The Ultimate Act of Free Will.

Faith requires… uh, faith. That is, faith does not require evidence. You don’t have to believe in gravity, or colors, or the elements. But some things do require faith precisely because they cannot be proven. This is difficult. Why would anyone want to believe in something that can’t be proven? Why not believe in Santa Claus as well? That is kind of the point. Almost. You don’t have to believe. But you can choose to believe. Which is infinitely more difficult.

What if the ultimate act of free will is to willfully surrender my will? How difficult! My intellect and ego, indeed my body, resist so firmly that it becomes an impossible task. The ultimate act.

What if faith is good, even necessary?

Necessary? For what? Well, for everything. But mainly for relationship with God. And yourself. And others.

But this is not a treatise on faith. This is about the ultimate act of free will. What would happen if I surrendered by intellect to God? What would that look like?

What if I surrendered my will to God? What would that look like? How would I live and talk and move?

A Few Small Repairs

• Eat better, Eat less, Exercise more (in the early a.m.)
  • Alternate: running, curls / Push-up, sit-ups
• Read in evening
• Remember: “The days are long, but the years are short”
• “What you do everyday matter more than what you do once in a while.”
• “Most decisions don’t require extensive research.”
• NOW
• Simplify, focus, say “No”
• Put my wife and girls first

Free will. Circumstance. Misc

Will.

Choosing eternal destiny is ultimate power. The freedom to, and ability to, choose all own actions is as much omnipotence a being can be granted within a world.

My thoughts re: circumstances???

What were my thoughts this morning re: fate, God???

My thoughts re: teaching initiative. Teaching process.

My thoughts re: become a disciple, “Choose a friend, make a teacher.” (Torah), choose/make a mentor, do not wait and hope that someone will find you.
examples:

My thoughts re: talks with my children. Explain life, sin, the other kids at school, bullies, money, sex, relationship, learning,

Things people believe

…even when painful or illogical.

Putting rings around their necks in AFrica

In the Middle East, sons are revered, and mothers and sisters not only go along with this but believe it and fight for it. Mothers avenge the loss of a son but not a daughter. Sisters treat the brother as an authority, and later, they become servants to their husbands.

I was thinking about one such primitive belief yesterday…?
These are cultural and religious. Indoctrinated.

Sharpen Class

Focus on the lesson and assignment.
Schedule time for digressions. Ie: part of every Friday
Model the model in Schmoker

for Research Project:
show examples of each piece and completed projects:
* show these examples regularly
outline
bibliography
essay draft
final essay
notebook

Have presentation calendar at the beginning (so students have the goal in sight)

Know what they need to know. Work toward that end.
Model the enthusiasm and purpose of Charles Grimes at Brightstorm.
The passion, seriousness, and knowledge of Jeffery Sachs.
The humor, knowledge, and leadership of Ken Robinson, Paul Collier,
The organization, work-ethic, and enthusiasm or Drew Moneke,

“Choice is the easiest thing you can do for personalization.”

Success

Success comes by:

• Circumstance
• Confidence. Spirit
• Obsession, Single mindedness. 10,000 hours
• —Early. Beginning obsessing young
• Willingness to make mistakes
• Talent + Motivation = excellence

Giant Timelines to Make

Make giant chart of history of video game design

Make giant chart of child indoctrination

historical timeline

The Indoctrination of Children

http://www.pmw.org.il/tv%20part1.html

http://wizbangblog.com/content/2008/09/30/the-indoctrination-of-children-begins.php

1984, George Orwell. “It was always the women and children.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7767193.stm

“Muslim children in India shout anti-Pakistan slogans as they burn an
effigy of Pakistan’s spy service, the ISI, during a protest against
last week’s Mumbai attacks.”

The adults are behind the children. And the children are wild with emotion, in this case, rage.

I wonder how many photos like this could be found?

http://unclemeat.wordpress.com/2007/08/05/childrens-entertainment-in-iran/

http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200807/1215611993.html

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/children-indoctrination/1863757737

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenny-block/indoctrinate-your-childre_b_98397.html

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/letters/indoctrination-of-children-1327477.html

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“City of God” film.

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http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/hitleryouth/hj-timeline.htm

Hitler Youth

Jungvolk Oath
(taken by ten-year-old boys on first entering the Hitler
Youth)

“In the presence of this blood banner which represents our Führer,
I swear to devote all my energies and my strength to the saviour of our
country, Adolf Hitler. I am willing and ready to give up my life for him,
so help me God.”

Pledge of Allegiance

“I promise to do my duty in love and loyalty to the Führer
and our flag.”

Hitler Youth ‘Prayers’
(modeled after the Lord’s Prayer)

“Adolf Hitler, you are our great Führer. Thy name makes
the enemy tremble. Thy Third Reich comes, thy will alone is law upon the
earth. Let us hear daily thy voice and order us by thy leadership, for
we will obey to the end and even with our lives. We praise thee! Heil Hitler!”

“Führer, my Führer, give me by God. Protect and preserve
my life for long. You saved Germany in time of need. I thank you for my
daily bread. Be with me for a long time, do not leave me, Führer,
my Führer, my faith, my light, Hail to my Führer!”

Mottos for Boys

“Live Faithfully, Fight Bravely, and Die Laughing!”

“We were born to die for Germany!”

“You are nothing–your Volk is everything!”

Motto for Girls

“Be Faithful, Be Pure, Be German!”

Sayings of Hitler Youth Leader
Baldur von Schirach

“We do not need intellectual leaders who
create new ideas, because the superimposing leader of all desires of youth
is Adolf Hitler.”

“Your name, my Führer,
is the happiness of youth, your name, my Führer,
is for us everlasting life.”

“He who serves Adolf Hitler, the Führer,
serves Germany, and whoever serves Germany, serves God.”

Quotes of Adolf Hitler

“I begin with the young. We older ones
are used up. We are rotten to the marrow. We are cowardly and sentimental.
We are bearing the burden of a humiliating past, and have in our blood
the dull recollection of serfdom and servility. But my magnificent youngsters!
Are there any finer ones in the world? Look at these young men and boys!
What material! With them, I can make a new world. This is the heroic stage
of youth. Out of it will come the creative man, the man-god.”

“When an opponent declares, ‘I will not
come over to your side,’ I say calmly, ‘Your child belongs to us already…What
are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the
new camp. In a short time they will know nothing but this new community’.”

“…Knowledge would spoil my young people.
I prefer that they learn only what they pick up by following their own
play instinct. But they must learn self-control. I will have them master
the fear of death through the most difficult trials. That is the heroic
stage of youth. Out of it will grow the stage of the free man, a human
being who is the measure and center of the world.”

“The German youth must be slender and
supple, fast as a greyhound, tough as leather, and hard as Krupp steel.
He must learn to do without, to endure criticism and injustice, to be reliable,
discreet, decent, and loyal.”

I still listen to…

Larry Norman (has to go here because he started, led, or kept-on-track everything)
Russ Taff (he is The Man)
Steve Taylor (still my favorite songwriter)
Paul Smith (one of my favorite songwriters)
Steve Camp (I wore out his tapes)
The Lost Dogs (“Scenic Routes” is still my favorite album. By anyone.)
Randy Stonehill
2nd Chapter of Acts
Charlie Peacock
David Meece
Whitecross
Michael Card
Twila Paris
Bryan Duncan
Sweet Comfort Band
White Heart (these dudes were skilled)
Mark Heard
Geoff Moore
Margaret Becker
Rich Mullins (can get cheesy)
DeGarmo & Key
Petra (although much of their stuff is too “me-to-ish”)
Kenny Marks
Jars of Clay (…first album ONLY)
Allies
Mylon LeFevre
The 77′s
Daniel Amos
Audio Adrenaline
Gary Chapman (has some good albums. Something about him doesn’t sit right, though.)
Don Francisco
Barry McGuire
Adrian Snell
Steven Curtis Chapman (has some good songs)
First Call
Farrell and Farrell
4Him (cheesy name. Some cheesy songs. But some good stuff too)
Phillips, Craig & Dean (some cheese in singing, production, and lyrics. But some good stuff)
Newsboys (still going after 20 years. That pretty  good. Though their stuff gets weaker)
Delirious
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Tim Miner
Rick Cua

A Sense of Failure

I read a brief biography of George Orwell today. His life was marked by failure and rejection. Not until the end of his life (his 40s) did he meet success. And always, he was burdened with a sense of failure. Like Charles Schulz. Like many artists and thinkers. Like me.