlock Holmes! I know, that was elementary…

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“You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.” ~Sherlock Holmes –A Scandal in Bohemia

“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” ~Sherlock Holmes – A Case of Identity

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”  ~Sherlock Holmes –The Sign of Four

“You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.”  ~Sherlock Holmes

“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.” ~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Valley of Fear

“I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix.” ~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone

“My mind,” he said, “rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”  ~Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

“Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill.”  ~ Sherlock Holmes

“There is nothing more to be said or to be done tonight, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable ways of our fellowmen.”  ~Arthur Conan Doyle, The Five Orange Pips

“Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.”  ~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Red Headed League

“When one tries to rise above Nature one is liable to fall below it. The highest type of man may revert to the animal if he leaves the straight road of destiny.”  ~Sherlock Holmes

“A sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums.”  ~Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

“Dr. Watson’s summary list of Sherlock Holmes’s strengths and weaknesses:

“1. Knowledge of Literature: Nil.
2. Knowledge of Philosophy: Nil.
3. Knowledge of Astronomy: Nil.
4. Knowledge of Politics: Feeble.
5. Knowledge of Botany: Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
5. Knowledge of Geology: Practical but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
7. Knowledge of Chemistry: Profound.
8. Knowledge of Anatomy: Accurate but unsystematic.
9. Knowledge of Sensational Literature: Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
10. Plays the violin well.
11. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.
12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law.”
~Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet

“The best way of successfully acting a part is to be it.” ~ Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure Of The Dying Detective

“Never theorize before you have data. Invariably, you end up twisting facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts.” Sherlock Holmes

“I have been beaten four times – three times by men and once by a woman.”  ~Sherlock Holmes to John Openshaw: The Five Orange Pips

“Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.”  ~Sherlock Holmes  –A Case of Identity