12th Night

One last image of Christmas on this "12th night" . . .

Our advent wreath from McCartys Pottery was a wedding gift. I love its simplicity. It takes a while for us to burn down all of our advent candles, and I don't like saving them for next year or throwing them away. It serves as the centerpiece for our kitchen table where we eat most of our daily meals, but we only light the candles in the wreath when all of us are together-- which is not every night of the week. Tonight, the center candle is the last one to burn down on this cold, cold winter night.

But these words from Howard Thurman burn bright. . .

"When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart."

I say "Amen" to this.

Muddle

If my mind could look like a photo, it would look like the one above. I'm all in a muddle (or puddle) of thoughts. This was taken from inside the van while I sandwiched in about 5 minutes of knitting before heading into an elementary school to help with a Valentine's Day party. It has been raining since I had to load and unload groceries from the store today. I love rain. Really, I do.

But, I'm out of sorts today with too many questions and not enough answers. And so, everything seems gray and puddly.

My main question of the day is this: why do people who do not love children choose jobs that require them to work with children?

Earlier in the week, I was standing in a hallway talking to another teacher when I suddenly felt someone else's cheek up against mine. Turning to look, I was thrilled to to see a fifth grade boy who had been a student of mine at another school. Today, I saw him twice in the hallway-- always sporting a humongous smile. Seeing him made me so happy-- it truly made my day. Absolute JOY.

I feel this way about students even when they are difficult to manage in class or about my own two children even when they are driving me crazy-- I still love them all. I see them as individuals with different gifts-- as people who possess the potential to become what they are called to be. Not that I am a saint (far from it) or a perfect mother (my children will tell you the truth) or a model teacher (I'm not) or that I have all the answers (I don't).

Still, I want all people who work with children to feel JOY. I want our city, our state, our society-- our democracy-- to stand up for children. Never, ever, should someone be hired to work with children who does not like it. Never, ever, should someone be allowed to work with children who can't be bothered. Never, ever, should someone be hired to work with children who can't find another job and is just looking for some cash. Never, ever, should someone be allowed be work with children who doesn't have the necessary complex skills to respond to the curve balls that children throw to adults.

(By omission, you may be able to infer that I have lately witnessed interactions between adults and children that were less than desirable).

Mutual respect and common courtesy are just the starting points, but I want more. Our children deserve more. Both teaching and learning should be joyful pursuits even when the going gets tough.

Creative spelling again

More work from my son. . .

Translation:

Barack Obama
My parents voted for him.
I hope he will be good.
He has 2 children.
He is the 44th president.
He is going to live in Washington D.C.
He is the first African American president.

And I say, AMEN.

Inauguration Eve

I'm not going to the inauguration, but I will be with students at St. Therese Catholic School tomorrow watching and listening and seeing history through their eyes. Mine will probably be full of tears.

I'll be wearing my "inauguration skirt." Yes, I made a skirt today to commemorate the event. I used the bias-cut pattern that I made for my first skirt, but I added a little length. And, I added the detail of a bias tape hem that I made from some contrasting fabric (it took f o r e v e r ). I also cut another skirt out of that fabric for another day.

Lest you think I have given up knitting, I made an "inauguration dishcloth" over the weekend. How domestic of me!

In the mood for red yarn and not having anything red on an UFO (un-finished object), I started it while watching Battlestar Gallactica (4th season) on Saturday night . Then, I made the bulk of it while listening to a talk about MLK at church on Sunday morning, and later, while watching the pre-inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial. How many times did my eyes fill up with tears? Too many times to count. My children made fun of me.

While I probably didn't have the new administration on my mind with every stitch of either project, I did have the future president and this intersection of our future and our history on my mind and heart a lot.

Peace be with you, Mr. Obama. Peace be with you.

Endings and Beginnings

One of the things we did really well this year was end our Christmas. In the photos above, we are practicing for the Feast of Lights gospel tableau, making crowns and stars in celebration of the three kings, and burning the greens outside of St. Andrew's Cathedral last night in downtown Jackson.

But, this blessing by Howard Thurman takes the ending of Christmas and charges us with a beginning:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among all,
To make music in the heart.

by Howard Thurman

It is always hard to give up Christmas. But, work has started. School has started. It's raining and raining today. Bombs and guns are exploding in other parts of the world. Children are hungry right here in Jackson.

I am thankful for the words of Howard Thurman reminding me about what is really important during this transition into the new year. It is a tall new year's resolution, but really, it is what each of us should resolve to do each and every day.

Hope

Both of my children came running to the kitchen this morning to ask me who won the election last night. I showed my daughter the front page of The Clarion Ledger, and her smile joined mine. I stayed up until the end to watch the speeches and savor the hopefulness and cried again this morning when I heard snippets of the speech on NPR for the second time. This is the first election since my daughter was born in 1999 about which I have been able to rejoice.

The coaster was made last Friday (the day after that wonderful day of creativity and inspiration written about below) in anticipation of yesterday and beyond. It is from Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules-Sewing book. I only made the one so far, and it is less than perfect. I am a novice sewer, but I'm loving some projects that I've done so far with Amy's philosophy that all does not have to be perfect. Thank you! I made this little blanket last Friday, too, without any pattern whatsoever-- just my measuring tape and an idea in my mind. The sewing machine is the Janome Hello Kitty model that I bought my crafty daughter.

How nice to have my afternoon tea with my little "message on a coaster" and ponder the events of the last 24 hours on this 5th day of November 2008. I think I should make a commemorative set. On the next ones, I can write "Yes We Can," and "Change."