Life after Art

"What do I want my students to remember as they enter life after art? I want them to remember all the things I forgot."

Matt Appling

Life after Art, Introduction

     A good teacher understands the value of the right question and Matt Appling is a good teacher. He works with students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, but in his new book Life after Art, Matt poses questions we adults should be asking each other-

...what does the world (creation) say about God (the Creator)?

What does your work say about you?

What would I like my life to mean when it is over?

And the question that drives Matt as a teacher-

What can I do to make my work better?

     Beginning with the premise that all children are artists, Matt posits that the challenge is staying an artist. Filled with quotable nuggets like- "We are compelled to create" and "A little bit of beauty can change everything," Life after Art is a timely reminder that 'growing up' doesn't have to mean 'growing old,' a reminder that Jesus' words to a group of confused adults- "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" are still being spoken today. I've been chewing on those words for years.

     Life after Art is for the CEO, the homemaker, and it is for me, a fellow teacher who sometimes forgets to become like a child.

A few of the people Matt describes in Life after Art  

art is...

"Imagination implies that you are into territory

no one has ever been to before."

Sister Corita Kent

What happens when you ask a group of people to define art?

Here is what happened when I asked the group I work with-

Art Is... from Good Day on Vimeo.

Resurrection Day

But Jesus said,

"Why are you so frightened?

Why do you Doubt?

Look at my hands and my feet

and see who I am."

Luke 24:38,39

The hands and feet of Jesus reveal everything we need-

proof that the debt of our sin has been paid.

We have nothing to fear.

"We are the people of the Resurrection.

Let's be that."

Todd Komarnicki

laundromat Theology

Photograph by

Victor A. Jones, Jr.

"We're all in the same boat,

and we're all seasick."

G.K. Chesterton

     Laundromat chairs are functional, not comfortable. Maybe comfort is overrated. 

I just finished Tell Me A Story, Finding God (and Ourselves) Through Narrative by Scott McClellan. He mentions a group whose theology was 'formed in a season of abundance.' It's dangerous to frame a worldview from a comfortable chair. 

     This is Passover Week. Millions of people this week will retell a story of escape and a story of wilderness wandering. The wilderness is not comfortable. It's also dangerous to frame a worldview in the wilderness. 

     Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle, said this,

"Two things I asked of Thee, O' God,

do not refuse me before I die:

Keep deception and lies far from me,

Give me neither poverty nor riches;

feed me with the food that is my portion,

Lest I be full and deny Thee

and say, "Who is the Lord?"

Or lest I be in want and steal,

and profane the name of my God."

Proverbs 30:7-9

     In the 1st Century AD, a Jewish Pharisee turned tentmaker wrote these words to a group of people in the Mediterranean city of Philippi-

"I know how to get along with humble means,

and I also know how to live in prosperity;

in any and every circumstance

I have learned the secret of being filled

and going hungry,

both of having abundance and suffering need.

I can do all things through Him

who strengthens me."

Philippians 4:12,13

     And so, as I frame these thoughts from a laundromat chair I am grateful for this remembrance-

I have clothes.

Do Something Good

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil
is that good men do nothing."

Edmund Burke

Help End Human Trafficking

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Facts

• After drug dealing, human trafficking (both sex trafficking and trafficking for forced labor) is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest criminal industry in the world today, and it is the fastest growing. (U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services)
• Worldwide, there are nearly two million children in the commercial sex trade. (UNICEF)
• There are an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 children, women and men trafficked across international borders annually. (U.S. Department of State)
• Approximately 80 percent of human trafficking victims are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors. (U.S. Department of State)
• The total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion. (U.N.)
• Sex trafficking is an engine of the global AIDS epidemic. (U.S. Department of State) 
  
  
  More Facts

• As of December 2012, the CyberTipline has received more than1.7 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation since it was launched in 1998. Suspected child sexual exploitation can be reported to the CyberTipline at www.cybertipline.com or 1-800-843-5678.
• As of December 2012, NCMEC’s Child Victim Identification Program has reviewed and analyzed more than 80 million child pornography images since it was created in 2002.

Statistics from The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

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One Boy's Struggle

"ADD is an explanation for the way my mind works, but using it or thinking of it as an excuse is not helpful. Taking responsibility for who I am is infinitely more beneficial for me than sulking and feeling sorry for myself."

Bryan L. Hutchinson

One Boy's Struggle- A Memoir

     There is a recurring question that gnaws at me- "Are you paying attention?!?"  The question first came from my parents, pre-classroom confinement, remained a staple throughout my K-12 experience and persists to this present day. For decades now, I am the one asking the question. I am a teacher. I wish I had read Bryan Hutchinson's book before my first roomful of students stared back at me. In Bryan's words, 

"This book is an endeavor to help others understand the disorders called Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)." 

In reality, One Boy's Struggle is much more- the book provides an opportunity to hear Bryan's struggle in his own words. Anyone who struggles with feeling different can relate to Bryan when he writes:

"For a very long time I hated the way I was and wished I could be someone else: a good kid, who did exactly what he was told to do. I couldn't change no matter how desperately I tried."

Bryan tells his story is a manner that is painfully honest. As I read I remembered my own childhood teachers and, for the most part, they are not fond memories.  I can relate to this thought from Bryan-

"I felt that none of the teachers understood me, because they were too busy trying to teach me in a way that was right for them, but impossible for me."

I now know that the true teacher teaches people, not subjects.

One Boy's Struggle is the success story of Bryan Hutchinson, a misunderstood kid who overcame tremendous obstacles with the help of friends and doctors and should be read by everyone considering the field of education. 

Thomas Edison said, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Thank you Bryan for not giving up.

the Visitor

Remember to welcome strangers,

because some who have done this have welcomed

angels without knowing it.

Hebrews 13:2

NCV

      You never know when a memory might show up. Friday, in the middle of a lecture, I remembered something from my childhood. It was a Sunday night church service. I was bored. The pew was hard. My Mom wouldn't let me sleep. I was a kid who didn't want to be in church on Sunday night. I was missing the Wonderful World of Disney. 

     Then it happened. The sanctuary doors burst open with a bang, swinging into the doorframe like saloon doors on a Saturday night. And in staggered a homeless man. Disoriented and disheveled, he looked around the room as the preacher and congregation stared back. 'Finally,' I thought. 'Something interesting!'

     Time seemed to stop as the man made his way down the aisle. He plopped onto the front pew with a thud. The real sermon was about to begin. The preacher looked at his Bible and resumed. A few sentences later, the visitor shouted, "Amen, brother!" I think I heard someone gasp. Only the preacher was supposed to speak during the sermon- everybody knew that rule... everyone except Mr. Bartee, of course. He was our official 'AMENer, but tonight even Mr. Bartee was silent. The preacher glared. Again, he looked at his Bible and again, after a few sentences, the visitor shouted, "AMEN!" This time the preacher pointed his finger at the man and said, "I'm preaching this sermon. You listen!"

     It wasn't long until two men escorted the visitor from the church.

     I don't remember the sermon the preacher intended that night but I do remember the message I received. 

     And, I remember being sad to see the visitor leave.