Sunday, April 29, 2018

Shame and Grace III

 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

 - From John 14

We've been discussing the problem of on-line shaming, in these recent posts. It's a serious problem. I predict that many people will reach a breaking point, because of the addictive qualities of Social Media and the relentless shaming, and ganging up, that is so prevalent there. When a handful of schoolkids gang up on one of their friends, the problem is serious but short-lived. 

When a hundred people on-line, gang up against someone they don't know, and shame him or her, it can ripple out into problems that make the nightly news. 

It's even worse when people in the Church practice it. 

Talk about "resistance." We should be resisting those around us, that practice public shaming. And we especially should push back when a member of our own church (or family) is attacked, even by someone on your own political side.

I have a relative that has blocked her aunt, because of political postings. And yet, this aunt would give her niece the last cup of water, to save her, if it were necessary. 

A Trump and Sanders supporter have a greater bond, a more important bond than politics, if they are fellow believers. 

So what to do about it? Kids can't resist ganging up on a peer. But neither can adults .It must make us feel good, otherwise we wouldn't do it so much.

What if we identified someone, each one of us, everybody reading these words; what if you thought about someone that you know, that is on the other side politically, and that you honestly think is Hitler, or a Communist . . . whatever the case, someone that has become very hard to love, thanks to Social Media . . . what if you asked Christ to help you love that person?

Ask the Father and Son . . . right now . . . in Jesus' name, to make it so that you see that other person as He does. Would you be willing to do that? What if you looked at your political opponents as Christ does? Do you think you would feel differently?

Try it. 


Friday, April 27, 2018

Shame and Grace II

... those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

- from 1 John 4

A Person on Social Media (PSM) talks a lot about "love." She calls out her "brothers and sisters" in the Church for not expressing love. Love, she contends, must be practiced in exactly the way she practices it, by voting as she does, and advocating the same political positions. 

She is particularly fond of taking aim at the so-called "Religious Right." She points out hypocrisy from Christians . . . she points the finger at people sitting just down the same pew that she occupies. (I should say, used to occupy . . . for she has removed herself from her heretofore steady Church experience.)

If you kept count, it's possible that she points out "hypocrisy" way more than she does "love." Hypocrisy is a theme and she affects herself an expert . . . yet I have not once seen her walk on water. 

Let me rephrase one of my earlier statements.

She does not "call out" her brothers and sisters. She shames them.

It's always about the lack of love in others. She can tell you all about WWJD, and shine a light on anybody that is not WWJDing. Shame is her game. If she can find a human not practicing love in the way that she does (in her political positions), she will shame that person on Social Media. 

Church unity? Not important. She needs her party to win.

Her steady drumbeat is always in forward movement. And occasionally, she will add a cymbal crash to her refrain, in the form of a variant of this statement:

I despise him!

And you can probably identify who "him" is.

But, if you "despise" him . . . you are, by association, despising members of his "team." Many members of this "team" are in your Church. They are in your family; your neighborhood; your workplace. You say "Well . . . of course I don't despise them! I know the difference!"

It doesn't matter what you think. They feel despised. Remember "feelings"?

This is the problem with politics. If your political views separate you from your elders, your family, your kids, your neighbors, you're on the wrong side of history. The true progressive motion of history is a coming together of humanity. It's the opposite of entropy. 

Of course the person described above is a composite of many people, on both sides of the political aisle. Also, of course, the reader pictured someone they know, while reading it. 

=============================================================

The only Resistance needed in our culture, is a resistance to the "shaming" culture. We are called to love our brothers and sisters. And that means . . . everybody. 

Today, April 27, 2018, I reached the tipping point in my disgust with shaming. I hope that I can begin resisting it. I hope that I can stand up to people caught up in it. 

Disagreement is okay. Disagreement is good. But the response to it should not be to shame others on-line, where multitudes of people can gang up as "likers" of shaming posts. It's impossible to do this, while loving God. 

===============================================================

For years, I've known a man, a real person; and I've known him through the Church and family connections. He came from the Greatest Generation, a quiet man, educated not in college, but in hard knocks. He built a home for his family; worked hard and saved his money. He contributed to charities, and was always cheerful in welcoming guests into his home.

He's not charismatic. He's not flashy and does not draw attention to himself. 

But when he's called on to do announcements, or share a testimony, teach a Sunday school class, or say a public prayer, his words and delivery are touched with humility, kindness and wisdom. 

It's powerful. I have always said I'd rather here a ten minute sermonette by this man, than a fiery thirty-minute homily by a seminary-educated silver-tongued preacher. Any day. Because, in my view, sincerity counts way more than glibness. 

You'll never hear him say he "despises" anybody. And yet, he is on that "team", if you will.

People wonder why I defend "that" politician and his "team." It's because so many men like the one I described are on that team. And when you attack any member of that team . . . all I can see is your finger pointing at good people like my friend. Your condescending denunciations of the character, intelligence, and ethical standing of their standard-bearer sounds like a personal attack on legions of good men and women. 

Why do they support "him"? It's not my business. But considering the character of those people that I know . . . I have enough sense to think there's something to all of it. If I don't get it, maybe I'm missing something. 

Your practice of godly love requires you to put up with . . . even . . . him. The good people out there, that can't stop in their denunciations of "him," need to stop and realize it's not just "him" they're attacking. 

Let's have godly love.

Let's start reining in those attack dogs. I promise you . . . I promise you . . . that the result will be far better than we know. And it will feel a lot better than the bitterness of hate.

Even if you believe it's your responsibility to hate.



Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Shame and Grace

He whose throne is in heaven is laughing . . . 

 - From Psalm 2

This tactic of shame, so in use today.

If you can't win an argument, shame the other person.

If you are wrong, shame the other person.

If you are tired of these Christians and their morals, shame them.

The Internet, the Modern Tree of Knowledge, has made it easy to shame a person. Your innuendo and gossip doesn't have to be true, but it can circumvent the globe, and reach tens of thousands, in under a half hour. 

We had all better be very careful what we say. 

A thin minority, even one or two percent of the population, can sway the mainstream, simply by banding together and keeping each other's backs. 

Imagine if the Church held together so tightly . . . 

You see, the people that oppose the Lord, and all that is right and good, have always done so with ardor. The message of purity, selfless love, self-discipline, service to others . . . for whatever reason . . . is despicable to them. Even though eternal life (life is love) is in the bargain, they resist. 

Why?

It's so tempting, so delicious, to use the Web to advance your objective. And Social Media has addictive qualities. The rush you get, by posting something inflammatory or scandalous and receiving a couple dozen "likes" begets more posts. Before you know it, you're in so deep that, right or wrong, you had better see it to the end, just to save face. 

And it breeds strange bedfellows. People that should not . . . should not . . . be on the same side (because their core values are in opposition to one another) do so, all the time. Examples:


  • A large Christian family leaves their church only because of a temporary disagreement over immigration, or sexual morality, with some other members in their local church. They end up aligned with people that oppose the Church's very existence. 
  • A Christian professional (A) goes public in opposition to a Christian local elected official (B), over a personal matter. A and B share the same core values of morality and faith. But now citizens that hate the values of B gladly join with A, to bring down B. 
We've got to be smart. 

The opponents of the Church make the charge that they are in "bondage," to the Church. But this is classic projection. 

Perhaps this is what God is laughing at: the idea that He, the author of freedom, would subjugate anybody against their will. God sees us fighting, and shaming each other, and he laughs derisively at how wasteful and unproductive it all is.

The problem is shame. And the answer is grace. And I will explore these concepts in the weeks ahead. 

Monday, April 23, 2018

Teaching and Learning X

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news . . . 

 - From Isaiah 52

It should mostly be about good news.

The point of education, of learning, and of teaching, should be to get to the good news.

But our generation is obsessed with bad news. Here, I will take a break from my writing . . . and go check my Facebook newsfeed. When I return, I will give you the good news/bad news breakdown. For purposes of simplicity . . . anything that is not bad news, will be labeled as "good news." A neutral item will be "good news."

I'll be right back . . . 

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Before giving you my tally, I should note that I counted political posts as "bad news." Whether or not I agreed with the political sentiment, I counted it as "bad news." Politics will anger half the people, and agitate those that agree. It's bad.

I came up with twenty-three "good" posts, and twenty-two "bad" posts. The bad posts included one that had to do with a network marketing program. This is stressful to people. They are not pleased to see such.

I also included in the "bad" list, a couple of click-bait posts, that have to do with things like Hollywood stars that got in trouble with the law. That's bad news. It's publicly shaming people, when the proper thing to do is to leave them alone. 

Bad news is easy. We're drawn to it. I don't know why we are. We just are. I've known only a handful of people that resisted bad news (in all of its forms, including gossip). One was my Great-Aunt Melissa Sullivan, of whom it was said "She never said a bad thing about anybody." Another is one of my nieces. When it turns to gossip, she quietly and graciously leaves the room.

It requires effort to stick to good news. Yet it yields a better outcome.

Our schools today, from kindergarten to doctoral programs,. are focused on the bad stuff. What's wrong with the world. What's wrong with us. What's wrong with you. What's wrong with them. What's wrong with it. (It's never, "What's wrong with me.") We get a steady chorus of how bad we are . . . how everything is our fault . . . how we are going to have to change. 

How is this good for anybody, or anything?

This is not to say that there isn't anything wrong. There is. There's plenty wrong. 

But our emphasis should be on the good stuff. The good stuff gives us insight into correcting the bad stuff.

We can't just give one group of kids reasons to be proud of who they are and where they came from . . . while tacitly teaching the other group of kids that they came from the group that caused all the trouble.

How is this good for anybody, or anything?

The Good News. The stuff that unites us. The philosophy that permits us to love, even to like . . . everybody. 

For whatever reason, we want to feel bad. We want to hate. And we feed those hungers. 

Let feed the good. Let's focus on that.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Teaching and Learning IX

The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

 - From John 10

Ineffective teachers were always a problem for me as a student. They're a problem for everybody. 

I was once berated by a veteran teacher, for mentioning something about people that have "the gift" of teaching. He said something like "there is no gift. You just learn the skill, practice it, and get good at it."

I marveled at this, because it was coming from a teacher that I thought definitely had "the gift."

What is it about teachers that are not good at it? I think there's a sense that this person is only doing this because it's her job. Or she really wants to coach, so she became a teacher. And I feel like kids can read through this. 

Teachers that always pine for the weekend, or snow days, send off a subtle but powerful message: I'd rather not be here with you kids. 

You have to be able to do it, because you feel you must do it. 

One of the Greek masters, maybe Socrates, said "The questions are: who is teaching the children, and what are they teaching them?" And then one of my own personal favorite originals of mine is:

The most important thing happening in any community, between 8AM and 3PM, is what's going on in the schools.

It's so important, that I don't know why we don't make an urgent priority out of getting who we want, who will teach what we want, who the kids want, and who really wants to be there . . . into the schools as teachers. 

And if we have them, we do not need them distracted by their bills. They should have the kind of trappings that will draw others to them, both during and after the school day. In other words, we need them to have $$$$$.

This will not make a hireling out of teachers that really should be in there. The Hebrews were instructed to take good care of the Scribes and priests, who spent all their time praying, studying, and teaching. It's that important. Teachers are our priority. 

But those that are doing it for the paycheck should just go ahead and retire. 





Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Teaching and Learning VIII

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth.

 - From 1 John 3

There it is again: "children." Except here John calls us Little Children. We are always learning. And we must never puff ourselves up, as if we have more insight or discernment than anybody else. We must be like children . . and children must be taught, and they must be willing to learn.

But John goes on . . . . If we love in truth and action, we will know that we have the truth. There's your evidence. It's not in your degree or your riches. It's whether or not you love others. 

21st Century humans don't know what "love" is. They think it's the manifestation of a primal drive, or urge. They look for the tingly feeling, an urge. They yearn for the narcotic effect of what Hollywood calls "love."

But real love doesn't go for any of that. Real love is hard: you have to be willing to part with your goods, to help others. You probably don't make a show of your house, your talents, your vacations, your cars, your friends. You just help. There's no warm fuzzy with that; but there is a feeling that goes along with it - a good feeling. A better feeling than the rush of Hollywood "love."

Your politics, your doctrine, your church membership, and your college degrees are worthless. But your unselfish acts of kindness towards others are priceless. They have untold value. 

Visit widows. Welcome strangers into your communities and treat them like family. Be not like Cain: actually be your brother's and sister's "keeper"! Provide for the children of single parents, and be a virtual mother or father to them.

And . . . a lot of you need to drop the political stuff. It's making you feel too ugly towards others. It's making you feel superior to your neighbors. And it's taking your eye off the ball.

Be smart, be rich, and have the Truth.


Sunday, April 15, 2018

Teaching and Learning VII

How long will you worship dumb idols and run after false gods?

 - From Psalm 4

In 2018, everybody's concerned about being real. They're obsessed with not being "fake."

Our of their mouths, they talk about being authentic, genuine . . . being who they really are. 

And then they spend small fortunes having experiences and changing things about themselves that are not . . . well . . . organic.

If I point out everything that I think is fake . . . perhaps it will make my dissatisfaction with myself seem genuine.

Humanity has had a problem discerning what's fake from what's real, since the very beginning. Adam's explanation to God was fake . . . but he tried to rationalize it with a marginally true statement "I saw that I was naked and I was afraid."

Cain's desire to please God was fake (by their fruits are they known) and he committed the first act of terrorism and hate.

We educate our children, because we want them to be able to discern between the fake and the real. But rather than give them the tools to understand, question, and use evidence, we try to tell them what to think as well. We really don't trust others to come to the right conclusions (our conclusions) and we really don't even trust ourselves to be able to effectively train them in the right way . . . so we tell them what to think.

We believe that young people that believe as we do are virtuous, wise beyond their years, and courageous. 

God told us to resist false, or fake, gods. We have to be told this, because we are so wont to go after what's fake. If we're honest with ourselves, we indeed have a problem with this. Every one of us. Even Bill Nye.

Fake self-image. Fake priorities. Fake opinions. Fake goals. Fake knowledge. Fake news. Fake science. Fake hate. Fake love. 

Fake fake.

It's a four-letter word that sounds like the granddaddy of four-letter words. 

We're so obsessed with not being fake, that we become fake. We manifest it in our finger-pointing. Our witch hunts. Our modern-day inquisitions. 

If I can prove that you're fake, then I become more real.

There's not an iota of unconditional love in any of it. 

How about this:

Rather than try so hard to make others unfake . . . rather than having such a focus on methods and processes, teaching models and theories, and research-driven plans and programs, let's start with basic humility.

"I am here to teach you how to tell the difference between right and wrong, between what is real and what is false.

LESSON ONE: I'm as likely to be at fault as anybody. Teachers, scientists, pastors, doctors, parents . . . and you . . . are all human. We're not perfect. We are subject to being in error. We're wrong more than we're right.

"But it's okay. You have great value anyway. I accept you. And here, we all accept each other, and together we'll challenge each other to improve our thinking. We'll learn from one another, and open each other's minds to the wonders, and truths, of the universe."

Realizing that you have limited understanding, and that you probably are, even now . . . buying into something that is not real (focus on yourself, not on other people's errors) . . . 

Is the most real thing of all. 


Saturday, April 14, 2018

Teaching and Learning VI

And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

 - From Acts 3

"Ignorance." It has become a common word on Social Media. Here are some others"


  • Fear
  • Hate
  • Fake
  • Hypocrisy
  • Privilege
And we need to stop. Just stop.

What is so terrible about admitting that we're ignorant? Not the other person: You, or me. Why is it always the other person that is ignorant? Why does the other person act from fear?

We're so desperate to be in some advantage over other people: To have more power, more prestige, more privilege, more beauty, more money, more intelligence. 

More logic.

Just stop.

If Jesus was the Son of God, and if He really did come back from the dead, then there really is no other way to describe his murderers:

"Ignorant."

But Peter didn't call them ignorant as an insult. Ignorance is not the same as stupidity. Ignorance and ignore come from the same root. An ignorant person, isn't dumb . . . they have just chosen not to notice. They have other concerns or priorities. 

Peter said "My friends - - - it's only because you were ignorant."

They didn't know what they were doing, and how could they?

So don't take the accusation of ignorance so personally. In the first place, we might as well admit that we all are ignorant. How can we have perfect knowledge?

And secondly, we don't know any better, and neither do those others. 

And before we go around noticing everybody else's ignorance . . . how about start by realizing we've got our problem in that area?

Friday, April 13, 2018

Teaching and Learning V

Thus it is written . . . 

 - From Luke 24

The statement "This it is written . . . " followed by some words of wisdom, prophecy, or divine directive, probably has always merited a response such as:

So what?

Just because something is "written," we have to stop what we're doing? Really, why does being "written" make a difference?

It certainly mattered more in the days before typewriters and computers. When you have to write everything out in long-hand, by that virtue alone you make it important. It is important because a person's time is important. For most of human history, the role of "scribe" was very important indeed! We paid them good money to get the most important thoughts of our time down, permanently, for the ages.

We seem to think that something in writing automatically carries with it some level of authority, or reliability. "I read it on the Internet." It's as if we know it takes talent, and time, to write one's thoughts down, even if via a keyboard. We have some respect for a person's thoughts, especially when they write them down.

It seems like the most common method of teaching, is to give people something to read, and then something to write. And the best way to learn is to read, and then to write. Abraham Lincoln was our smartest President . . . yet he had no formal education. He just did a lot of reading. 

Jesus said "It is written," in the context of His own death and resurrection. In other words: "It's okay that you have seen me alive, after my death. You've touched me and talked with me. But the important thing is that this was all written about, long ago. Pass the fish, please."

The Son of God basically said that "This is the most important thing you should be teaching one another. I'm alive." And indeed it is. Such a claim, that had such an impact on history, definitely needs to be investigated and taught . . . even to non-believers. It it's not true, then why is it so impactful? If true, then what's our problem?

The Lord left us a lot of information, in writing. The first step in learning, and becoming all that we can as humans, is to read it. 


Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Teaching and Learning IV

 ...that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.

 - From 1 John 3

Jesus said that, to enter into the Kingdom of God, you must become as a child. 

But was He talking about a child living in Judea, ca AD 30? Can we include children in 2018, in the list?

Must we become like a child that backtalks his or her parents? A child that has seen any kind of porn imaginable by the time he's eleven? A child that has no siblings and lives with his mother and step-dad? A child that has every material possession he could want?

Of course . . . yes, those children are included. Children in Christ's day were not perfect. And we have to believe that children are still children, no matter how much we age them with our racy culture. 

Maturity takes time and experience. And a spoiled brat can still cry, can feel lonely, can yearn to be loved. A child that has seen it all, still would never dream of shooting up a crowd, or taking his or her own life, or throwing away her entire future on drugs . . . at least not until she's thirteen years old. 

Children are children, even if we introduce evil to them, at too young of an age. 

And our attitude should be that of children. We are children. And if we're honest we will observe adults that act as childish as children. They (we) do that all the time. And this is why we need Christ.

Our attitude, as teachers and mentors must be humbled by the realization that we are children too. We're just bigger than the youngsters. 

Monday, April 9, 2018

Teaching and Learning III

Oh, that I could make them known and tell them! but they are more than I can count....

 - From Psalm 40

Here is the greatest wisdom in the universe, and it's the single thing that sets the faith community apart from the scientific community (there really should be no division between them): 

The Faith Community realizes that it does not know everything. And it is this awareness that drives it forward, toward progress: real progress, true progress, social justice, equity, peace, and goodwill.

But Science, in every age, seems to believe it knows it all. 

How can we but conclude, that Science today understands less than 1% of the Universe's knowledge? Even the Internet today only contains a sliver of what essentially is an infinite store of wonder and mystery.

Science forges ahead and creates its innovations. It rushes its technologies out there so fast, that in 2018 the average twelve year old has already viewed anything imaginable: the beautiful, the sad, the horrible, the vulgar. It's all out there for our youngsters. 

But Faith says "We don't know it all. Let's be careful." And urges caution. Faith seeks the balance of what we know with what we don't know. Faith honors the wisdom of the ages . . . it is a push-back against the impulsiveness of each new generation. And yet Faith is open to all new possibilities, while Science seems in a hurry to find some dead-end in human progress. "There. That's all there is."

In the Church Calendar, today is a "full circle" day. It is the Annunciation - the day that the Angel appeared to Mary and promised she would bear a son later that year. Easter ends . . . and the waiting period, for the coming Messiah, begins.

Extreme Science met Extreme Faith on the day that Christ was conceived. The ultimate question of Faith and Science is, "Why?" 

It should come as no surprise to Science, that whatever force launched everything in the first place, could launch everything again, but this time more naturally. The Son of God had to be just like us . . . He had to born like us and have all the same senses. He had to be mortal.

The idea of God intersecting the eternal plane with our mortal realm is astounding, and caused the Psalmist to exclaim what should be heard in every classroom in the world: "It's so wonderful I could never totally explain it!"

God leaves breadcrumbs for Science, through the Faith community. 

The Why, as well as the How, and When, and Where . . . all of those basic human questions, begin here. 

And it's Science. 



Thursday, April 5, 2018

Teaching and Learning II

Out of the mouths of infants and children . . . 

 - From Psalm 8

As a teacher, I learn more than I teach. This daily exposure to young people, this consistent standard of behavior where everyone in the community is expected to refrain from inappropriate words and deeds, where the rule is that everybody gets treated with kindness, this access to a Principal's Office where all sides are heard and an attempt is made at correct and effective problem-solving; this One Place in society where there is a standard of perfection (100%) and a person may make progress towards it (and is expected to). ...  

This makes a person sharp. School is the one place where right behavior is the rule. You can't swear there (if it's wrong to swear, why do so many adults continue to do it?); you can't be a bully (without consequences), and it's very hard to get fired; we are heavily motivated to get the members of our community on board, albeit we may have to set the bar low.

There is an end to the school day. The bell rings, and you're done for today. There are no brownie points for the child that stays "at work" late in the night, simply for the face time. You don't get to skip lunch. You are required to take a recess. And we finish our day relatively early . . . so that you can get some balance in your life (which is good for your productivity). You have time for things like sports, scouts, clubs, visits to the library or a park, or simply, for play.

We have structured school like our lives should be structured. It is a very good template for adults to adopt; and as a teacher it's a given.

We think of kids as innocent and we value that. Adults get arrogant with their successes, their money, their experience. And they get jaded with their failures, their indebtedness, and their scars.

Jesus said to clear the way for kids to find their way to Him. He basically told us to become like children.

But He wants us to become like children, as in . . . those that trust, that are eager to learn, that have open minds, that do not see others as members of a category. 

When children are jaded and bitter . . . when they heap scorn upon their elders, peppering their language with vulgar metaphors; when they effect an image that they know will create distance between themselves and others; it only means they are pre-maturely cynical. Why should we desire curmudgeonly teens? Yet, half of our society is celebrating that, even today.

Christ surrounded Himself with mechanics, laborers, people of moderate means . . . people without degrees . . . and they became History's most important teachers and mentors. 

The best kids seem to have had great connections with their families: They have life-long warm memories of their grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins. They do not get tangled up in politics, because they value their families, communities, and friends too much for that. It should be society's goal to ensure that that is the first thing we do for our kids. 

As a teacher . . . I want kids to see me as someone that accepts them . . . all of them . . . and all of their viewpoints and wonderful distinctive qualities. Our goal for our schools is that they really are a safe place for kids . . . all kids . . . not just the ones that our own political party serves. All of them. 

And that's where it gets hard. It seems impossible.

But Love has never presented itself as easy.

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Teaching and Learning

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart ...

 - From the Second Chapter of Acts

It's hard to be liberal in so many things . . . yet not to want to be affiliated with liberals. The condescension, the patronizing, the haughtiness, the arrogance. 

If you would be persuasive, be persuadable.

If you want to tear down pride, overcome others with humility.

If you would be an effective teacher, be an effective learner. 

When I hear good, solid, decent, honest, hard-working and charitable people called "deplorable" by a high and mighty person, I'm taken back to the schoolyard as a popular kid rounds up a little gang to mock the kids that are shy, overweight, of average grades, not athletic. And usually it was much worse than just mocking.

When in the workplace, a person is discovered to be a Christian, and her co-workers seem to double down on the vulgarity and irreverence, just for sport, it makes me recall high school scenes where you didn't dare befriend the friendless kid, lest you be cast the same aspersions.

As a student in K-12 public schools, and then as a college student getting three degrees, I found it insulting for a teacher or professor to be so obviously one way politically, and to have no shame in flaunting his intelligence over students that stupidly supported other candidates. It was ugly, whether it came from the Left or Right; whether it was the one McGovern supporter in my 7th grade Social Studies class with a Republican teacher, or a modern teacher heaping public scorn upon The President (and therefore, his voters . . . and their children!)

Immediately after Christ's resurrection, the Apostles began preaching, and in the first wave, Peter was the main one. He was the first figurehead of the new movement. He minced no words and he took no prisoners. In the parlance of 20th Century campmeeting evangelists, he stepped on a lot of toes. This is something we rarely see today. We don't want to offend anybody!

And in the purity and credibility of the message, the people responded readily. Far from being offended, they were cut to the heart! They were moved, they wept. They felt pangs of guilt as they admitted their role in killing the Son of God! 

They said "What must we do?!"

So many modern problems stem from a failure of people, especially people in authority - people with wealth, people that boss around others, people with talents, good-looking people, people that teach - to do whatever they do, with humility. 

Oh no! I messed up! What should I do now?

We're so worred about offending 3%, that we insult 30%. We're so dismissive of lesser mortals, that we forget that we can learn from them, and that they have wisdom we lack. 

An initial lesson of Easter is repentance. It's realizing we may be wrong, and then acting according to a simple fact: 

We're all in this together. And I need you.