Innocent...

Innocence.Freedom. I admit, I take it for granted. This man doesn't anymore. He was locked up for 22 years and he didn't do it! Click here for how he found Jesus through it all..

a lot to learn

As I prepare to lead a course on Service Learning as it relates to poverty and hunger, I realize just how unprepared I am to take on such an endeavor. I have decided to call the class - "taking on poverty one step at a time." I'm not promising to eradicate poverty or to end hunger worldwide, vis a vis Bono. I'm hopelessly unprepared to do such a thing. I'm not promising to become a micro loan master. I'm far too ignorant to do such a thing. I'm not promising to change the world. I'm far too small to be such a change.

I do hope I can change one kid or rather one small group of kids. I hope I can challenge my class of 40 to do something about it, not just to talk but to act. And, in that, I promise to act. There is far too little time in our world not to act - I talk way too much.

If you are reading this and you have a moment on your hands, will you please pray for me as I take on this endeavor that I would be a beacon of light...? I am scared to act. I am scared of poverty and of hunger and even of myself. I am scared of trying to teach kids in a public school about the need to take action in a seemingly hopeless world. I am scared that I will let others down. I am scared that I will let Jesus down.

I think this is why I loved the "ray of hope" story in my previous post so much. Jason Ray reminded me so much of Jesus. It's simple really - he died so that others may live, and thus truly lived. It's a great story.

I'm not looking for greatness. I'm just looking to follow what I believe, to act. And it's hard.

A Tear and a Cry

Check this link out. This is a truly amazing piece and if you have kids, be forewarned... you will need a Kleenex. And if you don't have kids, heed the first warning. Wow.




Just click here - picture not working.

Education for the Educator

glumbert - A Vision of Students Today

Service Learning...

So, in about six weeks, I start teaching my first class - Service Learning at the Denver School of Science and Technology. I will be leading two classes on a journey to explore poverty in our world and more importantly what we can do about it. I hope not only to educate these high school students but to motive them to act. And, in fact, we will be doing various service projects throughout the next few months culminating in a trip to somewhere like New Orleans or Mexico to do work with the poor.

Needless to say, I'm super excited about the possibilities.

I was reading Ecclesiastes this morning and noticed something very real and powerful to where I'm at in my life right now. It refers to the idea that life is not fair. And it isn't. As Bono would say, "Why should an accident of latitude and longitude determine why; where or not you live or you die?" Solomon seems to be asking the same thing. He toils and labors and works, but the reward is not always reachable. It isn't fair.

The poor seem to know the feeling.

Often, I get the idea that people can get out. If they would just "X" then "Y" can happen. But, it's not always true. "X" for many of us is achievable, but for the 2.5 Billion people who live in poverty, maybe it's not. Yet, what can we do to help, to change, to influence, to affect...?

There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. Ecc 8:14

These are the questions with which I will challenge my students and myself.