I found this during my planning period today, and I like it, so I'm going to read it to my eighth hour class.

"Sonnet"
by: Elizabeth Bishop

I am in need of music that would flow
Over my fretful, feeling finger-tips,
Over my bitter-tainted, trembling lips,
With melody, deep, clear, and liquid-slow.
Oh, for the healing swaying, old and low,
Of some song sung to rest the tired dead,
A song to fall like water on my head,
And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!
There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep.

"Love is the flower you've got to let grow."
--John Lennon

How does God use you to "grow" His love?
Well, it sounds silly, but the first thing I thought of (and I'm just going to go with it) is laughter. Which is like audible hospitality. Because my favorite thing is having people over, cooking for them, and taking care of them. But laughing is like the threshold to it all. When you laugh with another(and all of the laughter I'm writing about is with-laughter, not laugh-at laughter, which can be an evil, harmful thing...really, a different beast altogether), you invite them in. Everything is warmer and kinder. More open.
I love laughing. I've been told that my laughter is "explosive," which to me sounds horrible, but I do enjoy that each person has a different laugh, like fingerprints or snowflakes. Every laugh is singular. Some people have such a good laugh that it sounds like it just feels good to make that sort of sound. Laughing is healing: how many times have I been in a tense situation, to have it broken open with laughter? Nothing settles and soothes like laughing with someone.
So when I laugh (or make someone else laugh--I seem to do that a lot, especially when I'm not trying to be funny), I think God uses that to show that we are all equal-and-not-equal, that we are separate, artful creations, but also share this huge Sameness of unending, unexplainable love. Sometimes, in laughter, you can sense that Otherness, that joy that turns into joy and turns into joy. The kind of happy that hurts.

"We waste time looking for the perfect love, instead of creating the perfect love."
--Tom Robbins
What is Valentine's Day all about to you?
First and foremost, Valentine's Day has not been exciting since I left elementary school. The big, homemade envelopes, the little cartoon Valentines with your friends names scrawled on them....the love was equal, everyone could participate.
And, hey--I like things fair.
In second hour, Christina said that "this is the most awkward holiday," and I had to agree. Then, she got a rose from someone. She didn't look too awkward. But what do I know? In fifth grade, my seatmate Jeffrey Niskanin gave me a huge helium-filled balloon that said, "you are so very special" in swirly letters. I was mortified. The thing seemed to grow bigger as the day went on. The fun of Valentine's Day was over. The awkwardness had begun.
In its most innocent, elementary school form, Valentine's Day is sweet. And I really don't want to be the bitter teacher who shouts "marketing tool!" every time someone gets a "candygram" in my class. I guess, honestly, forced anything is awkward, and romance especially. In the movie Finding Forrester, Sean Connery's character says that the key to someone's heart is "an unexpected gift at an unexpected time." I agree. Romance, excitement, swirly letters--everything is better if it is spontaneous, new, and original.
Then someone brings me a chocolate candy heart, and I forget to shout about the marketing tool of this not-so-awkward day.
I hope all of you feel love today.

"All the lonely people...where do they all come from?"
--Paul McCartney

When is the last time you had a significant conversation? Who was it with, and what was it about?
I talked to my friend David (Melissa Thaddeus, I do have friends that are girls. I do. I promise. This is just a coincidence.) last night after Engage (a Bible study I go to) about his trip to Europe. He and some of his friends are starting a Christian youth hostel (like a hotel...for young people) in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and were overseas doing some connecting and traveling. I was thoroughly amazed at God's provision for their group. He truly is in charge, and when we are obedient (as David and the guys obviously were), we are rewarded with such delight and joy. He was radiant, and that is infectious.
So we spent time in thankful conversation, chatting about dreams of the future, laughing about all the strange relationships we deal with. He brought me some great Cuban coffee from Amsterdam, so we enjoyed that. And there are few things better to me than a great cup of coffee with good conversation.
I truly feel that God uses our silences and our words--that may seem simple, but to me, conversation is a great healer. So many times, I come away feeling closer to Him because I spent time listening, laughing, and talking with a friend (or even with someone I've just met).
My classes are embarking on a project that calls them to have significant (although short) conversations with people they have just met. How blessed we all were this morning to hear of some of the adventures! They were funny, and poignant and...Human.
I see teaching as a sort of drawn-out form of conversation. In that way, each day has moments of significance.