Ringing Like a Bell

Since school has been out, I've been catching up on all the little things I've put off during the year. One of those things, besides resting and going to the dentist, is listening to all the podcasts I've missed in the last few months. One of my favorites is the Freakonomics podcast. The subtitle is "The Hidden Side of Everything." So if you like thinking about off-beat things in a weird way, let me recommend it. The Stevens (Levitt and Dubner) do a lot of talking about unintended consequences, and last week I listened to one called " The Cobra Effect ." Here's a quote: MEHROTRA : So the “cobra effect” refers to a scheme in colonial India where the British governor, or whoever, the person in charge in Delhi, wanted to rid Delhi of cobras. Apparently in his opinion there were too many cobras in Delhi. So he had the bounty placed on cobras. And he expected this would solve the problem. But the population in Delhi, at least some of it, responded by f...

Have you ever been to the aviary at the zoo? It is one of my favorite places. You walk into this artificial tropical dome fulled with plants and stunningly beautiful birds, and there's no barrier between you and the loveliness. You're allowed to walk through there and drink in the peace. There's also a sort of noisy silence inside the aviary. I say that because it isn't quiet in there at all, but there's a still, almost holy feeling when you step inside.  You can spend as much time in there as you'd like, listening to the exotic calls of unseen birds and waiting to catch a glimpse of the ones who decide to show themselves.       I'm reminded of the aviary on Sunday mornings when my ladies' Bible class meets. On some mornings, every woman wears a different color, and every week I'm struck my by the different beauties each woman brings. One brings her practical love for serving others. One grows roses. Another brings her particular love ...

Let's just say that Wednesday was not my finest hour. On Tuesday afternoon, I and the other tenth grade English teachers found out that we needed to go through all the preliminary information for the PSAT and the PLAN with our students, the next day . Wednesday morning I was doing great. I have planning first thing in the morning, so I floated around making copies, entering grades, and chatting with other teachers. I knew filling in all the background information would be a little boring, but I figured my students would welcome a break from the grueling schedule of reading, writing, and grammar we've been doing every day. I wasn't concerned at all. About thirty minutes into my first class, the entire day crashed right into the toilet. Some students found the process bewildering and needed one-on-one coaching to get it done. Meanwhile the other students were bored, so they started doing what teens do. I learned long ago that teenagers are reactive; they say and do ...

For the last couple of days, I have written about what philosophers and theologians call "The Problem of Evil." In other words, "If God is good, why do bad things happen?"  I hope you're still with me, even if you disagree with the things I've said because there's a little more I want to share with you about the bad things that happen in this world. Part Three: Evil and the Fallen Creation If you've read what I've written in the last two days, you know that only God can declare things right or wrong and that sometimes we suffer from choices others make. But what about the rest? What about natural disasters and other things that aren't as easy to explain?     I'd like to talk about nature first; nature is powerful. In my short lifetime the earth has experienced earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, hurricanes, and tornadoes -- I'm sure I've left something out. The bottom line is that nature can kill. Nature can destroy....

Yesterday I started to explain my answer to the age old question, "If God is good, why do bad things happen?" Just to review -- making judgments about whether things are "good" or "bad" is a little bit more than we can do as limited human beings. Now you're probably still thinking, "And? What about the other stuff?" You're right. Things that seem bad to us can end up actually being for some greater good, but what about all the rest? If God still does designate things as "bad," what about those things? Why doesn't God just put a stop to them?  God doesn't stop some bad things from happening because of freewill. Part Two: Freewill    There I am in the kitchen washing the dishes after I've prepared a meal and taught all day. I'm tired. I want for my husband to swoop in and say, "Oh sweetheart, let me do those dishes. I want to do them for you because I love you so much." This never happens, by ...

All you have to do is check out your favorite news source. Bad things happen. Every day . Hurricane Issac brings flooding to people who were just beginning to recover from Hurricane Katrina. When I've seen these people, people living close to my own hometown, being interviewed on the news, my heart goes out to them. They are so tired and sad. Incidences of  innocent people being killed in public places are becoming more and more frequent. Many people are afraid to go to work, school, and especially church. A few years ago one of my students was sitting in my class concealing a machete in his hoodie pocket. I thought we were all just sitting there practicing writing skills. I was wrong. Thankfully no one was hurt, and I can honestly say I feel relatively safe at my school. However public school just hasn't been the same since Columbine. Friends are diagnosed with cancer, children die, and millions of people live in poverty around the globe. As a Christian I hear this...