Like Water Like Rock

I wonder how Hope is like a Yo Yo? About 20 years ago I was invited by our local priest to participate in some theology workshops where we began a light study of the scriptures. As we began our learning and brief inquiring into the various books starting with Genesis I noticed a pattern developing. First the people would be happy and worshiping God then as time went on and they began to prosper they forgot about God. In their focus on acquiring material wealth they had forgotten about the One who had ultimately provided it. God would send a reluctant prophet who would plead to the people to return to God. The people did not listen and the result was they lost their material wealth and freedoms to another people or natural disaster. This cycle seems to be prevalent throughout the Bible and made total sense to me in that I immediately connected it to my own life and the Yo Yo. I like many people experience ups and downs; times of deep reflection and awe of natural law then times of ex...

I never really thought much about the power of words. They were just there. In grade one we learned how to sound them out. In grade two we wrote some sentences. In grade three some harsh words were spoken by the teacher to encourage me to learn to remember how to divide. In grade four I used harsh words to bully in the playground. In grade five I won the spelling contests, Mrs. Castillio sang words to us with her guitar and told us she loved us all the time. In grade 6 we used words to advertise our new products we invented. From grade 7 to grade 9 words were only important in the context of social life and lyrics to my favourite songs. By grade 10 I was bored with school and quit to learn on the job. Then words became important again. As I watched the interactions and listened to the words of the farmers coming in to buy fuel I was intrigued. I listened as they exchanged stories about crops and weather. At 16 I wondered why people communicate. It took me almost 40 years but I am now j...

I wonder how we make learning real first? Today I worked with grade one children. We are learning letters and the words that go with them. We took out our workbooks where we drew the letters and coloured images that start with that letter. Then as a bonus we watched a video with letters dancing around and singing with images of words that started with the letters. How are the letters tangible to the children? They are on paper or on a screen. They really cannot be touched making them intangible. Later that morning we just kept our outside shoes on after recess and went for a walk in the forest to see the horses. As soon as we left the building we came across the letter 'L'. Then just a little further along the path we picked up the letter 'P', then 'R', then 'B', then 'G'. We picked up each letter and carried it with us. We skipped and sang the letter song. We saw colours of red, orange, green, brown, black, white, blue, and some even saw viole...

I wonder how Hope is transferred through space and time? Do we find it through the stories of our ancestors? I am very fortunate in that I belong to a family who puts on not one but two family reunions each year. Those who can make it do so and every year is unique with different people attending. We bring food and look forward to each other's special dishes. Everyone can't wait to eat Grandma's buns. We play baseball and catch up on the lives of our relatives. For me it has become a grounding experience to reconnect to those who share a common ancestry. I have always been curious about the family origins and have opportunities to wonder openly to my aunts and uncles about various stories told. What I have discovered is that my great grandfathers came to Canada due to Hope. The one Great Grandfather was said to be a foreman of a large farm in Germany prior to WWI and fled to Canada due to a threat on his life from the government. I wonder did he speak up about some ...