INVESTING IN THE BOSS'S KID

I wrote this post 4 years ago, on the eve of my daughter's 16th birthday.  Tomorrow she turns 20, and what I said then is even more true today.

Tomorrow my daughter turns 16.  For the last couple of hours I’ve been looking at her picture and feeling all wet in the eyes.

Which made me think about Eliezer and Abraham. 

Genesis 15: 1-3 says that Eliezer was the chief servant in Abraham’s household.

The household of a Biblical patriarch was a lot like a family owned corporation.  For example, in the house of Abraham, the patriarch had more servants (employees) than actual relatives by blood or marriage.

Yet the entire household depended on one another.  Together they weathered storms and famine.  Together, they fought marauders and rival tribes.   Together they would either prosper or die in the Canaanite frontier.  And when God gave Abraham the sign of circumcision in Genesis 17, EVERY male in Abraham’s house became a Jew---- the hard way.

But you could say that was all just good business. 

You have to be nice to the boss.  You have to work together.  If the company (household) fails then everybody’s out of a job.  In Old Testament days, being “out of a job” meant death or enslavement, so doing a good job was simple self-interest.  Genuine love wasn’t necessarily part of the job description.

But sometimes it was.

Before Abraham and Sarah had children, Eliezer was the designated heir of Abraham’s entire fortune.  So when Isaac, the promised son, came along Eliezer had no objective economic reason to love the boy. 

But he did.

We know that Eliezer CARED ABOUT Isaac because Eliezer INVESTED IN Isaac.

In Genesis 25, Abraham sent his chief servant to research and negotiate a marriage-merger for his son.   This was a lot of trouble.  There was no match.com to sign onto, no Instagram full of selfies to peruse, not even a postal system to send letters asking, “Hey, do you know any nice single women around Isaac’s age?”

Eliezer had to take ten camels and basically wander around the sparsely populated Canaanite and Mesopotamian wilderness looking for “the one.” 

And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.”…Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. (Genesis 25: 8, 10)

At this point Abraham was old and Eliezer had power of attorney over the whole family business.  All he had to do was “not find” the right woman or ship Isaac off to Syria and he could have taken over the family.

But he didn’t. 

Instead, he risked his time, the peril of his own safety (wandering around the dessert with a caravan of provisions at his age), and his personal self-interest; and invested it all in his boss’s child.

^Then he said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. (Genesis 25: 12)

In my career as an educator and pastor I’ve worked with, for, and over a lot of people.  Especially on faculties when I was a department chair or administrator (boss), teachers had an economic self-interest in being nice to me because I performed their evaluations and managed their personnel files.

They didn’t have to really love me.  They didn’t have to really love my house, my family.

But they have.

My daughter turns 16 tomorrow. When I posted the announcement online and looked at the range of people who commented and liked I realized how expansive my household has really been.

Over the last 20 years, teachers, counselor,  pastors, co-workers, colleagues, church members, and employees have invested in their time, their gifts, their favor, and their love in me, my wife, and our children. 

They have gone far, far out of their way to protect my children when I could not be there to protect them. 

They have prayed for my family.  They have looked out for my wife.  They have sought our good when our good wouldn’t do them any good.  They helped me and mine when undermining me would have been easy and profitable.

I know what you did.

You loved my house when you didn’t have to.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

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Fairfield, Al 35064

RIGOR & EXPECTATIONS

We say some things that make no sense, but because they have been said so long by so many important people, we just keep on saying them.  For example, in education we constantly use the terms Rigor and Expectations.  And the way we use those words makes no sense.

We say things like  "increased rigor will increase performance" or "high expectations get results."

These concepts express the assumption that if schools make work harder then students will do better work.

You know that's garbage, right?

If you pass out trying to run 1 mile in 30 minutes, telling you that now you have to run 2 miles in 20 minutes is not going to grant you magical new powers of speed and endurance.

Raising the level of rigor and expectations does not CAUSE better performance because rigor comes from outside but expectations come from within.

Let me explain. 

Within the educational system, verbs/ action words are very important.  Educators are trained to use verbs that express physically observable actions:  external actions.  Educators are trained to avoid verbs that express less observable actions ---- feelings and stuff.  So, teachers are mandated to COMMUNICATE high expectations because you can observe what and how people communicate. Teachers aren’t required to HAVE high expectations because that’s internal and unobservable.

The problem is that there's a huge difference between teachers who COMMUNICATE high expectations to their students and teachers who HAVE high expectations for their students.   It’s the same the difference between a man who SAYS he loves you and a man who LOVES you.

Regulations and procedures can mandate the expectations that teachers communicate, but they cannot change what teachers actually feel.   

High expectations only work when the teacher genuinely believes that his/her students are smarter and better than they’re past performance indicates.  That teacher will push himself/herself to deliver better instruction while inspiring, motivating, and darn near stalking students, parents, and administrators into delivering nothing less than their A-game.   A teacher who believes that his students are performing below their potential will HAVE & COMMNICATE higher expectations.  She will give harder (more rigorous) assignments, AND she will relentlessly teach, re-teach, explain, demonstrate, tutor, and contemporize the information for the students.

On the other hand, a teacher who’s forced to COMMUNICATE high expectations and assign more rigorous work but who doesn’t really HAVE any higher expectations for his students---- that teacher won’t put forth an ounce more effort than he did last year.  And no one can make her.

NO.  YOU CAN’T.

You can require a teacher to read a script, but you cannot regulate sincerity.
You can dictate the number of times a teacher walks around a room per quarter of the class period, but you can’t change the look in her eyes when she looks over the room.
You can make a teacher post two dozen inspirational posters in his classroom, but you cannot make the teacher believe any of it, and no box set of 24 posters can fool children into thinking that a teacher believes in them when they can sense every day that she doesn’t.

Harder work (rigor) can come from a mandate, but higher expectations must come from the heart.

Now read Hebrews 6: 1-12, because that scripture is all about rigor and expectations.

In verses 1-3, Paul COMMUNICATED a coming increase in the rigor of their Bible study.  He said that they would be leaving elementary principles of Christ and going on to deeper, more rigorous spiritual concepts.   In the next few verses, Paul talked about some of their spiritual classmates who had dropped out.  He said that he didn’t think they’d make it (a big no-no for any teacher today).

it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit…     if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.  (Hebrews 6: 4-6)

But Paul doesn’t just SAY he wants them to meet those higher expectations.    Paul really believes in their ability to succeed where so many of their peers had failed.

But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you (Hebrews 6: 9)

And so, Paul pushed them.  In verses 11 and 12, Paul demanded diligence, and consistently high levels of effort all the way until the end. Paul didn’t tolerate them becoming sluggish but he offered them multiple models to imitate those who through faith and patience met rigorous standards  and went on to successful inherit the promise.  

Paul pushed them and he pushed himself.  He didn’t push because it was mandated.  He pushed them because it was necessary.  Paul pushed them because he could see that they were better than they had allowed themselves to be. 

Paul communicated higher expectations and instituted increased rigor because he first HAD higher expectations.

The process begins in the heart of the teacher not in the regulations of the mandate:

1.      See greater in them.

2.      Communicate greater to them.

3.      Give greater to them.

4.      Demand greater from them.

But if you don’t see it in them when you communicate it to them, you won’t get it from them because you won’t give it to them.

Exclude the heart of a teacher and the practice of teaching will fail.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church (5220 Myron Massey Boulevard) in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to  

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

BLANK-AND-MISDIRECT

Good classroom teachers develop an armory of looks. 

There’s the child-if-you-don’t-sit-your-butt-down-right-now look, the no-before-you-even-ask-NOOOOO look, the I-dare-you-I-double-dog-dare-you-to mess-with-her-one-mo’-time look, and of course the forget-about-them-you-can-do-this-I-got-your-back look.

But my favorite look is the blank-and-misdirect.

The Look

Ask a kid a question they're unsure of or  feel vulnerable (because they have to take a public stand on some topic) and the kid will look at the teacher for clue. The student will watch your facial expression and body language, trying to figure out which answer you WANT to hear.

So when I asked those question I’d immediately blank my facial expression and adopt neutral body language.  No clues. No cues.  BLANK.  When the student started answering, whether the answer was right or wrong, I’d twist my face to look like they were uttering the most ridiculous thing in the history of uttering. MISDIRECT

And if I felt really mischievous, I’d phrase the question to make it seem like the wrong answer was the right answer.

I’d ask something like, “Moses and Aaron were brothers, but only one of them came back to save his people from slavery.  Aaron was the oldest, so it wasn’t Moses, was it?”

Oh, yeah.  I still use blank-and-misdirect when I teach adult Bible study.

I didn’t develop the blank-and-misdirect look to torture my students (that was an unexpected bonus).  I want my students to KNOW their stuff, not just know my face.  I want them to study themselves into confidence, to KNOW the right answer for themselves no matter how people look at them.

And that’s what God wants for us.  Which is why some of the greatest leaders of the Bible also used the blank-and-misdirect.

Joshua’s Blank-and-Misdirect

Joshua, protégé of Moses and general of the Israelite armies that took possession of the Promised Land, gathered the leadership of Israel and offered what seemed like a blankly neutral choice.

If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. (Joshua 24: 15)

When the people answered the way they figured Joshua wanted them to answer, Joshua misdirected.

They said, “We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”

But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.” (Joshua 24: 18-20)

Despite Joshua’s blank-and-misdirect, the people stood by their answer. 

So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.”

And they said, “We are witnesses!” (Joshua 24: 22)

Jesus’ Classroom Review

In Matthew chapter 13, after a long day of teaching and preaching a series of parables, Jesus pulled His disciples aside for a review and asked, Have you understood all these things?” (Matthew 13: 51)

            The disciples immediately auto-replied, “Yes, Lord.”

And I think that Jesus’ expression at that point said, “Yeah, right.  Of course you don’t,” because Jesus didn’t just accept their answer. 

Good teachers know that “We understand” may really mean, “We don’t want you to ask us anymore questions.”

The Lord pushed His disciples to demonstrate mastery of the concepts He’d taught. 

He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” (Matthew 13: 52)

When you, the scribe/ scholar/ student,  understand what God is saying out of His Word, when you really get it then you’ll have some evidence.  You’ll be able to show your work as treasure:  new treasure and old treasure.

Your new treasure will be revelation and applications for your specific life in this particular moment.  Like when you read the Sabbath laws in Leviticus and you realize how to reorder your financial practices to achieve prosperity without working yourself to death, compromising your integrity, or waiting to hit the spiritual lottery.

The old treasure is a deeper reassurance of God’s Word.  You read 1 Thessalonians and come away knowing that Hell is as real as Heaven.  You don’t like that old truth, but you receive it because you really studied.  You didn’t just look around at your teacher or your peers and repeat what you think their faces say they want to hear.

Joshua wanted for his people what I want for my student, which is what Jesus wants for all of us who call ourselves His disciples.

We want you to KNOW the truth in the Bible. We want you to know FOR YOURSELF that the Bible is true for always and true for right now.  We want you to stand on that Truth and for that Truth no matter how many blank stares you get.  We want you to stand on that Truth no matter what forces try to misdirect you into compromise or quasi-intellectual rejection of God’s Word.

Because when you can stand for God’s Truth against the blank-and-misdirect, then you will discover the treasures of the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore prepare yourself and arise,

And speak to them all that I command you.

Do not be dismayed before their faces,

Lest I dismay you before them.  (Jeremiah 1: 17)

And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house.  You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious. (Eekiel 2: 6-7)

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield, Alabama;  executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO);  and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

You can help support this ministry with a donation to Miles Chapel CME Church.

Support by check or money order may be mailed to 

Miles Chapel CME Church

P O Box 132

Fairfield, Al 35064

KNEE JERKING & COMMON CORE

Knee-jerking can be dangerous, especially for educators. 

Knee-jerking.  You know, a reflexive/ “knee jerk” response.  Like when President Obama pats his dog on the head and Republicans issue a statement denouncing the socialist movement to give animals the same rights as humans.

Knee-jerking.

We're all guilty of it, especially in our politics.  Most of the time it's slightly stupid.  Sometimes it's seriously funny.  But, it can be profoundly dangerous, especially when you don't realize that someone is manipulating your knee-jerks to make you march zombie-like in a direction you wouldn't choose if you were thinking instead of just reacting.

I'm thinking about the debate in Alabama over repealing Common Core Standards.

A couple years ago, when we started the process (the quite poorly executed process) of explaining Common Core Standards in Alabama, most classroom educators knee-jerked against it.

It was just more crap to memorize. We’d have to dump all those AHSGE desktop files and classroom posters and create a whole new set of documents to mindlessly copy and paste into lesson plans and student notebooks. 

We knee-jerked against Common Core without really examining it.

Then it became the rule, so we accepted it, but few classroom teachers (none I know personally) were actually excited about it.

Now, the Republican-dominated Alabama legislature is trying to repeal Common Core in Alabama, and educators are up in arms.

Why?

Now, I’m not a Republican.  I think that the current crop of Republican state legislatures is deliberately trying to destroy public education in America.

But, why are so many of educators suddenly passionate about protecting a set of rules for which they felt zero passion a few weeks ago?

Knee-jerking.
And I felt it, too.  That involuntary flinch forward into spontaneous activism  because THEY are against something related to education.  THEY being Alabama Republicans, the ancient enemies of all institutions with the word “public” in their designation----- public schools, public lands, public parks, public restrooms, ...

I am not opposed to the Common Core Standards. 

Or, as the debate is current framed, I am not in favor of the Republican plan to repeal Common Core Standards. 

(Notice the subtle difference there.  Are we considering the merit of the standards or are we reacting to a move by our political opponents?)

But what has effectively happened is that the Republican opposition to Common Core has achieved in 2 weeks, what 2 years of powerpoint presentations from the Alabama Board of Education had failed to accomplish:   Educators across the state now overwhelmingly support/buy-in to the new Common Cores Standards.

I’m not telling you to stop calling your legislator.  I’m not telling you what to say when you call him/her. 

All I’m asking you to do is ask yourself 2 questions:

(1) Did you arrive at your current position on this issue  by way of reason or by way of a series of knee-jerks?

(2) And if you knee-jerked to this point, who is it who’s been tapping your knee?

Educators are the smartest group of professionals in this country.  We’re so smart that people pay us to make other people smart.  So, if we let ourselves get knee-jerked around the socio-political landscape, then what hope is there for rest of America.

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

Call  334-288-0577
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