Thoughts on the world of open source
I love this address by a congressman with moxie. Dennis Kucinich has long been a favorite of mine. Like me he is not afraid to stand for something. Thank you Congressman Kucinich for a moving speech full of logic instead of rhetoric and delivered with passion.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2Q52PwFVgE&t=34s]
Tomorrow I will be attending a conference on learning. The name of the conference is the “IT Conference.” It means the, “Innovative Teaching Conference.” I’m sure there will be lots of innovators there. I’m going there to listen and learn. That will be my focus to keep an open mind. Learning requires an open mind. Some say the mind works best when it is open like a parachute. Attending conferences is a way for me to keep it green. Keeping it green means being open. All the brainpower in the world is really useless without an open mind. I’m hoping to learn more about project based learning and about iPad integration in classrooms. It will be great too to see so many friends whom I follow on Twitter and Facebook too. I hope I’ll have some new insights by this time tomorrow night.
I’m at a meeting in the Reilly Center at St. Bonaventure University. In the room on the wall facing me is the San Damiano cross. It is emblematic of Franciscans everywhere. Tonight it’s more poignant because I’m more focused on it. I’ve been in this room many times but in looking at the cross tonight it looks more inviting, more inclusive than ever. Franciscans are known for their hospitality and the San Damiano cross has that spirit about it. Many times religion and dogma in particular can divide us but Franciscans make it their habit to welcome everyone no matter what your spiritual direction. That hospitality can be a powerful force for conversion.
Today marks th 38th anniversary of my Dad’s death. I’ve written about it before and each time there is a different reflection for me. I’m in Arcade, NY getting my oil changed. On my way I passed the cemetery where his remains rest. On my way here I called my own son to say hello and tell him that I loved him. If there is one thing I learned in the last 38 years it is the importance of telling your children that you love them. That’s more important than anything you could ever give them. I have no doubt that Dad loved me but it was a sentiment he didn’t often express. His gift to me, my wife and children has been the legacy of letting others know that you love them. Do it often! I love you Dad and I still miss you. So many great memories. I hope you tell someone that you love them today.
It’s been incredibly hot and essentially no rain here where I live and it’s gotten me to pondering what it means. I’m not inclined to think that God or the Gods are punishing us for a misdeed. The earth may be reacting to fossil fuel emissions and the climate this summer has certainly changed, but not sure what that means for the long term. None of us can be sure what the future brings or even if there is a future. Nonetheless times like this do make me wonder what the future holds. Last week I attended a seminar for principals and supervisors and it was basically how to insure that teachers are teaching and that students are learning. Looking back over my own life I see what a crap shoot that really is. Sometimes it has taken years to learn simple lessons and then other learning is accomplished relatively quickly. Addition, multiplication, and division facts that I learned in primary school are still with me as are parts of the Krebs cycle that I learned in high school and later re-learned in college. I can still remember Polonius’ advice to Laertes which we were forced to memorize in high school English. I have a talent for remembering strings of numbers and I never realized I had that talent until I took a battery test prior to entering the US Navy. That skill serves me well in a field where I need to remember TCP/IP addresses and strings. I even learned how to make change in my head when I was a bartender over thirty years ago and I am still good at that skill. I find myself using it when I’m checking out at the grocery/convenience store and watching the clerk make change. What then are the skills that schools ought to emphasize that will serve students well?
Is it really necessary to learn how to use an iPad or more useful to learn how to express oneself regardless of technique? Is painting with a brush or doodling with a pencil just a beneficial with an inexpensive device as it is with an iPad? How do we encourage creativity and entrepreneurial skills? In a day of standardized testing how do we really prepare students for the future. Is socialization one of the most important skills of schooling and do how can we foster a more thoughtful school that encourages community?
Can charter schools provide public education/educators/students with a more authentic choice or do they degrade from the overall process? I’ve been pondering these ideas. I’m interested in how we can create community and sustainability in schools. How can that best be accomplished? My own background of mixed private and public education has caused me to question if it’s possible to create a school where learning in celebrated, people are educated and transformed and a culture is consecrated as it were. If you’ve got thoughts along those lines I’d love to hear from you. Peace-Shalom-Salaam!
I’ve been pondering a lot lately. What do I do? Where do I go? Who or what do I serve. I have a heart to help at risk students and how do I do that best. I stopped by the chapel at St. Bonaventure University today and took this photo. It’s one of my favorites. Lady Poverty with children clinging to her for protection. I’m sitting in yet another quiet chapel listening with the ear of my heart.
After a lovely trip through Letchworth Park I made it to Abbey of the Genesee. I haven’t been here in awhile. I was afraid I tarried too long in the state park, but pleasantly I made it in time to get some gifts in the store. I purchased four Monks Brownies and two packages of Monks oatmeal raisin cookies. A fellow visitor asked if the cookies were good. I told her I had never had anything bad here. She chuckled at my answer. I am sitting in the chapel now before the sanctuary light. The Blessed Sacrament is nearby and Our Lady of the Genesee is central to the altar too. Earlier this week at a workshop I attended we were asked where would we go if money were not an object. I said I’d go to Jerusalem and spend a week on retreat in the Garden of Gethsemane. This chapel is Getsemane today. I’m grateful to be here in the silence. It is here in this silence that I feel close God. I cannot see him but I can hear with the ear of my heart. I love God and this place.
I stand perhaps a couple hundred feet above the Genesee River as it winds it’s way through the gorge that is central to Letchworth Park. I come here often because of the peaceful surroundings that are punctuated with lovely vistas like this one. It is quiet except for the distant roar of falling water from the Middle Falls pictured above. It is easy to imagine myself here a couple hundred years earlier as early settlers and Native Americans were drawn here too. There is peace and beauty here. It is the incarnation easily expressed and viewed. I come here often, sometimes in the cold stillness of winter. Today it’s warm and it’s great to return again to sit next to my friend sister water as she winds her way north through this picturesque canyon.
Tonight I sit in Holy Peace Chapel with others seeking solitude and community. This is my first opportunity for an evening of peaceful re-creation here at Mt. Irenaeus this summer. I came tonight with a heart full of questions longing for answers. Earlier today I gathered on the campus of St. Bonaventure University to reflect on one if Parker Palmer’s books. Tonight’s theme is about transformation. Will I be transformed tonight or even this summer? Have I been transformed at St. Bonaventure? Yes, and that is what invited me here tonight.
Today I received an email message that was a wolf in sheeps clothing. A hateful message masquerading as a national security issue. I replied by asking the person not to send anymore of these missives. I welcomed uplifting messages but asked to be excluded from the prejudicial messages. I received a response that excused the message as coming from an ex-military and “strong” Christian.
Hatred is anathema to the message of Christ and it’s an un-American value too. Perhaps my early exposure to religious and racial intolerance has sensitized me to these sorts of messages. I hope that we can move toward a more inclusive society and country. We are all members of the same human family despite our apparent differences. It is paradoxically our differences that make us stronger as a country and as a society.