My friend, Lynn Swaner, recently reminded me of a quote that I love but had forgotten about…
“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I just love the word picture this conjures.
And doesn't it just capture teaching? Both the good parts, as well as the struggles?
There are some lessons I teach that just feel like collecting wood. (I've had a couple of those in my Geography class lately, to be honest.) The discussions are halting and stilted. Despite my best intentions to get them engaged, I wind up doing most of the talking, in spite of myself. The students are going through the motions, doing the tasks and work assigned to them…but it sort of feels like just drumming up people to show up and do it.
And then…oh, the bliss! There are those lessons that feel like we’re ripping across the open water under full sails. (Thankfully, I've had a few of these this semester too!) The joy of learning is so obvious, so real...it's like you can smell the salt air and feel the wind in your face! And when we shove off from shore, we have a real sense of the immensity of the ocean of content we can explore! Moments when it all just “works” in the classroom have me feeling that “longing for the sea” feeling long after the lesson wraps up. Maybe you too?
So, what ships are you building in your classroom? And how are you approaching the shipbuilding? Do your students feel that sense of longing, wonder, and excitement for the voyage? Or are they just looking for the next log to drag toward the beach?
Dave’s Faves
Here are three things I’m absolutely loving right now that I hope you might love too…
Dave’s Fave #1: Oatmeal bran muffins
So here’s something fun: our campus newspaper, the Dordt Diamond, solicited recipes from faculty members that we cooked when we were in college ourselves. I love to bake, and I’ve been baking these oatmeal bran muffins for literally decades now. Here’s the photo of the well-used recipe card that my sister, Rachel, copied out for me from one of my mom’s cookbooks. (It was a thoughtful gift when I first moved into an apartment when I would need to cook for myself—and I did used it a lot!) So I submitted this recipe, and it was included in the most recent issue of the Diamond.
Here’s the recipe, in case you want to print it out for yourself:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup raw bran (or All-Bran cereal)
1 cup sour milk (a short cup of milk with a splash of vinegar…or just use buttermilk)
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
What to do:
Beat the brown sugar, oil, and egg together.
Add the oats, bran, and milk, beat well.
Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and stir in well.
Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or use cupcake papers. Fill cups to make a dozen muffins.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. (Check them at 15…it really depends on your oven, but I find about 17 minutes is usually right.)
The recipe makes one dozen muffins, but I almost always double it, and freeze half of them. They are delicious with strawberry, plum, or apricot jam. (We used have a plum tree in our backyard growing up, and my Mom’s homemade plum jam is just the best thing on these babies!) Also, as an enterprising college student who didn’t always have raw bran on hand, I found that crushed Cheerios work just fine as a replacement for the bran. :-)
Enjoy!
Dave’s Fave #2: November bike rides!
As much as I love to pedal my bike, I refuse to ride in ice and snow. (I worry too much about falling, and I don’t have the right tires for that business!) So I’m delighting in the 60 degree Fahrenheit weather (that’s about 16 degrees Celsius) we’ve had lately. Getting in every bike ride I can—including a 16-miler this past Sunday. That might be my last long-ish ride for this year…we will see! But I’m well past my goal of 2000 miles pedaled for this year; as of this week I’m right at 2259 miles (3636 km) for 2023!
Dave’s Fave #3: “Wind and Anchor”
Perhaps carrying on this theme of sailing and longing for the sea, my music recommendation for you this week is the song “Wind and Anchor” by The National Parks. Their album Young is one of my favorites lately, and you might enjoy this one too. Give it a listen, and then drop a comment about your reaction.
The Last Word!
If you’ve felt burdened by the work of teaching or leading lately, friends, remember that you are doing holy work. Don’t forget that teaching is a spiritual gift that God gives to members of the Body of Christ for the good of the whole body, and to bless the whole world!
Here this word from the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth. It comes at the end of a famous passage about what it means to be a member of the Body, and I love this because brother Paul specifically mentions teaching as a spiritual gift:
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
- 1 Corinthians 12:27-31
Teacher, don’t forget the importance of the work you are called to do: you are serving the members of the Body—and the whole world!—by using your gifts to the best of your ability and to God’s glory.
Grace and peace to you all, friends.