Have you ever thought about the great ideas you get, just before sleep at night, and in the morning before waking up. Keep a notepad beside the bed, often a dream should be recorded for reasons yet unknown.
Recently, I had the experience of reading two books that touch each other..
.Freedoms Forge and
An Army at Dawn....the first one is how we mobilized to win the war....I was so proud of our country, then and now to think that we had what we called back then, "the right stuff". I finished the first book, all gung ho, ( remember that saying?) for the start of the Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy...and fell into depression and dismay, as I read the farce that was the start of the United States entering the 2nd World War. Don;t dismay...don't let me mislead you....its just that if you have never been in battle, never planned an offensive or defensive, you can't imagine the turmoil, the loss of direction and just abysmal failure that can accompany the finest plan. Great literature is full of stupendous knowledge in little phrases, such as' the greatest plans of mice and men are often failures' ( in so many words)...reference here if interested...
http://feeds.brighthubeducation.com/brighthub/education/high-school/
As I thought of these two books...the television program changed to a discussion of using therapy and meditation to assist our many prisoners who have committed crimes of rage. These factors came together, I reached the conclusion in my mind once again, that we need to learn from Eastern philosophy, to teach our children at a young age to meditate, to let go of unpleasant events, and to step into a bright world, not a world dimmed by others who have wronged us.
The farce of war, coupled with the injustices we create on each other just makes me stop and think, don't you?
As a former teacher, I could never in a million years encourage my students to peaceful resistance, because there is no such thing as peaceful resistance, think about it. Is resistance really peaceful? What I have learned in my life, is that we can't win a battle by sit in's, by demonstrations, and by beating people up, or battering them to our way of thinking. People have to come to realization. . The peaceful way to that is meditation.
Another of the accumulated facts this week, that led to my observations this morning is that we have NINE convicted felons whose charge was' domestic terrorist', teaching in our colleges. At one point in time back in the 50's, the thinking was to give our children a look at the systems of government in the world,......just as I understood it then, it was not to batter them and overpower them when they were the most vulnerable to the ideas that oppose Democracy,rather to educate them to the governmental styles of history, so we could appreciate the freedom of Democracy and our Republic.
By the 60's we had Angela Davis right in Boston University under our very noses preaching the message of Communism. She obviously thought that it was the right thing to do, for her own reasons. I don't know about you, but....there are people who try and teach without conveying their own ideas to forcefully fit all. Any professor who takes pride in forcing his or her worldly observations on others by their stature in the classroom has lost the value of being an American. Teachers bring students to their own conclusions...they don't stuff conclusions down their throats and teach as rote their ideas to be forged in memory forever.
Learning is learning to observe, study and conclude on your own, a teacher is only a guide to that learning. a light in the darkness that assists you in your journey to become.
I had a great education at Framingham State College, which is now a University, some of my professors were outstanding...Dr John Bowler, was most influential in my life among many others. I was amazed when I discovered that the reason I loved Dr Bowler's classes was his style of didactic teaching. It so influenced me when I started my first job as a fifth grade teacher in Natick, that I wrote to tell him, my style of teaching would be based on what I learned from him. His classes were amazing, because he proposed then listened to responses, while presenting the facts, and allowing us to communicate our thoughts... lessons learned resulted from the participation of the class. I will never forget this question...."Shall it be guns or butter?" in his economics class as we plunged into his exiting lesson. Here is a reference for didactic teaching
Education Didactic method.htm
My observations might seem rambling, I have a holistic view of the world , tying together seemingly unrelated events, but in reality ...as the world actually exists, all events are inter-related, in the hologram of life. The turmoil in Syria, is threatening to drag the world into the conflict, would it die down quicker if we the world stayed out of it? Is it worth escalating by our participation? We have learned some lessons already about choosing sides, it is 'all not what it seems'.
Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden. Phaedrus
Oh! Shucks!, just conveying my thoughts, but since I am talking to my self, it seems like a lecture...., a voice in the wilderness....do some thinking today, answers never come easy do they? I will conclude with this amusing voice in the wilderness, piece...
http://rjmoeller.com/category/quotes-and-sayings/
The 12th Annual House Tour 
