As I reflect upon the resounding (and expected) victory of Barack Obama in his bid for the Presidency, I am piggy-backing upon my thoughts from my last post. I commented that there was a high degree of emotionalism that drove Obama’s campaign both in political and popular circles. I want to undergird that statement with a couple of other thoughts on why I think Obama so resoundingly won.

First, I think Republican hubris played a huge role in the Democrat (and Obama’s) rise to power. Beginning in 2006 with losses in both the House and the Senate, the Republicans began their steady downward spiral to where they are today. They squandered their opportunity when they were in the same position that the Dems will be in after January. They, ironically, conducted themselves as traditional Democrats and increased the size of government, violating that and other core conservative values. They appeared to believe themselves untouchable. Sadly, they found out they weren’t.

George Bush, in his last four years in office, also squandered much (though hampered in the last two years with an oppositional House and Senate). He simply didn’t do much to further conservative thought and remained, in my mind, aloof as the figurehead of the Republican party. The public’s view of him as everything wrong with our country (not a fair estimate, but understandable) hurt any chance for a Republican to take office. (Ironically, we’ll see how the Dems spin the fact that they have control of both Houses and the Presidency but ALSO have such low approval ratings—even lower than Bush’s.)

Second, and most importantly, I believe the election of Barack Obama had much to do with the failure of the Church to effectively communicate its message to it’s own people. Yes, I didn’t say communicate its message to the World, but to its OWN people—both black and white. While I recently heard that polls indicate that the African-American vote helped Obama, it didn’t put him over the top. There wasn’t a significant increase, overall, in the number of black voters (with the increase coming from in younger voters). Rather, it was white independents and moderates who elected Barack Obama. Nevertheless, I find two points interesting.

First, the African-American community as a whole votes very traditionally on issues such as family and abortion. Ironically, they selected a candidate who is anything but traditional. Did the A-A community know Obama’s stances and voting history on these core moral issues? Or, was it more that they chose to overlook it—much like most of America—in favor of economy and the prize of having a black President? My own experience in urban education leads me to believe that they abdicated their role as salt and light to the World in favor of race. That’s a harsh statement, but, as I indicated, it holds true to what I hear consistently in my all-minority school.

As I indicated previously, polls show that moderates and independents won this election for Obama. Most of those were white. The present state of the mainline Protestant and Catholic churches also shows a clear willingness to PUT ASIDE mandates about life and the family in favor of progressive politics. After all, in their view, times change and the Word of God is a book written by men that must be revisited as society evolves.

I wonder what would happen if evangelical churches made their focus—over the next four years—one of educating their congregations about the core values of the Christian church. Because the Church has a different vocabulary—a different way of looking at the World—our account of life and meaning is vastly different. I have to agree with Robert Lewis Wilken:

Nothing is more needful today than the survival of Christian culture, because in recent generations this culture has become dangerously thin. At this moment in the Church’s history in this country (and in the West more generally) it is less urgent to convince the alternative culture in which we live of the truth of Christ than it is for the Church to tell itself its own story and to nurture its own life, the culture of the city of God, the Christian republic.

I can’t help but wonder what would happen in the 2010 and 2012 elections if the Church was grounded in this way.

Summer is sadly approaching its end. Yes, I know, it nearly brings a tear to my eye as well. After having lunch with a few friends from where I worked two companies ago, I stopped in to Barnes & Noble to look at their art book section as I was needing some inspiration and direction for a couple of new classes I am starting in the Fall.

The B&N in King of Prussia had a pretty good selection. Well, for me it did. I was looking for books specifically about pastels and oil/watercolor/acrylic painting. It shouldn’t have been too hard but I was surprised the amount of material that simply missed the mark.

I’ll give you a simple rundown of the order I placed through Amazon. I’ve already received two of my selections (woo-hoo!) and am looking forward to the others coming ahead of schedule as well. Here’s the list:

1. Pastel School (Learn as You Go)
2. Painting with Pastels: Easy Techniques to Master the Medium
3. Landscape Painting Inside and Out: Capture the Vitality of Outdoor Painting in Your Studio With Oils
4. Oil Painter’s Solution Book Landscapes: XX Answers to Your Oil Painting Questions
5. How to Paint Like the Impressionists: A Practical Guide to Re-Creating Your Own Impressionist Paintings
6. Layer by Layer Acrylic Painting

Yes, I know there aren’t any watercolor-technique books in the list and only one acrylic book. I’ve got some watercolor resources available at my house. I just need time to go through them and think out how to incorporate the info. Of course, what to include is also helpful. I’ve got that to figure out too. Though time is short, it’ll come together.

Well, I’m off to bed. Good night!

I was speaking with a colleague today and commenting about how disappointed I had become with myself regarding my attitude with the kids at my school. And, I’m not necessarily just talking about the kids in my class. For those who don’t know, I teach high school art in an urban district. My kids either a) don’t care about my class or b) tell me I’ve ruined art class for them. The first group is comprised of the majority of my kids which is ever a disappointment for me because I long for some art majors. But, I realize that they may come in later years. The second group basically just emerged. Actually, a few students just verbalized it at the beginning of this week.

Regardless which group, though, the reality is all of my kids have wildly misplaced perspectives on art education. As I’ve stated in another post, they expect my class to be fun, a time for them to make a little craft and socialize with their friends. Anything difficult or challenging isn’t well received. Much of what brought this on is the fact that I have begun art appreciation/criticism and will soon start art history. The introduction of these topics has brought with it reading and writing assignments, a break from hands-on work.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t regret my curricular direction. I’m in alignment with what I’m to teach according to my State; however, I’m disappointed with how I’ve reacted in-class emotionally with my students. I’ve allowed their toxicity and negativity to poison me. That was an important statement for me to make—to someone else and myself. My school, while free of violence (minus the occasional fight), has real problems with discipline. The students have dictated their own course for enough years that it has made taking the school back—for lack of a better way of putting it—a challenging proposition. Consistency among the teaching staff hasn’t helped those efforts, though positive steps have been made and things are better than last year. Still much work remains and the students resent the educational and disciplinary imposition. I am one of a few teachers that is pushing back hard on the students with regards to the disciplinary code. It hasn’t won me any kudos from them and some of that negativity has crept into my class.

Long-story-short, the problem for me is with myself. That’s why I’m writing the post. These kids are a product of their environment. They don’t care about art because it’s not been a part of their life outside of pop culture. How can I expect them to behave differently. I don’t have control over their reactions, but I do have control over mine. I have noticed an increase in yelling, responding quickly and harshly to students and delivering my lessons flatly. While I don’t make excuses that my class is hard, I don’t need to compound their experience with a harder and edgier me. That’s a change I plan on amending now that I’ve recognized the degree to which this has occurred.

I know I’m not alone in having these feelings and experience. What I’m looking for are strategies and recommendations on making a change. As a Christian, I know what my responsibilities are before the Lord regarding my vocation. He is ultimately the author of true heart change and I believe that he’s lead me to this point. I’m thankful for that. He also works through people. Your experience in the classroom and life can be an additional means of grace to me. So, talk to me. I want to hear from you about this.

Ever since returning from Christmas break, I have found it increasingly difficult to motivate myself. Writing lesson plans, contemplating future assignments and grading papers have pushed me to a place I haven’t been for quite some time. It has become so oppressive at times that I have been struggling more recently with boredom while playing with my kids. I have to admit to feeling shame at this self-disclosure.

I know my spiritual responsibility before the Lord and I have been praying in earnest for the resolution of my depressive thoughts and feelings. I have gotten out a few of my books on cassette. Most notably, N is for Noose and C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton. They have always both entertained me and cheered me for their familiarity. My habit of re-reading (or, in this case, re-listening) to audio books, I have high hopes such “magic” will deliver me from my oppressive mood.

Poignant video clip—

I have these thoughts at times.

I look at my kids–sometimes it’s just one, other times it’s both–and I feel the most profound sense of sorrow. They’re beautiful and I love them to death. But, I tell you, this aching loss wells up within me and I don’t know where it comes from.

And, I don’t know what to do with it.

God is truly amazing in how He orchestrates events. Although my wife and I had covenanted at the beginning of our marriage that when we had children she would stay at home (or I would if circumstances necessitated that). However, with being on unemployment for six months and then changing careers (and taking a $28k pay cut), we had come to realize that we needed to do something to help us pay off some debt and start saving again.

Compared to others we spoke to our debt was not bad at all. Nonetheless, we believed it wise and proactive to try to do something about it now instead of later when other things could make the situation more dire. In the end, though, we struggled with what steps to take.

If I had taken on a second job it would have crippled my ability to spend time with our children–a top priority for us both. Providentially, though, two opportunities came up for my wife as we prayed and considered what to do. Long-story-short, my wife ended up being offered both positions! In fact, it looks like she’ll be able to take both as well because the two positions won’t overlap; one will end and the other, which has a more simple schedule, would begin.

So what was the big deal about “Difficult Choices?” Well, for us, my wife taking a part-time teaching position during the middle of the day posed some problems regarding our kids’ handling such a drastic change in their schedule–particularly our sensitively-natured son. Most importantly, were we serving the Lord in the midst of our decision.

As we spoke though and wrote up a list of pros and cons we came to realize the things we thought might be deficits may turn out to be positives. You see, and here’s the moral of the story: we had allowed ourselves to forget that the Lord who provided these opportunities for us would also provide for our children during the nine months of the school year. Furthermore, we were blessed with family who would care for our children during the little over four hours they’d be out of the house. In the final analysis, it was the Lord who provided my wife with the talents as a special needs teacher. It was He who placed her in the right place at the right time to hear about these options. It was He would placed in our hearts the desire to not buy a big house. The list could go on. As we talked about it–and continue to reflect upon it– we realize now how much we neglect our relationship with our God because our focus is easily redirected to material things.

Of course, material well-being is important; God created us to live in time and within material space. He is, after all, the author of culture as he is the author of our existence. Though tempted we must fight our often sinful tendencies to worry about money and to be blind to how God has provided in the past and how He is providing today. I guess that is what makes living in the moment potentially so exciting: we get to experience God’s faithfulness in the midst of our too-often faithlessness.

Distortions in the shape of our time foster distortions in the shape of our lives and the quality of all of our relationships. Indeed, these distortions drive us into the arms of a false theology: we come to believe that we, not God, are the masters of time. We come to believe that our worth must be proved by the way we spend our hours and that our ultimate safety depends on our own good management.

The above quote is from the book Receiving the Day by Dorothy C. Bass. I came to this book after hearing an interview on Mars Hill Audio between Ken Myers and the author. It was quite providential that I came upon this specific interview because time-management usually is an issue for me. Part of it is my commitment to what I’m doing at the time. Of course, part of it is also just me OCD’ing and not letting “good enough” stand on its own merit. Nevertheless, this book continues to be quite a challenging read. Perhaps convicting would be a better word because I’m seeing the depth of this issue; how much it touches all areas of my life to one extent or another.

So, I’ve been reading this book and like a splash of cold water in my face this quote hits me. One of the big time-management issues for me has been my perception of “if I could just get all of this stuff done, then the planets will align, I will have proven my worth and blah, blah, blah.” In the end, this faulty perception — namely, my worth being tied to managing my time well — is a lie. Just because I can cross off XYZ from my list for the day doesn’t make me any more valuable as a person (or follower of Christ) than if I had only done XY or accomplished none of it.

As Ms. Bass concludes … God is the author of time, not me. While effective stewardship of my time is certainly an integral piece of my life, it is not the defining construct I’m to base my self perception or value to God. I’m a sinner and forever in need of God’s grace. Even on my best day, I can never make my checked-off to-do list an idol.

I’m sure I’ll be unpacking this more as I get further along in the book, but for now this is enough of a start.