God’sPolitics: Our Dark Night

Reprint from Sojourner’s blog

They say at some point in their lives great leaders experience a “dark night of the soul,” or a period in life when your feet, knees, and face scrape and stick to the proverbial bottom. It is a time when even your soul feels forsaken. Ultimately, the dark night is not about the suffering that is inflicted from outside oneself, even though that could trigger it. It is about the existential suffering rooted from within. St. John of the Cross, the 16th century Carmelite priest, described it as a confrontation, or a healing and process of purification of what lies within on the journey toward union with God.

Posted by Sue Kirby on 08/11/11  •  Permalink  •  Comments 1   •  

Interventions of Love

I recently spoke with Rev. Anita Farber-Robertson and Director of Religious Education Jill Hall of First Parish Cohasset about their month-long (February 2011) focus on bullying. They worked with the children in RE while while adults explored that theme in their worship services. It touched me with it’s emphasis on courage and love in response to cruelty and violence.

Posted by Sue Kirby on 08/09/11  •  Permalink  •  Comments 1   •  

The Notion: the Divisive Teacher-Quality Debate

Last weekend, two very different speeches on the future of the teaching profession made news.

The first was from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who appeared Friday before the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, the organization that runs the elite National Board certification process for teachers. The United States must follow the example of the nations that out-perform us educationally, Duncan said, and begin to recruit most of our public school teachers from the top thirds of their college classes. To do this, he argued, we will need to raise average starting salaries from $30,00 to $60,000 and average salary caps from $70,000 to $150,000.

Posted by Sue Kirby on 08/04/11  •  Permalink  •  Comments 1   •