On Speaking Up

To make the whole strong and unified, each part must be strong and supportive of the other parts. We are supportive of each other when we work to strengthen our own group--and when we speak up for groups other than our own when we see injustice and inequity. We learn to cooperate by recognizing and strengthening the interdependence that unites us. The following quotation, attributed to Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984), helps us see that we are all in this life together.

In Germany they came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade
unionists, and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up
because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,
and by that time
no one was left to speak up.

Taking Action

When we come face to face with a difference that challenges our beliefs or values, we have a choice about how we respond. Carlos Casteneda offers the following guidance, inspired by his study of Don Juan Matus, a Mexican Yaqui Indian sorcerer.

Look at every path closely and deliberately.
Try it as many times as you think necessary.
Then ask yourself and yourself alone one question.
This question is one that only a very old man asks.
My benefactor told me about it once when I was young and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it.
Now I do understand it. I will tell you what it is:
Does this path have a heart?
If it does, the path is good. If it doesn't it is of no use.

Inter-being and Understanding

Our existence is tied to the interconnectedness that holds us and everything else together. Thich Nhat Hanh, internationally recognized poet and peace activist, refers to this interconnectedness as "inter-being" (The Heart of Understanding, 1987). When we realize our inter-being and act mindfully on our awareness, we can be with others with an understanding heart.

"Inter-be"–it is not found in the dictionary yet, but I hope someday it will be.
To be means to inter-be because nothing can be by itself.

Everything has to inter-be with other things.
For example, the rose and the garbage inter-are.
Without the rose, there is no garbage.
Without the garbage, there is no rose.
Look deeply at the rose to see also the garbage.
 Look deeply at the garbage to see also the rose.
Each is as precious as the other.

Wholeness and Eachness

Jon Kabat-Zinn, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, has done extensive research on strategies for reducing violence and addictive and self-destructive behaviors. In his book, Wherever You Go, There You Are, he talks about similarities and differences.

All faces resemble each other, yet how easily we see in each

uniqueness, individuality, and identity.

How deeply we value these differences.

The ocean is a whole, but it has countless waves, everyone different from all the others; it has currents, each unique, ever-changing; the bottom is a landscape all its own, different everywhere; similarly the shoreline.

The atmosphere is whole, but its currents have unique signatures,

even though they are just wind.

Life on earth is a whole, yet it expresses itself in unique time-bound bodies, microscopic or visible, plant or animal, extinct or living.

So there can be no one place to be. There can be no one way to be, no one way to practice, no one way to learn, no one way to love, no one way to grow or heal, no one way to live; no one way to feel, no one thing to know or be known.

The particulars count.

Making Assumptions

We often have problems relating to people because we assume things about them based on the way they look, speak, or act. One of The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz, is especially helpful in teaching us to learn from others and check our reactions to what we hear, see, and feel: Don't make assumptions. Ruiz explains:

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.

Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Ribbons and Rainbows

Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was one of the major writers in the Harlem Renaissance, breaking down many doors for future generations of African-American artists. During his lifetime, he created an enormous body of work, including novels, short stories, children's books, speeches, plays, and poems. This poem, "Little Song," published in Talking Like the Rain, speaks of diversity.

Carmencita loves Patrick.
Patrick loves Si Lan Chen.
Xenophon loves Mary Jane.
Hildegarde loves Ben.

Lucienne loves Eric.
Giovanni loves Emma Lee.
Natasha loves Miguelito--
And Miguelito loves me.

Ring around the Maypole!
Ring around we go--
Weaving our bright ribbons
Into a rainbow! 

The Road Less Traveled

...Robert Frost
http://www.learnoutloud.com/audiobooks/RoadLessTraveled.mp3

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

IF

Rudyard Kipling
http://www.learnoutloud.com/podcaststream/listen.php?url=http://www.learnoutloud.com/audiobooks/If.mp3&all=15422&title=If

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Prayer of St. Francis

http://www.learnoutloud.com/audiobooks/SaintFrancis.mp3

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is Hatred, let me sow Love.
Where there is Injury, Pardon.
Where there is Doubt, Faith.
Where there is Despair, Hope.
Where there is Darkness, Light, and
Where there is Sadness, Joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

I have been on a personal but professional journey this last month. I decided to disconnect my Television and seek to enjoy classic books & movies. I had found myself watching to much mindless T.V and using it as an activity to disengage my mind.  

I began with The Pearl by John Steinbeck . It is a legend that tells of an Indian pearl diver who cannot afford a doctor for his son's scorpion sting. In this anxious state, he finds The Pearl of the World and is able to get medical help for his boy. Calculating the profit from the gem, the diver dreams of a better life—a grand wedding, clothes, guns, and an education for the boy. But his dream of leaving his socio-economic station leads to ruin. It was my first novel and video. The video ending is different than the novel but could lead to alternative ending lessons. I found these lesson plans on this website an excellent source for teaching this classic folk story.

My second choice was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The setting is a small town in Alabama in the 1930s .Racial prejudice and adult injustice is the classic theme. The Student’s Survival Guide and lesson plans from The Library of Congress are great follow ups.

This week choices are All Quiet on the Western Front  by Erich Maria Remarque. It is set in WW1 and tells the story of a young German sent to fight in the trenches. Discovery has some great lesson for this historical story My second choice for this week is The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. This Pulitzer Prize winner video follows Wang Lung’s family from their early struggles to live off the land to their final disintegration as they move to the city. The lesson plans by Web English Teacher are excellent.

For the future, I plan on reading and watching Moby Dick  by Herman Melville.  Captain Ahab’s obsessive struggle to defeat Moby Dick, the great white whale who maimed him, is the focus of this masterpiece. The lesson plans for these can also be found on the Discovery website. There are also great video clips & follow up on the United Streaming website.  I also want to rent & reread  The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. It was one of that I remember as a student. It is a story told through the eyes of  Henry Fleming, a young Civil War soldier, he enables us to see the fears of battle and the inexplicable courage that comes from the soldiers. The National Endowment for the Humanities has a website with lesson plans.

For entertainment pleasure I bought the DVD Harvey by Mary Chase. This was one of the first plays I remembered as a child.  I remember wanting a Pooka as my best friend. I am hoping it will come back around as a play in my area. I also have been watching a 1950’s series of TV shows about Sherlock Holmes. I have watched all 39 episodes and plan to re-watch them again. One of the classic detective stories is the The Red-headed League. There are numerous lesson plans but one of my favorites is on  MysteryNet.com.

I am following the The Big Read  website.  It is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Other resources are:

Classic Short Stories  that has Rudyard Kipling’s , Rikki-Tikki-Tavi from The Jungle Book, It is the  story of Rikki, a fearless young mongoose who develops a very special bond with a boy named Teddy and these lesson plans can assist teachers.

Lesson Plans and Resources for Adolescent  and Young Adult Literature is a  site that  contains links to lesson plans and resources for adolescent and young adult (grades 7-12) literature, including short stories, mysteries, and English literature.

Two others that I refer to frequently are:

Jan Brett’s website.

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