By Doug Klatt

Bustling, hustling, doing, choosing,
At frenetic pace we move
Changing, lazy, crazy,
Spirit hazy
Backward and forward we groove
Open a screen, search for meaning
Take me away..........we cry
Whisk me away..........we sigh
From this pain, From this craving
From the rain in my soul, for I need saving
I lurch, I search
I work, but what do I need? 
What really feeds me?
Why do I grieve? 
Why do I seathe?
Only Grace, only Grace helps me truly see
So please, please help me ride Heaven’s White Steed: 
For: “The Lord is my shepherd! I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.”

How many of us crave these green pastures? I yearn on many a day just to lie down in a green pasture. But instead of seeking the green pasture of Grace, we search, we crave. Currently we live in a culture which facilitates our cravings more and more easily.

With a click of the button we move to another country or experience a wondrous thing somebody is doing on YouTube. Yes, technology is wondrous! Oh, truly it is magic! Nothing less than magic and our culture is enamored with it. No, it is addicted to the magic!  Continue reading An Artist Wrestling with Technological Magic →

By Patrick Miggins

Summer afternoon--summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. - Henry James

An air is more lasting than the voice of the birds, a word is more lasting than the riches of the world. – Irish proverb

I have lately been using a learning strategy known as “Word by Word,” which challenges students to review their notes and understanding of a text and sum up a narrative in one single word, a word that best epitomizes the essence of the story. Taken on a notecard after reading, discussion, and more formal writing on the assigned text, this single word quiz, not surprisingly, has been the most popular quiz the boys have taken all year! The exercise is a hit because it is lively, it sharpens focus, and it enriches the group mind through sharing. The boys look forward to it as it allows each mind to shine amidst his peers, so long as the student can qualify his diction.  As a teacher, I enjoy getting to know the quality and cogency of the thinking of each student, and I am very often impressed and pleasantly surprised as they expound upon their winnowed word!  Continue reading In a Word →