In Brief

1. Student teaching is amazing. 

My master teachers (mentors) that I am paired with could not be better. 

Some signs that I am in the right place:

I don't feel like a fish out of water, being in front of a class seems as natural as breathing (I have got a lot to work on though--they tell me the craft is never mastered and I believe them), I sincerely and genuinely care for the kids in my class, and finally, I feel more myself then I have felt in a long time.

2. Marathon tomorrow. nervous. excited. hydrated and hungry.

3.  I am teaching the The Great Gatsby to my Juniors. Every one should read it again because it is unbelievably good. Fitzgerald succeeds in giving us pure poetry out of the mouth of Nick his humble and witty narrator. If you read it and don't like it, try it again because it is even better the third time. I am 1/3 of the way into Grapes of  Wrath, put that on your "to read" list too. It is blowing me out of the water and it reads faster then I ever could have imagined. 

4. The Best for last. Carter is turning into a human, not that he never was one, but now he crawls, claps, eats some solid foods, climbs into my lap, gets into trouble (see my wife's blog) and loves me.  

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Review that turned into a reflection

“Your just gotta have faith” is what the old George Michale song tells us. Faith has always been a positive value within society. Within religious communities persons whose faith is the strongest are venerated and looked to as an example. The community essentially has faith in the person’s faith, trusting all along that the venerated speak words of truth and wisdom and that their connections with God are authentic. But what happens when faith is perverted—when one’s belief becomes an unmovable force and the voice of “god” ostensibly whispers in their ear to commit atrocious, violent actions in "his" name.

John Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven is a mesmerizing and tantalizing read. By putting Mormon Fundamentalism under the microscope Krakauer launches a full-blown exploration into the dark fanatical underbelly of religion. Krakauer uses the violent murder of a mother and her child committed by Dan Lafferty as a launch pad for his exploration. Lafferty, a member of a fundamentalist Mormon sect, still believes to this day, some 20 years since the incident, that he was d0ing gods bidding when he slit the throats of his own brother's wife and her baby daughter.

This is disconcerting to say the least, especially for one who holds to a christian belief system; a system that allows for one to communicate directly with God. As a Christian it is not uncommon for me to hear a fellow believer say something to the extent of "I feel that God is telling me to do this or do that." I too have used this line myself, I hope with sincerity, to justify my actions--but so did the zealot/murderer Dan Lafferty who, incidentally, is not insane.

I believe most assuredly that the voice Lafferty was listening to was not God, however, Lafferty would vehemently disagree. Yes, he subscribes to a cookey brand of fundamentalism that places him narcissisticly as a central figure in Christ's second coming, but the question still must be asked, How do we know we are listening to the voice of God? I feel like all the indicators for what is and is not the voice of God are entirely subjective. The Holy Spirit? Theology? Both these things can be tweaked by listeners and hearers alike to line up with the voice. Problematic? Yes. Do I have any answers? NO.

All I can offer myself at this juncture is that I have to have faith in faith. I must believe in belief. One bad apple does not ruin the bunch right?

Anyway, the book is a quick read and is definitely worth a looksey