Chalk one up for Jesus...?

I would like to preface this entry by saying that I know it will tick some of you off. And I’m sorry. Kind of. I’m still working out why this bothers me so much and maybe by the end of my entry I’ll know the answer… feedback is welcome.

A couple weeks ago I watched somewhat disinterestedly as 2 very different styles of singers waited to find out which of them was the next American Idol. I liked both Adam and Kris, along with several other contestants, and didn’t care who won as long as it wasn’t Gokey. Leading up to the finale, all the articles I read in entertainment magazines or online were drawing the final showdown as if it would be between Adam and Gokey, and staging it as Gay America vs. Bible Thumpers. Apparently there are pictures online of Adam kissing boys… who knows, I didn’t look. Because I don’t care. And Danny Gokey was a music minister or something. I read one article that was incredibly pretentious about how Adam should come out of the closet and win the culture war for the gay community and how all their hopes and dreams are pinned on him winning American Idol and he’s doing such a disservice by not owning the fact that he’s gay. And if he didn’t come out, then even if he was the next American Idol, those bigoted Bible thumpers WIN. And if you’re gay, and not voting for Adam, then you are betraying all your gay friends, even if you like the other guy’s singing voice better. Danny got voted out, to my delight, during the semi finals and it was Adam vs. Kris. After Kris won, I found out that Kris was a Christian too. I had no idea until someone I know was horrified that a friend of mine and I liked Adam Lambert, when the other guy was a Christian and that’s who I should have been supporting, just because he was a Christian. Now the other side (my team, if you will) was putting this in terms of this being a victory for Christianity in America. I read an interview with Kris post-win asking him about this cultural war and how it affected him and Adam. His response was to point out that it’s stupid to act like they can’t be friends or genuinely happy for each other. They’re both going to have recording contracts and make lots of money.

So here’s the deal. I get that it’s exciting when fellow Christians meet with some level of success. But it’s really stupid for either side to act like this is some kind of reflection of the moral state of America, or that somehow Jesus is more in control because a Christian won a singing contest. Or that it’s a failure for gay rights that Adam didn’t come out publicly OR win the show. I think that both sides are misguided for thinking that a vote for their guy was somehow doing something to take a stand for their side. Does either side really think that the gay community ISN’T involved in the entertainment industry already? Do gays not have the right to live in peace since Adam lost? Was Jesus really up in heaven sweating the outcome of this season’s American Idol? I think so many people want to think that Kris winning is somehow a moral victory for Christianity because by voting they had a part in it, without actually having to take a stand. It’s lazy and it feels good. They just get to sit in their living room, call Adam a queer, and feel like they’re standing up for the Kingdom by not voting for him. It’s much easier than actually getting to know someone who is desperately lost, learning the balance between loving a sinner and hating their sin, respecting their right as an American to do pretty much whatever they want, while holding fast to the fact that as a creation of God, they should not do whatever they want (and neither should we.) I hope Adam and Kris are both successful. They’re both talented. They both worked hard. While homosexuality is very clearly a condemned behavior scripturally, loving your enemies is very clearly commanded. I hate to even use that word, but both sides have drawn those lines over a stupid TV show. So, if you were anti Adam because he may or may not have kissed a boy… pray for him. Do something. Let’s not be like the world, pretending like voting on a reality show means anything.

The Magic of Old

With the Magic not stinking it up this year, there are a lot of fans with renewed interest in them. I was just talking to a friend about that. I went to some games last year and I'll always say I'm a Magic fan, but it hasn't been as exciting as it has been this year. It feels a little bandwagonish but it's not. Then I got to talking with my husband about how the NBA has changed. Yeah there were superstars back in the day but it was still about the team.

I've been going to Magic games since our coach was Matt Guokas, and our line up was guys like Terry Catledge, Dennis Scott, Jeff Turner, Scott Skiles, and Nick Anderson. Winning a game by any margin was an accomplishment. But it was still fun. I would eat Skittles and cheer my little heart out for those guys. Stuff would come out and get the crowd pumped, the Fat Guy would run around the O-rena with his signs, drenched in sweat and team spirit. Those were the days.

Then we got Shaq. Championship hopes were real... but he didn't get a ring and he left. Then we got Anfernee Hardaway. Same deal. Tracey McGrady. Same deal.

Back then, when I was munching Skittles and watching my beloved Magic lose pretty much every game, the atmosphere was different in the NBA. The superstars were heroes, not tatted up thugs. Larry Bird and the Celtics, Michael Jordan and the Bulls, Karl Malone and the Jazz, David Robinson and the Spurs, Charles Barkley and the Suns. The key there is "and the." That seems to be lacking these days. Take the Bulls. You took away Michael Jordan, you still had Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Steve Kerr (who used to be with us and stunk, then went to Chicago and was amazing.) You had a TEAM worth watching.

Today, we have, for instance, LeBron James. Kobe Bryant. Not "and the Cavs" or "and the Lakers." Just the one guy, trying to get his championship ring and being a brat if they don't get it. Take away LeBron, what do you have? Floppy haired whiney guys and thugs. (Ok, Mo isn't terrible, but still...) But look at the Magic. Take away Dwight Howard, and what do you have? Pietrus. Turkoglu. Lewis. A TEAM worth watching and supporting. So whether they win big or blow it, next season should find me in the stands, eating Skittles and cheering for my guys. See you there.

oh baby

I just read that since I'm 37 weeks my baby could come any day now. Last week someone told me that stress can bring on labor, just in time for me to collect and try to grade 94 research papers. William is praying that at my doctor's appointment today we will find that I'm dilated; my boss is praying that I won't go until June 2, 2:00 when our last teacher workday is done. As long as the research papers are graded I'm up for anything. Everybody has an opinion on when I'm gonna pop. Sometimes it's like being in a fishbowl but it's been fun. My only other goal before Edward makes his debut is to blog about the overwhelming love and support we have had, even from people we don't know.

In all the baby talk I've found myself discussing things I never thought I would with others, though sometimes I remind myself to draw a line. Case in point: last week I had my check up in the morning and went back to work in the afternoon. Everyone who saw me asked how it went. My question in my head in response was always, "well that depends how much you really want to know about my cervix." So there we go. I have another doctor appointment this afternoon. I'll keep you posted.

poetry in motion

I am currently having my 7th and 8th graders working on some of my favorite assignments for them in poetry. The seventh graders are entering the wonderful world of modern poetry through e. e. cummings, studying “next to of course god america i.” In groups they are coming up with arguments on the side that the poem is pro-America and pro-war and then the flip side, that it is anti-America and anti-war. The next step is a debate. They don’t know what side they are arguing til the day of. Last year it was one of the most memorable and engaging classes we had all year, which is much to the credit of the caliber of student I am privileged to teach. I’m excited for it again this year. My 8th graders just studied Langston Hughes’ “Theme for English B.” We talked about his life, how this poem is autobiographical, and what it means to define oneself. Today, they are actually dealing with that question on paper. Last year I got some amazing papers in terms of honesty, thoughtfulness, and fair dealing with the question. I have read some of this year’s answers already and am equally impressed. One irony is that some of the students are asking each other to help define themselves. Telling, I think. That most of these students are willing to deal thoughtfully with such a hard question in middle school is, to me, hope for the future. I hope they don’t lose the willingness to be introspective and honest, and I hope that other people challenge them to rise to what I know they are capable of.

e.e. cummings

"next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh
say can you see by the dawn's early my
country tis of centuries come and go
and are no more what of it we should worry
in every language even deafanddumb
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-
iful than these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"

He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water


THEME FOR ENGLISH B

By Langston Hughes

The instructor said,
Go home and write
a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you---
Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it's that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harlem
through a park, then I cross St. Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, Seventh, and I come to the Y,
the Harlem Branch Y, where I take the elevator
up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It's not easy to know what is true for you or me
at twenty-two, my age. But I guess I'm what
I feel and see and hear, Harlem, I hear you:
hear you, hear me---we two---you, me, talk on this page.
(I hear New York too.) Me---who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records---Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn't make me NOT like
the same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be
a part of you, instructor.
You are white---
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.
That's American.
Sometimes perhaps you don't want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that's true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me---
although you're older---and white---
and somewhat more free.

This is my page for English B.