God as the narrator in Judges?

"Above all, it is time to recognize that the narrator [of Judges] is aligned to such an extent with YHWH that we are drawn to the inevitable conclusion that they are one and the same." (pg 188) 

 How does the above quote strike you? It seems to resonate with the biblically conservative belief that Judges is the actual words of the God of Israel. And yet, it is in the final paragraph of an article in The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Narrative which draws on a variety of not-conservative theories or sources, (which is certainly not inherently negative). Along with various feminist sources, the author Deryn Guest writes an analysis 'where narrative criticism is also informed by queer theory, psychology, and the study of masculinities.' (186) The above quote is followed by these two sentences which end the article:

"YHWH's agenda is the narrator's agenda. The narrator/YHWH can evade scholarly critics no longer."

 Thus, as I understand it, Guest is not so much suggesting that God condescended to communicate with humans, but rather that humans have identified themselves with God or a god of their own imaginings in Judges. So, while the first quotation caught my attention for the way in which it was expressed, actually the author is suggesting that YHWH may (must?!?) actually be subjected to scrutiny; God may not remain 'inscrutable' in Guest's words. In fact, this perspective was made explicit in the title of the article, "Judging YHWH in the Book of Judges."

  But, what to do with this? Of course, believers in the Bible as God's Word must consider the actions and expressed words of God deeply. Yet, if the Maker of the Universe is actually as the Bible reveals him*, then our capacity for understanding must necessarily be limited. Those who cannot fully understand/grasp even those things of the creation that we know exist (e.g. the extent of the universe, quantum physics, or whatever the future frontiers of knowledge are) may certainly ask questions of the Creator, but can hardly stand as his judges. But, this isn't a new problem, is it? Isaiah talked of how the clay cannot back talk to the potter simply because it doesn't like things as they are. The biblical authors also wrestle frequently with the problems of pain, grief, and (delayed) divine judgment. Such questions seem to be okay, but in the biblical text, a line seems to be crossed if we move towards 'judging' God, when our 'why' turns to a 'how dare you!' 

 Interestingly in comments made about 'commentaries written with a believing audience in mind', the author seems to acknowledge that really the article was not meant to be beneficial for those who believe in the Bible as God's revelation (184). This dovetails with my own thoughts that the primary, though not only, benefit of the article is in a better understanding of those who do not see the Bible as divine revelation.

*If you are bothered by my use of 'his' when referring to the One who made all things, the Bible is quite clear that God does not have gender while also using masculine pronouns to refer to that One. This may seem like a linguistic tic since some languages don't distinguish gender in their pronouns, but in English, the choices are limited as they were in the languages the Bible was written in. This in many ways is a microcosm of the larger issue: we are talking about the infinite and divine in words that are finite and human; there is some necessary ambiguity which is caused by the limits of our knowledge, languages, abilities, and perspectives. So, we are left with what we were given and the call of faith is to be satisfied with it, at least for this life.

Quotations from my recent reading

As I have been sorting through accumulated books and skimming through them to see what is worth keeping and what should be gotten rid of, I have come up with an assortment of quotes that I want to preserve somewhere. This is the place. The first 2 quotes come from the readings for the second half of the ISRME class on Religious Experience that I recently completed.

  al-Ghazali regarding the desire for knowledge, especially the proper desire for the knowledge of God:  

It is not hidden that there is a pleasure in the knowledge and science, to the extent that one rejoices when he is attributed to knowledge even of a little thing, and grieves whenever he is attributed to ignorance even of a little thing. Man always persists in acquiring knowledge and science in the particular field in which he is specialized. All of this goes back to the pleasure of knowledge, for knowledge is one of the attributes most unique to the Lord, which is the utmost degree of perfection. (Book 36, 'The Vision of God')

Jonathan Edwards, on assurance of salvation and the pursuit of such assurance:

It further appears that assurance is not only attainable in some very extraordinary cases, but that all Christians are directed to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure, and are told how they may do it, 2 Pet. 1:5-8. And it is spoken of as a thing very unbecoming Christians, and an argument of something very blamable in them, not to know whether Christ be in them or no: 2 Cor. 13:5, "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" And it is implied that it is an argument of a very blamable negligence in Christians, if they practice Christianity after such a manner as to remain uncertain of the reward, in 1 Cor. 9:26: "I therefore so run, as not uncertainly." And to add no more, it is manifest, that Christians' knowing their interest in the saving benefits of Christianity is a thing ordinarily attainable, because the apostle tells us by what means Christians (and not only the apostles and martyrs) were wont to know this. [1 Cor 2:12; 1 Jn 2:3, 5; 3:14, 19, 24; 4:13; 5:2, 19] The Religious Affections. 

from Thomas Watson's The Godly Man's Portrait.

 All the curses of God stand in full force against the unpardoned sinner; his very blessings are cursed (Mal. 2:2). (pg. 11)

It is true that there are sides of this sin [hypocrisy] in the best [person]; but as it was with leprosy under the law, all who had swellings or spots in the skin of the flesh were not reputed unclean and put out of the camp (Lev. 13:6); so all who have the swellings of hypocrisy in them are not to be judged hypocrites, for these may be the spots of God's children (Deut. 32:5). But that which distinguishes a hypocrite is when hypocrisy is predominant and is like a spreading fluid in the body. (pg 18)

The Scripture reveals Christ to us, but the Spirit reveals Christ in us. (Gal 1:16). (pg 27)

When Christians complain at their condition, they forget that they are servants, and must live on the allowance of the heavenly Master. You who have the least bit from God will die in his debt. (pg 39)

Duane Elmer in Cross-Cultural Conflict

The Western world does not place a high premium on unity. Whenever individualism reigns supreme, community is easily sacrificed for personal preferences. [...] Individualism fosters an impatience with people and institutions: we can always join another church, find new friends, or get another job. As long as we have options, we do not need to work at preserving present relationships.[...] The dubious luxury of disposable relationships has a dark side-a serious dark side. We can afford to take the unity of believers lightly if other options are available and relatively painless. But failures in individual and community relationships cast aspersions on God's reputation. (pg 25)

I have long enjoyed reading Louis L'amour and just finished re-reading The Walking Drum. This is one of his more quotable books. Below are a few excerpts.

His trouble had always been that he wished to know, but he did not want to go through the struggle of learning. (p. 496).

There is no miraculous change that takes place in a boy that makes him a man. He becomes a man by being a man, acting like a man. (p. 507).  

When one has lost his freedom it is always a long walk back. (p. 526). 

A First Paragraph of an Intro to a Book

 A book club that is following up the recent course I took on Religious Experience is reading Kamel Hussein's City of Wrong, which is a Muslim's serious consideration of the meaning of the crucifixion of Jesus with its surrounding events. Due to the Kuran's comments about the crucifixion, such a serious consideration is rather uncommon. It was translated to English by Kenneth Cragg, the (very) widely respected Christian scholar of Islam. Hopefully, I'll have more from it later, but the first paragraph of Cragg's introduction was beautifully written with a growing power as the sentences roll on. I'd highlight certain lines, but it's more powerful in the aggregate.

Readers of the Gospels have often been uneasily aware that in their verdict against Jesus men were in fact involved in an inclusive verdict against themselves. The Governor Pilate’s familiar cry in presenting the Prisoner to the pity and, as it finally proved, to the brutality of the mob with the words Ecce Homo, ‘Behold the Man,’ turns on reflection into the plural. Here more than anywhere humankind is discernible in representative moral perversity, epitomized in ecclesiastical, political and popular choices made by particular people caught in a personal and communal crisis. The Ecce Homo scene in the precincts of the Roman praetorian presents a man to the judgement of a crowd. But such are its implications that the tables are reversed. The man becomes the crisis of the crowd and the moral meaning of the scene becomes a judgment by and of humanity. All its import gathers into one revelation chief priests and people, governor and onlookers, and cries to us all: Ecce Homines, ‘Behold humanity.’

Kamel Hussein, City of Wrong: A Friday in Jerusalem. (quotation from Kenneth Cragg's 'Introduction')

India, Persia, and The Council of Nicea

 This past week I read an interesting blog post that mentions that at the Council of Nicea in 325 there was apparently a representative of the church in India. That's interesting enough, but if you look through the blog post, the comments, and the associated links/articles, it appears that there was at least one but possibly a couple other church representatives from outside the Roman-controlled lands. Who knew?

 In my mind, this connects to a book that I read some years ago, which revised my thoughts on the boundaries of Christian history. That book by Philip Jenkins was called The Lost History of Christianity; I blogged about it at the time and would highly recommend it. Incidentally, as far as I can tell, Jenkins doesn't mention the tidbit blogged about above.

***

Articles that were linked in the discussion:

- A. Mingana, “The Early Spread of Christianity in India”, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 10 (1926), 435-514 (online here).

- E. Honigmann, “The Original Lists of the Members of the Council of Nicaea , the Robber Synod and the Council of Chalcedon”, Byzantion 16 (1942-1943), pp. 20-80. (JSTOR)

- “La liste originale des pères de Nicée,” Byzantion 14, no. 1 (1939), pp. 17-16 – https://www.jstor.org/stable/44171181

Religious Experience in Christianity and Islam

“I suspect that, save by God’s direct miracle, spiritual experience can never abide introspection.” 

(C. S. Lewis, "Transposition", The Weight of Glory, 82-83)

  This semester I've had the real pleasure of taking a course that has been insightful and refreshing in both the readings and the class time. As a class, we're being guided through Jonathan Edwards, al-Ghazali, and William James - a Puritan Christian, a Sufi Muslim, and a psychologist-philosopher from different centuries - all of whom are deeply concerned about the nature and reality of religious experience. These authors have been supplemented by many others from within those different traditions of thought, and it has been intellectually and spiritually enriching. The course name is "Religious Experience in Christianity and Islam", and it's the first offering from ISRME. 

 As is normal, a great part of the richness of the course is in the fellow students (including Bethany!) and the interaction with the teacher. With a breadth of experience spanning the continents and wide variety of backgrounds and expertises, the class discussion supplements the direct instruction fabulously. What I share below comes from all this richness. 

“That, without being discouraged on account of our sins, we should pray for His grace with a perfect confidence, as relying upon the infinite merits of our LORD JESUS CHRIST.” 

Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God (Kindle Locations 110-111).

Ingrid Mattson's talk on Islamic daily prayer is beautiful and far more relatable than what most Westerners or Protestants might expect of a 'ritual'. It's well worth watching. Personally, I imagine the closest thing many Protestants may have experienced would be congregational singing.

Speaking of singing...

“…the duty of singing praises to God seems to be appointed wholly to excite and express religious affections. No other reason can be assigned why we should express ourselves to God in verse, rather than in prose, and do it with music but only, that such is our nature and frame, that these things have a tendency to move our affections.” (Edwards, Religious Affections, Part 1)

 On the topic of the 'evil eye', compare 1 Samuel 18:8-9 in the NASB or HCSB’s footnotes, plus this link on Biblegateway with Schimmel's comments below about it being in the Kur'an and the hadith.

"The belief in the Evil Eye, which probably belongs among the most ancient concepts in human history, is based, among the Muslims, on Sura 68:51ff., [...] And Bukhari..."

 (Annemarie Schimmel, Deciphering the Signs of God, 91)

On the nature of true fellowship and the Lord's Supper...

And in this respect, the Eucharist is just a macrocosm of what the church is called to be as the new humanity: a community that gathers, irrespective of preferences, tastes, class, or ethnicity, in order to pursue a common good. I often tell my children that one of the reasons we go to church is to learn to love people we don’t really like that much—people we find irritating, odd, and who grate on our nerves (the feeling’s certainly mutual, I’m sure!) 

 

[7 pages later] 

 

"[With these friends] We commiserate with one another about the burdens of parenting and share the joys of the same. We’ve mourned together, been frustrated together, worked through tensions with each other, confided in one another. When we were going through struggles “at church,” in our community of gathered worship, this Wednesday night table was a refreshing and welcome “table in the wilderness.” It has been nothing short of a shadow Eucharist, a veritable extension of the Lord’s Supper. "

(James Smith, Desiring the Kingdom, ch 5, bold emphasis added)

 

On marriage and family...

“Thus Schmemann admonishes, “A marriage which does not constantly crucify its own selfishness and self-sufficiency, which does not ‘die to itself’ that it may point beyond itself, is not a Christian marriage. The real sin of marriage today is not adultery or lack of ‘adjustment’ or ‘mental cruelty.’ It is the idolization of the family itself, the refusal to understand marriage as directed toward the Kingdom of God”

As Schmemann laments, “It is not the lack of respect for the family, it is the idolization of the family that breaks the modern family so easily, making divorce its almost natural shadow. It is the identification of marriage with happiness and the refusal to accept the cross in it” (For the Life of the World, 90).” 

(James Smith, Desiring the Kingdom, ch 5, footnotes 71 & 73, bold emphasis added)

 “A Christian cannot do without the imagination because Scripture is full of things beyond our present experience.” 

(Midgley, "Meditating for a Change: Embracing a Lost Art," 27)

 The Bible Project's series on "Spiritual Beings" was really helpful in understanding a more integrated view of the biblical spiritual realm. Their presentation does not present opposing views, but it does a good job setting forth a particular view that is credible. (It also has supporting notes.)

my article in EFL Magazine on Cubing

  I've been interested in cubing as a brainstorming method for several years now. In fact, it's what I did my MA presentation on, at the Sandanona Conference in 2019. Anyways, a couple months ago, I submitted an article on how to use cubing as a pre-writing method specifically for language learners to EFL Magazine. It was recently published here, under the title "Cubing: Recharging the Power of Brainstorming." I'll let you explore it more there if you care to.

Fakurian Design (Unsplash)

2021 Reading

 In this -the eleventh- annual edition of my significant reading list,  I present my normal, eclectic approach to gathering learning and joy from the thoughts of others. Two pieces of advice come to mind as a look at this list and consider my reading.

1. Be careful of your friends... over half of these books that I am recommending were recommended to me by friends, typically quite close ones. If you don't like what someone reads, don't get too close to them! They'll try to get you to love what they love. I say that a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I suppose it is actually quite true.
   
2. Be careful about foreign bookshops... a surprising feature of a well-stocked bookshop in a foreign land is that its English language section is likely to be loaded with high quality reading material, much of which you might not have noticed in a bookstore stocked with old favorites. Only one of the books on this list (Prisoners of Geography) actually came from such a shop, but this evening I also just finished a different book (The Sultan of Byzantium) which I came across at said bookstore and was given for Christmas. Thus, a foreign bookshop - with its books that are mostly more difficult to read due to being in a less familiar language - can be just as dangerous a place as an American bookshop filled with more flotsam and jetsam.
   

Biography and Autobiography

Scotch and Holy Water by John D. Trumpane is an enjoyable and insightful read about Turkey in the late 1950s into the 1960s. Trumpane has a way of describing circumstances and events that is at once both humorous and relatable. He shines a light on aspects of culture (Turkish and foreign) that brings clarity to the confusion that happens when people from far apart meet each other. The book is good for a laugh, but just as often, it is thought-provoking. If you've never encountered Turkish culture, you'll likely enjoy it; but if you have experienced Turkish culture, you'll enjoy it even more.

Love Stories by Belle Brain (edited by David Hosaflook) - a collection of stories of many who served God and loved His name. It is about how their Lord provided for them with and without spouses. It makes excellent reading around Valentine's Day or an anniversary.

Raymund Lull by Samuel Zwemer - Lull was a significant figure in a variety of ways, and Zwemer shows much of that variety in this relatively brief treatment of his life.

Exiled: The Story of John Lathrop by Helene Holt - Originally, I wanted to read this due to my interest in family history. John Lathrop was one of my ancestors, but the book (a novelized biography) was much more interesting than expected. The struggles of the 'English Reformation', the fight for freedom of conscience and expression, the difficulties of worshiping in ways that were unaccepted, and the willingness to suffer for ones principles or beliefs - these are all displayed clearly in this biography. While much of it takes place in England before Lathrop's exile and emigration to the American colony that became Massachusetts, it is quite instructive as well about the pressures which shaped early American beliefs about democracy as seen in a particular set of lives.

The Triumph of an Indian Widow by Mary Lucia Bierce Fuller - This short book was written by my great-grandmother's cousin about Pandita Ramabai, whom the author had known well. Thus, I also came across it through my interest in family history. It was a worthwhile sketch of the remarkable life of a reformer in India.

The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester - Telling a part of the story of The Oxford English Dictionary, this narrative is captivating. It includes murder, an attempt at the impossible, and a certain romanticism in parts that make it quite compelling.

Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson (post 1 & post 2) - A philosophy of living by an artist, autobiographical ponderings that are thoroughly relatable. (This one muddles the boundary between autobiography and nonfiction; it was an excellent, counter-point to Keller's Every Good Endeavor, which I finished shortly before reading it.

Nonfiction

Pedagogy of Freedom by Paulo Freire (post) - A book to love and, as I mentioned in my post on it, one that immediately joined my favorites about education and learning and 'teaching.'

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall (post) - How geography shapes events, especially long-term and on a large skill is a fascinating study. Read my post for more of my thoughts.

Putting Off Anger by John Coblentz - This book, which I read along with others in Turkish was immensely practical and far more wide-ranging than the title makes it sounds. It seems to me like very practical book for engaging and 'putting off' more than just anger although it deals most directly with that topic.

The Bible Made Impossible (Christian Smith) - I read parts of this book with a friend who was interested in it. I wouldn't particularly recommend it although the author makes some legitimate critiques of biblicism. On the one hand, it seems to me that the biblicism being critiqued is one that has been subjected to very little thought or teaching. On the other hand, some of the ways Smith suggested thinking about the Bible seemed valuable and well considered even without agreeing with his whole argument or all his views. This one falls into the category of "it's important to read people whom you're not sure you'll agree with and actually try to listen to them whether you end up agreeing with them or not in the end."

Fiction

Oroonoko by Aphra Behn - A novel from the late 1600s, about Suriname, by "the first Englishwoman known to earn her living by writing" (source)! This was a tale that reminded me more of classical tales than of modern ones. The story discusses heroism and slavery and nobility. It's a fascinating glimpse into how art can be made to speak to an issue: it is not explicitly anti-slavery, yet it shows the cruelties and twisted thinking which spawned chattel slavery. On the other hand, there are still places in the book where Behn seems to endorse the prejudices of her day. As with so much of life, it seems to be a mixture of truth and error. It is a sobering reminder that even when we are clear-minded, we are often still muddled in other areas. At the personal level, it was interesting to learn more about the history of the words and culture that I grew up in.

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga - A beautiful story of immigration, TCKs, learning culture, and courage. It's listed as being for ages 8-12, and my 10-year old enjoyed it. But, so did I! It's 'an easy read' that can be hard to read. The author expressed (revealed?) the inner lives of a cultural nomad in really striking ways. It's also peppered with a series of insights about American culture as it is perceived by those just meeting it. 

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - This book was a surprise and joy; it was stirring and deep. Mostly, I'd say it resonated with reality. The characters felt true - this inner life of a country preacher in a small town... I haven't gotten up the courage to go on to the next stories in the series, and, yes, I think it feels like it can take a certain courage to look into the mirror of well-expressed inner worlds.

The Adventures of Sally by P. G. Wodehouse - (post) - Wodehouse is always good for a smile and for insight into human nature; the fact that this one encounters the 'Spanish flu' of a century ago adds an interesting dynamic to it.

Wolf Brother by Jim Kjelgaard - A young adult novel by an author I've always loved though I hadn't heard of this particular story. It tells of the last days of the free-roving Apache bands presenting many of the perspectives and realities of the time.

When Ravens Fall & The Innkeeper's Wife by Savannah Jezowski - These shorter stories drew me in to unexpected depths. They're worth their price.

The Spoken Mage series by Melanie Cellier - As foreshadowed in last year's list, I ended up in this series in 2021. It's quite enjoyable.

By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie - This is one of the Tommy & Tuppence series. They have always been some of my favorite of her characters, and this was a lovely read. I hadn't read it before, and it didn't disappoint. I didn't get the inkling of whom the murderer was till slightly before it was revealed, as normal. (Plus, I read other Christie works when I remember how much I enjoyed her writing: The Labors of Hercules is the only book of hers that I know of that's in the 'short story' format. It was quite enjoyable.)

A re-read worth mentioning: The Hobbit & LOTR by JRR Tolkien - My latest re-reading of these was in tandem with with my oldest daughter! It is a joy long-anticipated to begin sharing my favorite old book-companions with one of my children.

 

Recommendations from years past: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

Prisoners of Geography

  The name may say it all; the book makes and supports a claim that seems common in geopolitical thought. However, the subtitle's claim is a bit of a stretch: can ten maps (even with insightful explanations) really explain all you need to know about global politics? Maybe a better subtitle might have been "Ten maps that will give you a firm foundation in global political realities," but obviously this more tempered claim would be less marketable. Actually, the subtitle for the Turkish edition would do as well for the English edition, "10 Maps that change the world's fate."

  Regardless of all that, Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall (2019) is an instructive and enjoyable read, so far. I've read the Introduction and the first map's explanation, Russia. A few quotes from this first 15% of the book seem worthwhile.

"So it is with all nations, big and small. The landscape imprisons their leaders, giving them fewer choices and less room to manoeuvre than you might think." (pg vii. British edition explains British spellings.) 

"Overall there is no one geographical factor that is more important than any other. Mountains are no more important than deserts, nor rivers than jungles. In different parts of the planet, different geographical features are among the dominant factors in determining what people can and cannot do." (pg viii)

 "By 2004, just fifteen years from 1989, every single former Warsaw Pact state bar Russia was in NATO or the European Union." (pg 7)

"Here was a man [Tsar Ivan the Terrible] to give support to the theory that individuals can change history." (pg 8)

"... Rule A, Lesson One, in 'Diplomacy for Beginners': when faced with what is considered an existential threat, a great power will use force." (pg 17-18)

    Hopefully this gives you a taste of the book; I may post more quotes along the way, but this seems like a book that could inform and enhance lots of conversations. I should mention that it's not 'a heavy read'; if you read the news regularly, you should have a sufficient basis of knowledge to read this book.

Adorning the Dark

  I highlighted much more of Andrew Peterson's Adorning the Dark than what appears below when I was reading it early this year, but these are the pieces that I wanted to share here. It is a work about art and 'a life work'; it is also about developing into who we are able to be, not just who we want to be. It deals with weaknesses that accompany strengths; it speaks of grace. It acted as a perfect complement to a book I'd read shortly before it, Tim Keller's Every Good Endeavor, which spoke of a biblical view of work more broadly and deeply. Adorning the Dark was like an illustration of one person's working out of those principles. Below I offer a few of the thoughts that I found meaningful or encouraging. 

Since we were made to glorify God, worship happens when someone is doing exactly what he or she was made to do. (p. 17). 

God, however, never takes his eyes off me, and on my good days I believe that he is smiling, never demanding an answer other than the fact of myself. I exist as his redeemed creation, and that is, pleasantly, enough for him. (p. 20). 

Dahl remembered what it was like to be a little boy. And he remembered that it is terrifying. It reminded me how vital it is that Christians bend low and speak tenderly to the children in our lives. These boys and girls at our churches, in our schools, down the street, are living a harrowing adventure. Every one of them falls into one of two categories: wounded, or soon-to-be-wounded. The depth and nature of those wounds will vary, but they’re all malleable souls in a world clanging with hammer blows. The bigger they get, the easier the target.

[...]

Those of us who write, who sing, who paint, must remember that to a child a song may glow like a nightlight in a scary bedroom. It may be the only thing holding back the monsters. That story may be the only beautiful, true thing that makes it through all the ugliness of a little girl’s world to rest in her secret heart. May we take that seriously. It is our job, it is our ministry, it is the sword we swing in the Kingdom, to remind children that the good guys win, that the stories are true, and that a fool’s hope may be the best kind. (p. 106). 

I’ll probably always be self-conscious, so the battle to make something out of nothing at all will rage on, and I’ll have to fight it in the familiar territory of selfishness until the Spirit winnows my work into something loving and lovable. I’m no longer surprised by my capacity for self-doubt, but I’ve learned that the only way to victory is to lose myself, to surrender to sacredness—which is safer than insecurity. I have to accept the fact that I’m beloved by God. That’s it. Compared to that, the songs don’t matter so much—a realization which has the surprising consequence of making them easier to write. (p. 26). 

All you really have is your willingness to fail, coupled with the mountain of evidence that the Maker has never left nor forsaken you. (p. 34). 

Either you’re willing to steward the gift God gave you by stepping into the ring and fighting for it, or you spend your life in training, cashing in excuse after excuse until there’s no time left, no fight left, no song, no story. (p. 108). 

Learning-Teaching and Loving-Being Angry - thoughts from Freire (and a bit beyond)

  Several years ago, Paulo Freire's work, Pedagogy of Freedom was recommended to me as a favorite work. While I got it shortly thereafter, I am just now getting around to reading it, and it has most certainly been worth it. It immediately joins my list of favorite books on good teaching such as Parker Palmer's The Courage to Teach, Peter Elbow's various works (supposedly on teaching writing, but much more widely applicable), and Lisa Delpit's Other People's Children. 

There is, in fact, no teaching without learning. One requires the other. And the subject of each, despite their obvious differences, cannot be educated to the status of object. Whoever teaches learns in the act of teaching, and whoever learns teaches in the act of learning.  

[...]

To learn, then, logically precedes to teach. In other words, to teach is part of the very fabric of learning. This is true to such an extent that I do not hesitate to say that there is no valid teaching from which there does not emerge something learned and through which the learner does not become capable of recreating and remaking what has been thought. In essence, teaching that does not emerge from the experience of learning cannot be learned by anyone. 

When we live our lives with the authenticity demanded by the practice of teaching that is also learning and learning that is also teaching, we are participating in a total experience that is simultaneously directive, political, ideological, gnostic, pedagogical, aesthetic, and ethical. In this experience the beautiful, the decent, and the serious form a circle with hands joined. (pp. 31-32). 

The kind of education that does not recognize the right to express appropriate anger against injustice, against disloyalty, against the negation of love, against exploitation, and against violence fails to see the educational role implicit in the expression of these feelings. (p. 45). 

One of the most important tasks of critical educational practice is to make possible the conditions in which the learners, in their interaction with one another and with their teachers, engage in the experience of assuming themselves as social, historical, thinking, communicating, transformative, creative persons; dreamers of possible utopias, capable of being angry because of a capacity to love. Capable of assuming themselves as “subject” because of the capacity to recognize themselves as “object.”  (pp. 45-46). 

To question, to search, and to research are parts of the nature of teaching practice. What is necessary is that, in their ongoing education, teachers consider themselves researchers because they are teachers.

 (p. 130, footnote 5). 

[The bold emphasis is mine throughout the above quotations.]

 I found the thoughts on the appropriateness of anger to be particularly interesting as I've been giving thought to this topic as part of a group study that I was invited to join. The readings are in Turkish, but the English edition is called "Putting Off Anger." So far, it has been valuable, and it has talked also about proper anger. 

 Random question I've had recently: What situations made Jesus angry in the New Testament?