“Watch me. Now you try.” These five words are constantly repeated by parents to their children. But they are for people of every age. We are mimetic creatures who learn by imitation. Every good baseball coach teaches a batting stance by modeling one for the athlete. Preachers provide examples and illustrations so their congregants can […]
Do As I Do: Some Thoughts on Mimesis in the Classroom Read More »
Advent is a time of awe, awaiting the celebration of Christ’s birth. Madeleine L’Engle, famous for her book A Wrinkle in Time, wrote in her poem “The Birth of Wonder”: But now is the hour When I remember An infant’s power On a cold December. What is this infant’s wondrous power? Nothing less than to
Like pallbearers they each took a corner of the mat upon which I lay. Into the nave of the chapel the liturgists of the church triumphant bore me, beckoning me: “Say these words . . . See this symbol . . . Receive these blessings . . . Eat this bread . . . Drink
As a student, I earned spending money by tutoring rather than babysitting. As a teacher, I ventured into high school rather than elementary classrooms. After church on Sundays, I join lively conversations with my congregation’s teenagers, but end tongue-tied after a few minutes’ talk with the toddlers. Though I’ve certainly never sought to avoid the
Come Play With Me: Lessons For (and from) My Baby Read More »
What type of environment do you want your child to take into his or her soul?
And you had compassion on those who were bound, and you endured with joy the seizing of your goods, knowing yourselves to have a better and an enduring substance. Do not, therefore, lose your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of patience, so that, accomplishing the will of God, you may
My wife, Bethany, recently bought an old window – complete with glass panes and a seriously heavy-duty wood frame, white paint chipped and fading – into which she plans to insert family photos (a new take on the traditional family photo collage). So we’ve been discussing the best way to hang it, keeping in mind
