November 19

NT -- James 2:18-3:18
"Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers because you know that we who teach will be judge more strictly."

I have found this to be true. I have also found that I have become more, not less critical, of bad teachers. This, I really have to watch.
Both of my sons have had excellent teachers, good teachers, so-so and thankfully, a few rotten ones.
Both of them have one rotten one right now. And in both cases, it is their English teacher.
Here is where James would be proud of me. I have held my tongue about both of them.
For one thing, these teachers are not MY teachers. They are Matthew and Cole's. *I* do not have to sit in their class and *I* am not sure just how much is a personality disorder and how much is just plain bad teaching.
Truthfully, it has been fun watching Cole handle this situation. He has matured enough to not take it personally and work as hard as he needs to work to maintain his B which in any other class would give him an A. The very fact that he can distinguish between a good teacher and bad one gives me tremendous hope for the future.
That being said, I still rail against her arbitrariness and harshness when it is sooo not needed, especially since Jr year is so critical. But not to Cole.

As for myself, yes, I am judged fairly regularly for my weaknesses and statements as a Bible teacher. I don't pretend to know it all (especially since I am still using an 8 year old's Jewish commentary for the OT) but what I do know, I know. And I am afraid that here, my mouth gets me into the poison land. When people are wrong or they claim I am wrong, I seldom shut up. This is not a good thing to do in most situations and I really need to work on it more.

Psalm 118
It is funny how relevant 3000 year old scriptures can be.
This afternoon, in a blue mood due to some bad news, I sat on my back porch, watching the pterodactyls in their last evening outside, and I asked God to send me peace because I was afraid. I can't say he did because I realized that it was time to jump up and fix dinner but once over, I sat down to my scripture and here it was:

In my anguish I cried to the Lord,
and he answered by setting me free.
The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid.
vs. 5-6a
Friends, that is some mighty good news. Oh, it didn't take away the problem. It is still there, still looming large. But I am no longer afraid. And I don't know about you but fear always gets in the way of good judgment.
The fact that I asked for help and there it was in my scripture reading for the day fills me with tremendous hope for the future.

May God set you free from whatever you are afraid of.