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phlegme
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Name: Anthony
Interests: Walking with God, art music, philosophy of art, listening intently to music, CD liner notes, music composition, Sight and Sound musicals, math problems, serious discussions, being with my youth group, playing/analyzing/coaching basketball, volleyball, studying, reading, Sherlock Holmes, Andy Griffith shows, Barnes and Noble, puns and other intelligent humor, CBS friends, writing my thoughts, coffee-flavored things, the school lifestyle, exercising, being laid-back, being sporadically energetic, jumping, running
Occupation: School Teacher
Message: message me
Member Since:
3/18/2005
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| "A lot of music is not meant for deep encounter at all; it's made as an accompaniment for eating or drinking or dancing. But when deep listening encounters music of a deep intent, where the mind [of the composer] has worked in a very intricate and profound way and the music requires a sense of silence and sacrifice in the listener, then I think that interaction bears the greatest fruit." -James MacMillan Music- what is it meant for? Is it just another commodity to be used to make us feel successful and comfortable? Is it just more noise to keep our mind from pondering reality? Is it to be used to give us emotional highs? Is it just something used just to carry words kind of like we use suitcases to carry our luggage (it doesn't matter how the suitcase looks as long as it holds the luggage, right?). Seriously. Music has become all of the above. Isn't this maybe a problem? The key word in the examples above is "use". We use it for our personal benefit and comfort. We use it as if it was drugs or junk food. It just fits with our tendency to prefer meandering and muddling in mediocrity rather than being challenged to grow and change. I love MacMillan's words: "the music requires a sense of silence and sacrifice in the listener...". How many of us ever thought about our music requiring sacrifice? I'm just asking... | | |
| I love it when God surprises me. I was not into revival meetings this week. Talk about busyness. Between the meetings and teaching school, I was looking at being gone almost literally dawn to dusk, and that coming off two consecutive weekends of being away from home. I did not feel like going to church. And- let me be brutally honest- I was already picturing some fundamentalist, over-zealous and under-educated preacher, and I wasn't excited. Monday evening I flopped into the pew, mentally exhausted, but with unfinished school preparation on my mind. And we started singing. And someone shared a brief devotional. And I thought about how good it was for me to just be forced to halt my agenda and sit down for a little. And then the preacher got up and introduced his subject: early church history. That alone was enough to interest me somewhat, but once he started talking about why history is important and how ideas have consequences, I was zoned in. The first evening was amazing. I just felt like crying because it was so surprising. And thus began probably the best week of meetings I have ever experienced. I can honestly say I have enjoyed every evening. I think God was wanting me to pay attention to His Word a little more and get to know Him a little better. Thank you God. | | |
| A week of school gone already, although not a full one. It went very smoothly and my students are great. I love their enthusiasm and innocence. It was good just to talk with them again and listen to them talk and observe how they changed and how they stayed the same. I have moments when I think I could study psychology. Child psychology. The way people function is fascinating. The way every individual is different, the tendencies of people at different age levels, the way children develop and learn, the way different people respond to the same situation...Children are prime studies in psychology because they have not yet learned how to completely cover up what's inside and wear a mask effectively. They show their feelings and they say what they think. The more I read and talk with other people about the brain and learning styles and slow learners and students who don't pay attention and all that, the more I wonder about those things. Maybe I'll have to get a degree in child psychology instead of...well, I haven't decided what it would be instead of.  I guess I'll add it to my list of "things I would like to study in college." | | |
| Well, my lone day of hard physical labor in the time between summer term and the beginning of school is gone. Now I just have to get family vacation this wk-end over with and then I can focus on getting ready for school for two weeks! Actually I am really looking forward to family vacation right now, but I'm also really excited about school this year. My first year, I was 75% nervousness and cluelessness and 25% genuine excitement when I was getting ready for school. This year, it feels like those numbers are switched. Imagine what the third year must be like... But for now- relax, sleep in, read, play games, enjoy my brothers and sisters-in-law and niece and nephews and parents and God. | | |
| Some things that went through my head during Bible School this week.... There's something unique about sitting in the church pews singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". The kids never got tired of it. (Don't tell anyone, but I didn't either ). I think I learn the most about something when I teach it. This week we discussed things like the early church, the Holy Spirit, what it really means to be a Christian, the purpose of the Bible, what church means to us, what a worship service is about.... I learned so much from studying and thinking about these things, and then presenting them to the class, usually in a somewhat ranting/rambling sort of style with some discussion and writing activities mixed in. I hope they enjoyed it. I hope they learned something. I did. They were a great audience for my thoughts and musings. They impressed me with their intelligence and interest. Little kids are just so much fun to watch and listen to. I never really thought of myself as the sort of person who loves kids before I taught school, but now I think they're kind of growing on me. They're so amusing; I'm sure I wouldn't be quite as amused, though, if I was the one who had to teach them. "The blessings will come down as the prayers go up!" What kind of theology is that supposed to be?  Oh well, it's a good song, I guess. Our closing Bible school prayer is easy to rattle off without thinking about what it means. It's a really good prayer, actually. In fact, as we were praying it one of the first nights, I wondered if anyone had ever set it to music. Why not? The next day at work, I came up with a melody and scribbled it down on the back of a time card. A few days later, finding myself with adequate (and more) free time, I started working on it and just today I finished the first draft of it. It's amazing when inspiration can strike. This is unrelated to Bible School now, but I just completed the book mentioned above. I read it in two days. Cleverly written from the perspective of a young boy and quite hilarious. I loved it, but I'm not sure if I can make it appropriate for reading out loud to my students. What a shame- it's so good, especially the chapter about puppy love. I currently have about 5 books on my nightstand that I've started reading. Well, two of them are collections of stories. The other three are all very different from each other. Am I strange or do the rest of ya'll read like that, too? | | |
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