"Be the Change"

Soon after graduation last May I went to Barnes & Noble and bought myself a little book called God's Graduate: Continuing Education for everyday life. There are 39 themes , such as Attitude, Love, Prayer, Forgiveness, and Worry, explored through six or seven pages each. Looking over it again tonight I came across one page that is particularly applicable to what I wrote in my last post.

"Be the Change" briefly explores Ghandi's simple yet profound statement that you should "be the change you want to see in the world". After this statement the author offers what she believes to be a comparative statement by God to Abraham, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing." (NIV Gen. 12:2) She then offers this comforting thought, "God may not be calling you to make your name great but He still calls each of us to be a blessing to the world. Be the change. Be the blessing. If those around you are blessed by the things you do, the beliefs you stand for, and the love you share,then you are effecting change in their lives."(p.27)
I like this way of thinking about my present purpose and only hope that I can effectively apply in immediately.

theme for the week

Recently I have been anxious about future plans and excited for what's to come. to be honest I have no idea what that is but I've been feeling recently that I need to do something very different, something that will throw me out of my comfort zone and get me to toughen up. I've certainly been challenged as a first year teacher, but i'm looking for new challenge that will force me to take action with the things I care about and force me to really apply and expand my religious, moral, and academic education.

With all this excitement I must be careful not to get too ahead of myself. A big lesson I am learning in life is that it is not about taking jobs or moving to places where I can feel the most comfortable or where I can grow the most. Instead it is about finding the place where I can use my skills to give the most. Of course growth and enlightenment come with this, but acquiring those is not the ultimate goal. The Christian Science Bible Lesson never fails to be applicable to my thoughts, experiences, and challenges every week. This weeks subject is LOVE. Two particular quotes stood out to me from the first section: "let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." (James 1:4 let) and from Science and Health, by Mary Baker Eddy: "Wait patiently for divine Love to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must 'have her perfect work' " (454:22).

I think that last statement is referring to the healing waters of Bethesda where one could be healed by touching the water after the heavens 'moved' it. But for me, both of these statements can be applied to so many situations in life - desire to find a new job, travel, find a boyfriend, get the money I need, etc. All of that has to do with needing certain things to occur or to arrive before we can be happy or feel complete. According to both the Bible and SH we must be patient and give God time to "form the perfect concept"....why would we want to rush and receive anything less than perfect? I'd like to add another thought to the pile. It's one that I gained from reading Eckert Tolle's book "A New Earth" --> There is nothing we need to wait for because all we ever need to realize our complete identity is right here, right now. Perfection is present because it is not formed or gained by material circumstances and objects. What a relief! all that time spent day dreaming and creating constructing ideal moments/situations in our mind is a distraction from the complete, perfect life that is in the present moment. Why waste time thinking about something that has already happened or could possibly happen? --> that's thinking about things that don't even exist! Once we decide to be still and dedicate our energies to the present moment we'll realize that there can be nothing more.Wow, even writing this out helps! So I'm going to really 'be' this week and start being the person I am and want to be rather than waiting for the right circumstances to give me the permission to change.

At least one good thing this week

1. Spanish 2 Friday afternoon --> although it may have been a little out of control, spanish 2 was fun. 5 minutes before class starts 5 out of the 11 students run into my office and ask if they can run to get food from the school store. it being the the afternoon and the last day of the semester, (and me being the softy that i am) I told them to go quickly and get the darn food. So they arrive 5 minutes late to class, wired and energized and in no condition be focused in any way at 1:45 on the last friday of the semester. we started commands, or mandatos, as they're called in spanish the day before so I decided to play a little game with them. Split into two groups the students had to come up with 5 formal commands (in spanish of course) to make the other team do. i.e, hagan un pirámide humano, actúan como pollos, cantén el alma mater de Emma Willard, etc. (yes they're very creative those girls) well the human piramid was the best one. then after successfully completely this activity we all sat together on the floor and we read two classic children's books in Spanish that I had found in the education section of Barnes and Noble - La Oruga Muy Hambrienta (Hungry little catepillar) y El Árbol Generoso (the giving tree). As they ate their chips and dip they sat enthralled like little children at the beautiful pictures in each book. It all felt a little juvenile but it was fun and they seemed really into it. nothing like calming kids down with a good book.