This morning was my second school observation as part of my preparation for Teach For America—I observed Mr. Cruz, a 20-something English teacher whose style I really liked. He gave a lot of trust to his students, but gradually, as they earned it, and as a result he had a pretty mature group that was able to do independent work without too much policing and that also was growing in its ability to think critically about literature and life. It was cool to see that in action.
After observing, I dropped by
This afternoon and evening I went to Julia and Sam’s house, as I’d gotten word that Julia was really sick with the flu, and Sam and Dad were busy at work and not able to watch over her (and Mom was home sick herself), so I headed up north to be with until Sam got home from work. Though we both did some serious napping, it was just nice to be with Hoolia. When time with siblings and family gets as short as it does these days, any moment or time together is more than appreciated. And then Sam came home and we watched Bride and Prejudice, which I’ve been wanting to watch for a long time. It seemed kinda backward, seeing this movie after having seen a number of real Bollywood movies, when it seems like most folks see this one as a kinda gateway drug to real Bollywood, but it was really well made and funny and fun, so who cares? I loved all the cross-cultural bits, like the gospel choir and the lifeguards and surfers singing in one musical number in LA. The Darcy could’ve been better, but oh well. Still some pretty serious awesomeness.
In thinking about family, and especially with Father’s Day on Sunday, I’ve thought a couple of times about a wonderful moment in church that happened a week ago Sunday, my first Sunday back here at our home ward after arriving in Austin. It was a few minutes before sacrament meeting was supposed to start, and I saw a Down syndrome girl slip away from her family to sit with the Lopez family. As she slid up next to them, Brother Lopez just grinned this wonderful huge grin, put his arm around her and hugged her close, listening to her as she whispered in his ear and then whispering something back, something that made her smile a mile wide. Still smiling, she looked back at the folks I think are her parents. As I just sat enjoying being a passive observer of all this, it seemed like this might be a regular thing, her sitting with Brother Lopez, and Brother Lopez showing her a level of love that makes her smile so wide. It felt like being on holy ground just to watch all that—as I sat there watching, I could only think, that is charity. There is a real man—an example of the level of love that Christ, the perfect man, has for that same girl, and for each of us. Watching Brother Lopez for those three or so minutes was one of the most powerful lessons I learned in church that day.
No comments:
Post a Comment