I always thought this was the absolute saddest story ever.The Twilight Zone episode 08, “Time Enough At Last”
The Educator's Classroom: Teaching About Yourself
I strongly believe that we, as educators, have a huge responsibility on our plates. I try to, not only, help my students understand various concepts, but also help prepare them for life and the adventure that they will partake in outside the classroom walls. This year I tried something a…
Rare spiritual post: my favorite conference talk
So, I rarely post religious/spiritual thoughts, but this talk really spoke to me and I’ve been thinking about it pretty frequently over the past week-ish. It was this same doctrine of love and emphasis on not judging others that drew me to the church initially, and I’m always happy to hear it repeated.
Excerpt from President Dieter F. Uchdorf’s address during the April 2012 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
When Relationships Go Bad
Strained and broken relationships are as old as humankind itself. Ancient Cain was the first who allowed the cancer of bitterness and malice to canker his heart. He tilled the ground of his soul with envy and hatred and allowed these feelings to ripen until he did the unthinkable—murdering his own brother and becoming, in the process, the father of Satan’s lies.2
Since those first days the spirit of envy and hatred has led to some of the most tragic stories in history. It turned Saul against David, the sons of Jacob against their brother Joseph, Laman and Lemuel against Nephi, and Amalickiah against Moroni.
I imagine that every person on earth has been affected in some way by the destructive spirit of contention, resentment, and revenge. Perhaps there are even times when we recognize this spirit in ourselves. When we feel hurt, angry, or envious, it is quite easy to judge other people, often assigning dark motives to their actions in order to justify our own feelings of resentment.
The Doctrine
Of course, we know this is wrong. The doctrine is clear. We all depend on the Savior; none of us can be saved without Him. Christ’s Atonement is infinite and eternal. Forgiveness for our sins comes with conditions. We must repent, and we must be willing to forgive others. Jesus taught: “Forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not … [stands] condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin”3 and “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”4
Of course, these words seem perfectly reasonable—when applied to someone else. We can so clearly and easily see the harmful results that come when others judge and hold grudges. And we certainly don’t like it when people judge us.
But when it comes to our own prejudices and grievances, we too often justify our anger as righteous and our judgment as reliable and only appropriate. Though we cannot look into another’s heart, we assume that we know a bad motive or even a bad person when we see one. We make exceptions when it comes to our own bitterness because we feel that, in our case, we have all the information we need to hold someone else in contempt.
Reading Fiction Whole - EdWeek
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. We’ve still got a solid two and a half months of school left, but I’m already thinking about revisions we need to make to our curriculum for next year, and I am really starting to feel strongly that this should be part of the process - maybe not for all the books, but definitely for some. The more I think about the concept of truly being a “college prep” curriculum, the more I like this idea. It’s so much more authentic than chopping up a work into what we assume are manageable chunks.
Most disappointing moment of the day: a student literally saying, “I don’t know why we’re reading this stupid book or writing this stupid research paper. We should only be doing ACT prep. That’s what’s important for college.” Most inspiring moment of the day: seeing my other students actively engaged in an in-depth lesson on close reading and analyzing an author’s perspective, which, by the way, actually will prepare them for college.
Counting my blessings. Remembering not to let the ignorant frustrations of a few outweigh the the excitement and engagement of so many others.
This is awesome. There are a few I have yet to read on here, so I better get started!Infographic: The Dystopian Timeline to The Hunger Games. Click the image to read this awesome infographic by Patrick over on Goodreads.
This is basically the situation Margaret Atwood describes in “Oryx and Crake”…didn’t turn out too great for humanity there.Should we bioengineer superhumans that can better combat climate change?
Philosopher suggests that bioengineering people to be herbivores with small statures and cat-like eyes could help to save the planet.
This just strikes me as so lovely.A boy left his bike chained to a tree when he went away to war in 1914. He never returned, leaving the tree no choice but to grow around the bike.
Maven of our dystopian future: thoughts on Margaret Atwood’s address on the art and craft of writing
Under the soft golden lights in the Auditorium Theatre, a crowd made up of well over a thousand poets, storytellers, publishers, novelists, editors, aspiring writers, teachers, and other variant lovers of the written word tremulously awaited the arrival of the woman who the program leader aptly introduced as “the maven of our dystopian future.”
I could see the anticipation surfacing around me. Across the vast expanse of antique pink-carpeted chairs, I saw a different sort of flush mirroring my own expectancy in the faces of those who, like me, must have experienced a moment when Margaret Atwood changed the way they thought about reading. In the moment before her entrance, I felt that great sense of companionship that can only come from a shared readership.
As she did enter, however, all thoughts of those surrounded me faded into my smile at the actuality of seeing one of my literary heroes realized in the form of this spritely silver-haired little old lady shuffling happily down the stage, over-sized black handbag in tow. With her simple black dress, bright read scarf, and matching cat-eye reading glasses, she looked more like a card-carrying member of the Red Hat Society than the creator of the bleakly dystopian Republic of Gilead, and instantly I wanted her as my Canadian grandmother. She took full advantage of the giant screen projecting her
Don't let Pennsylvania violate women!
I usually make it a point not to post controversial content. However, in the light of this after the birth control panel with no women on it mess from last month, it’s been bothering me more than usual. Also, I’m going to here Margaret Atwood speak tonight, so I’ve got The Handmaid’s Tale and women’s rights fresh on my mind.
Personally, I hate abortion. I hate the concept of it, and I hate the fact that there will always be women who abort babies because they were irresponsible with their bodies and don’t want to deal with the consequences of their actions. I think there are far too many pre-pregnancy options available for women to use abortion as a method of birth control. However, I also realize that once we begin the downhill slope of taking reproductive rights away from women, we open the door to all manner of invasive and dehumanizing procedures, like the one currently making its way through Pennsylvania. If we start the process of outlawing abortion, we pave the way for a future where women who suffer through miscarriages (which, according to the Mayo clinic, can terminate up to a quarter of all pregnancies) could then fall under suspicion of committing a criminal act. This happens fairly frequently in countries with strict anti-abortion laws such as Chile, Nicaragua, and Malta, and it even tried to happen in Georgia last year, when a bill was proposed that ruled:
‘Prenatal murder’ means the intentional removal of a fetus from a woman with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus; provided, however, that if a physician makes a medically justified effort to save the lives of both the mother and the fetus and the fetus does not survive, such action shall not be prenatal murder. Such term does not include a naturally occurring expulsion of a fetus known medically as a ‘spontaneous abortion’ and popularly as a ‘miscarriage’so long as there is no human involvement whatsoever in the causation of such event.
If that bill had passed, that would have meant that if a woman could not PROVE that there was “no human involvement whatsoever” in her miscarriage, she could be tried and receive the death penalty. And this was proposed in our country. One year ago.
While the Pennsylvania law is not nearly as drastic, this type of legislation is all part of the same bigger picture aimed at leading us to away from, instead of towards, a society where women have truly equal rights.
The Handmaid’s Tale is the story of a society where women’s reproductive rights are controlled by the government in the name of religion and the “protection” of life. In the novel, the protagonist describes a memory of how swiftly the brainwashing took place as she looks on at the center where they now train “handmaids” to know their place:
… [it] used to be a movie theater, before. Students went there a lot; every spring they had a Humphrey Bogart festival, with Lauren Bacall or Katherine Hepburn, women on their own, making up their minds. They wore blouses with buttons down the front that suggested the possibilities of the word undone. These women could be undone; or not. They seemed to be able to choose, then. We were a society dying, said Aunt Lydia, of too much choice.
This has turned into a much longer rant than I intended, but it something I feel quite strongly about. Again, remember, I hate abortion; I have met and known women whose decisions to abort a baby left them emotionally scarred almost beyond repair. However, I believe that women need the freedom to make the decisions about their own bodies; even if those choices may seem like the wrong ones. That’s why, even though I hate abortion, I am still pro-choice.
(Source: silentlyjudgingyou)
