the first, foreshadowed some by the title of this post, is that religion is leaving a pretty bad taste in my mouth these days. or maybe i'm regurgitating some things i never digested. i heard a lesson on the Tower of Babel last week, focusing on Religion and Materialism as the 'towers' we use today to either build ourselves up toward Heaven or try to bring heaven down to earth. we're all friends here, right? there is a lot of bitterness in my heart towards the expectations i grew up under as a southern baptist pastor's kid. i'm working hard to separate the good (moral standards, love & compassion for others) from the bad (haphazard judgment, exclusivity) in those expectations, and would appreciate comments/prayers as i talk to my parents about some of them over the next week. my faith is growing alongside my awareness of the harmful role religion has played in my life.
okay, here's some funner stuff...the memphis teacher residency is the absolute shit. i love it here. God is involved. been meeting awesome people, eating well (both evidenced by my cohort's trip to chik-fil-a on cow appreciation day)...
...and learning a ton through classes and observations at KIPP DIAMOND Academy, an intense charter school in Memphis (Micah and 6 others will be resident-teaching there all year). my mentor teacher, Mamadou Sambe, is next to me in the picture below (hit me up if you recognize anything from the word wall). He's Senagalese, speaks English, French, and Wolof. evidence of God's presence: my uncle works in Senegal translating the Bible into Wolof, an obscure tribal language in an area that is predominantly Muslim. no freaking coincidence. we'll see what God does with that.
shoot, it's great to hear from all of you. come visit in memphis. among other things, we'll go to a bar that used to be a brothel and was in the movie "elizabethtown." the owner is unbelievably proud.
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i. love. word. walls. i feel like the soul train and the good life would have benefited immensely from word walls... just imagine the creativity. glad you're enjoying teaching, mr. harkins. i'm sure you're the bomb-dot-com :)
ReplyDeletewasn't your fridge a word wall of sorts? i do wish we had one. oh well.
ReplyDeleteI did one day of service with a group called MTR (Maryland Therapuetic Riding) an organization that helps people who are crippled ride horses. Really cheesy and quite a funny and fun experience. Either way, when I hear you and Micah are working for MTR, I keep thinking you are out riding horses.
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