The question for me as a teacher is not so much "What could have been?" as it is "What can be?" Brenda is a fourth grader at my elementary school. Her father ...

I reflected over my five years teaching at this Title I elementary school. "Who am I, what have I done, to become Teacher of the Year?" I asked myself. The announcement ...

In a world where the law of evolution is in effect, where there is survival of the fittest, where only the strong survive, there is an art in life where the smallest and most forgotten paint a picture of strug ...

"The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice," the old saying goes. I believe it and practice it in my classroom. During my first year as a second-grade te ...

Faithful God, help us find you in those who seem to be the smallest and most forgotten ones around us, for you said you would be here with us in them. Help us have faith. Dear God ...

Bralyan loves bugs. I met him during the first week of school as I conducted the standard assessment of how many words he could read per minute from a second-grade story. After the assessment, I gave him the c ...

When I became an elementary school teacher, one of my goals was to teach my students to sing the Preamble. "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union ..." ...

How was your last year? Wherever it fell in the 7-year farming cycle, please remember that your work is a seed in fallow ground that is bringing life to all people, regardless of color, nationality, socio-econ ...

I want my student to see that the things that make him different are the things that make him unique. Those traits can help him build a more humane world for all of us. But it's hard for a 7-year-old, or ...

Did I see my student's mother as an undocumented immigrant? I simply saw her as a mom who cares deeply for her children, just as I am a dad who cares deeply for mine. I simply saw her as a parent who trus ...

Carola and Marcelo Suarez-Orozco have written brilliantly and eloquently about children like her in their book Learning A New Land: Immigrant Students in American Society. They remind us how valuable and vulne ...

Couldn't quite get yourself together to make it to church this weekend? We've got you covered. Here for you edification and instruction, are three good lessons in video and audio form, from pastors T ...

Heard an exceptionally good sermon, homily, teaching, preaching, lesson or message in church this Sunday? Share it with us. Did you hear a particularly good sermon, homily, teac ...

Wicker was a meticulous reporter and a passionate advocate, so much so that he was sometimes criticized for overstepping the bounds of objectivity. I am one of those who still pre ...

In teaching my students the concept of a thesis the other day -- trying to convey that a thesis not just a sentence but rather an overarching statement of what the whole paper will be about -- it occu ...

My office has two overflowing bookshelves, with more books stacked on top and on the windowsill. But above my desk within easy reach is a small shelf. My office has two ove ...

I send many of my students to the Middle East as interns. In fact, Wheaton College has an entire program devoted to student short-term placement. I send many of my students to the ...

<p><a href="http://blog.sojo.net/2011/06/10/all-in-the-family-my-response-to-sojourners-article-about-the-family/" target="_self"></a>I very much appreciated all the good ...

I've been a Christian all of my life. My parents taught me that God loves everyone equally and that all people should be treated with dignity and respect. I've been a Ch ...

The rapture date and prediction has come and gone.</p> The rapture date and prediction has come and gone. By now, all of you have heard about the frenzy around 89-year-o ...

During my last year of college, my pastor lent me the book Living Gently in a Violent World, co-authored by Jean Vanier and Stanley Hauerwas. This book is an exploration on how followers of Christ ought to liv ...

The gospel according to the movie <em>True Grit</em> (2010) is as follows: "You must pay for everything in this world one way or another. The gospel according to ...

<p><a href="/sites/default/files/images/1100414-crossisrael.jpg" target="_self"></a>A friend of mine pointed out on his Facebook page that 45.9 percent of Americans blame ...

When President Obama addressed the American people and the world on the military operations in Libya, he spoke of a responsibility to act. When President Obama addressed the Ameri ...

<p><a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/rediscovering-values-for-lent/" target="_blank"></a></p> [ Editors' note ...

Last winter, in the flurry of Christmas parties and potlucks, I was called in for jury duty. Last winter, in the flurry of Christmas parties and potlucks, I was called in for jury ...

<p style="text-align: left;">As the holidays draw near, bright lights decorate the streets of the District of Columbia, carols are sung, cookies are baked, and stores fill up with anxious shopp ...

The political ads are finally off the air. (We can all give thanks for that!) But now there is a new wave of advertisements hitting all of us. Each one will give us a different reason to consume. ...

<p><a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/it-takes-a-movement/" target="_blank"></a></p> [ Editor's Note: Today is ...

Ah, the evils of "social justice"! Ah, the evils of "social justice"! Until recently, I bet most of you didn't realize how dangerous that concept is, and ...

<p></p> Many were rightly shocked by the statistical assessment of males in our society by Hanna Rosin's article, " The End of Men ", in the Ju ...

I've been getting into trouble lately. I've been getting into trouble lately. It all started when I asked myself the simple question, "What did the apostles preach ...

In the course of our <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/glenn-beck/">various responses</a> and<a href="http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.contents&amp;issue=soj1009& ...

The extremes now seem to dictate the political discourse -- extremists in caves who invoke their distorted brand of Muslim faith as they murder innocent people; and extremists in a Florida church w ...

This hymn can be a helpful one for churches seeking to support the relief efforts in Pakistan.</p> This hymn can be a helpful one for churches seeking to support the relief ...

<p><a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/reel-images-of-immigration/"></a></p> <p>[Editor's Note: This week we will have a series of reviews on films with a focus on im ...

Kindness, gentleness, love, peace, joy. Would you be more likely to describe these character traits as "masculine" or "feminine"? Kindness, gentleness, love, p ...

Once again, <a href="http://blog.sojo.net/tag/glenn-beck/">Glenn Beck</a> has waded into theological waters beyond his depth. Once again, Glenn Beck has ...

From what I hear, if you are taking a trip to the Holy Land you can visit the actual road from Jerusalem to modern-day Jericho, and local tour guides are happy, for the right price, to show you the ...

<p style="text-align: left;">Wednesday morning I listened to a House Judiciary Committee <a href="http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/294531-1">hearing on "The Ethical Imper ...

God gets at us in the funniest of ways. Just this week the Spirit stirred in me while reading an interview with one of my heroes, Vandana Shiva. The reporter from <em>YES! G ...

Several years ago, I visited a slave castle along the coast of Ghana, West Africa. This castle was one of the primary centers for shipping slaves from Africa to the New World. Sev ...

It appears that BP has decided it needs tips from the Spin Master to protect its thoroughly corroded reputation in the U.S. No, they haven't hired Republican strategist Frank Luntz. ...

<strong> </strong></p> The Texas School Board has approved controversial new social studies standards . Some on the board appear more intent on imme ...

Utopia. It is the place that is no place. It is the reality that does not yet exist. It is the political economy that has no politics or economics. Yet. A utopian vision is important. ...

I thought Glenn Beck must have moved on to other things, but the other night, he went back to his attack on social justice churches. This time the issue was climate change.</p> ...

<p>I had the recent pleasure of seeing Max McLean's deliciously wicked portrayal of Screwtape in <a href="http://www.fpatheatre.com/screwtape/">The Screwtape Letters</a> curren ...

Arizona's lawmakers just keep finding ways to transform their xenophobia into law. First, they questioned whether Martin Luther King Jr. Day was a legitimate holiday. Arizona ...

<strong>8:00 a.m.</strong> 8:00 a.m. Arizona is a great state. And Arizona is a great state. And they are on the right track with the law they passed. Y ...

One of the best gifts I received when I finished grad school was a book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805086587?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=sojo_blog-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1 ...