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Published: January 20th 2009
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Welcome
This one is for Dad. Welcome to Comayagua, Lafarge. In an effort to keep my travel blog subscribers interested I am now posting another blog. It has been eleven days since my last and I am, once again, sorry for the delay. Life in a slow moving Central American country can get pretty busy.
Just recently I went to visit Karina's uncles in Tegus. Their families both share a house in a smaller neighborhood in the outskirts of the capital city. It was nice to get to know the city a bit more. I only know a few malls in Tegus, and I never have the chance to wander around. When you live in a place like this, and you are given the chance to explore a new place rather than just run errands, you typically choose the latter. I always tell myself, "Hey I live here, I can just go see it some other time," and I go about my business.
I usually end up going to the mall, because malls in Honduras have everything I need. When I lived in the USA I tended to stay out of malls. I worked in Cheektawaga so I had a lot of exposure to the over franchised consumer enticing
Amor
Karina environment it provided. On my way home from work I would pass Target, Wal*Mart, K-Mart, the Galleria, and the list goes on. Malls are a dime a dozen in the US. But here in Honduras malls are pretty nice. In fact they are nicer than any mall I have ever been to in the USA. Malls are the thing, here in Honduras, so they tend to put a lot of money into their development. They have fountains, clowns, playgrounds, special promotions and bla bla bla... Not to mention the arcades are out of this world.
However, this time I spent most of the weekend in the streets, with the people. Karina and I went looking for some wedding bands and discovered that we have two very distinctly different styles. She is looking for something a little more (what she calls) interesting. I would call it tacky, luckily I don't know how to say "tacky" in Spanish. I tend to lean towards rings with (what I would call) a simple elegance. Karina would call this elegance "boring." Luckily we were able to come to a compromise. I told Karina that she should just pick out the ring that she wants
Happy
My new hat looks so good. and I'll pay for it. I later looked up the word "compromise" in my dictionary and it's definition doesn't fit our situation. I guess I need to buy a dictionary for married men to really find the true meaning of the word.
In all seriousness, Karina and I had a butt load of fun this last weekend. She took me to a place called Taco Mex. I ordered a sandwich that was out of this world. The meat was juicy and tender and the bread was fresh and chewy. I was completely satisfied. What made the weekend even better, Karina took me to a two story bookstore and I was able to find a few books in English. I bought a couple used books and a new copy of Truman Capote's novel, "Other Voices, Other Rooms." I'm about half way through it right now and I am fully enjoying it.
Almost as much as I am enjoying, what the locals refer to as, a cold front. I call it "a less hot front," but the term has yet to stick with the townsfolk. It was in the mid 60's today and my students came to school wearing sweatshirts
What?
What... as in, what homework? again. Why they bundle up in warm weather, I will never truly understand. However, the change in weather has not effected the discipline what so ever. In fact just today one of my more blatantly disrespectful students set off a stink bomb in class and just last week another brought firecrackers to English.
There is some verse in the Bible about reaping the seeds that you sow. I somehow feel like the seeds I planted long, long ago are just now beginning to sprout. I could have sworn that my seeds weren't as malicious as these plants are turning out to be, but maybe I misread the bag at the greenhouse.
Or perhaps I am no longer seeing this garden from a landscapers point of view. I am, in fact, the client; standing on the back porch wincing at the sight of each and every weed as they strangle the life out of my beautiful perennials.
Unfortunately we don't remove the weeds at the root, here at El Alba. Weeds pay to be in the garden too, so whether dandelion or tiger lily, everyone must stay. Oh you can rip the weeds off at ground level and
Grrr
This is his good side. toss them into the compost heap, but they always sprout right back up in the driest most dead of soil on the edge of the garden. Each one just waiting for the next fat little bumble bee to brush up against its coarse and offensive leaves. Fresh and drunk off the day's pollen the bee never notices the act and therefore remains ignorant to its crime against the garden.
At times the world is so sad.
But there is always a saving grace and it is called 2:00 PM. On days like today I tend to move 2:00 to 1:50 and I let them all out early. It never matters to them whether this action is a reward for good behavior or just salvation from a potential dry eraser related homicide. They just run out the front door skipping and cheering as if not a care in the world could ever enter their soft little Grey minds. I can't blame them, because once that last class is over I'm doing the same... minus the skipping.
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Eric Chaffee
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Imitating the Teacher
Hi Clint, 'Sowing what you reap' is St Paul's version of Christian karma -- what goes around comes around. A careful look at what Jesus taught on this deep, deep subject is worthwhile. I don't want to bore you or your readers with a sermon, but then, when was Jesus ever boring? So I'll post his own words here from his parable of the 'tares and the wheat' from Matthew 13 -- actually, I'll go better by posting the entire chapter, as it also contains the parable of the seeds planted in various places, and a few other short parables, too. (I've posted from The Message translation, but I've also provided a link so readers can see it rendered in any version they might prefer, including several Spanish translations, by simply going to the chapter. Gateway has over 100 versions online.) Source: http://www.biblegateway.com/ HERE's JESUS (as reported by Matthew) --- Matthew 13 A Harvest Story 1-3 At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. 3-8"What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. 9"Are you listening to this? Really listening?" Why Tell Stories? 10The disciples came up and asked, "Why do you tell stories?" 11-15He replied, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn't been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That's why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it. I don't want Isaiah's forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don't hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don't see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them. 16-17"But you have God-blessed eyeseyes that see! And God-blessed earsears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance. The Meaning of the Harvest Story 18-19"Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn't take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person's heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road. 20-21"The seed cast in the gravelthis is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it. 22"The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it. 23"The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams." 24-26He told another story. "God's kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too. 27"The farmhands came to the farmer and said, 'Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn't it? Where did these thistles come from?' 28"He answered, 'Some enemy did this.' "The farmhands asked, 'Should we weed out the thistles?' 29-30"He said, 'No, if you weed the thistles, you'll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I'll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.'" 31-32Another story. "God's kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it." 33Another story. "God's kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley breadand waits while the dough rises." 34-35All Jesus did that day was tell storiesa long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy: I will open my mouth and tell stories; I will bring out into the open things hidden since the world's first day. The Curtain of History 36Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house. His disciples came in and said, "Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field." 37-39So he explained. "The farmer who sows the pure seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the pure seeds are subjects of the kingdom, the thistles are subjects of the Devil, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, the curtain of history. The harvest hands are angels. 40-43"The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act. The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father. "Are you listening to this? Really listening? 44"God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstaticwhat a find!and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field. 45-46"Or, God's kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it. 47-50"Or, God's kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That's how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull the bad fish and throw them in the garbage. There will be a lot of desperate complaining, but it won't do any good." 51Jesus asked, "Are you starting to get a handle on all this?" They answered, "Yes." 52He said, "Then you see how every student well-trained in God's kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it." 53-57When Jesus finished telling these stories, he left there, returned to his hometown, and gave a lecture in the meetinghouse. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. "We had no idea he was this good!" they said. "How did he get so wise, get such ability?" But in the next breath they were cutting him down: "We've known him since he was a kid; he's the carpenter's son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?" They got their noses all out of joint. 58But Jesus said, "A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family." He didn't do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference. Teaching maturity requires the patience of God! (The student's tuition is high, and the teacher's wages are paltry; and it will cost you your life. But there is no better Employer on the planet or in the cosmos.) God bless you and your students. "God with us!" (and in us). I would have enjoyed teaching with you this semester. ~eric.