Three mitigating circumstances

It’s been an important part of the morning routine for a long time now. From the stairway a melody from a Praise and Worship song wafts in just for a few seconds, sung energetically if poorly, in God knows what language - whenever the sixth grade teacher is passing by. Later, on the playground, everyone is running and jumping and trying to slap at something. Instead of calming the kids down, the 6th grade teacher will be getting them all excited, over nothing in particular.

Seems like it shouldn’t be that way in this town. Here, electricity is a sometimes thing, (making refrigerators a good place for food to rot); here, well water needs to be pumped into a high tank, or there are no showers, no cooking and no washing; here, shopping is a daily international relations conundrum; here there are dust storms and suicide bombers, corrupt cops and criminals posing as corrupt cops. Here, the only traffic law is not to blow yourself up, and the penalty for doing that is supposed to be a ticket to paradise. That sixth grade teaching guy must be on some kind of pollyanna high.

There are three somewhat mitigating circumstances to be offered in my defense. First, my wife and I are in between honeymoons. Again. Yes, we loved each other on the first one, but as we enjoy more time together it just keeps getting better and better. Hour by hour, we look forward to any amount of precious time we can manage to be together. Any joy we share (there have been a few) brings us closer and any loss we share (there are many) brings us closer even more quickly. Home is a good place to be.

Second, I love my work. Here there is such a clarion call to deeply teach the process of logical critical thought. The sixth graders are eager to form their own conceptual maps for the first time in their lives. As those inquiry skills come alive now, they will be difficult, if not impossible to extinguish later. If they are extinguished at this age it will be almost impossible to nurture them back to life later on. They come ready to laugh and expecting to learn. Most of their families have earned my deep respect. They have responded to a call, at considerable risk, to come to a very special place at a very special time. Work is a good place to be.

Third, the world is transforming around me. An incredible metamorphosis has already occurred here between 2001 and 2007; it will likely be even more strikingly different in 2014. Visitors keep dropping by and each one seems hungry with a vision to live out something new. A team of celestial guards hovers above the fence around our house. Here reigns an atmosphere of peace; for many, ducking into our home is like taking a short break from the stark temporal realities of planet earth. There is conceptual space to ponder things as they might be, as they could be, as they should be. When we can’t spend time alone together, we are involved in things of significance, things that make a difference. It is a good feeling, one that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning.

Let the so called Talibs rage in ignorance against Truth. Dust, whether blown in by God or kicked in by man, does not dampen the joy of loving your wife, loving your work and loving your community.