While I Was Reading Sunday- John 9

Reading this account of blindness got me thinking. This young man, blind from birth, receives a miracle by the hand of a man called Jesus. 

  John 9:11 "He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight." This miracle uncovers other blindness and becomes quite a sensation.

    The disciples of Jesus were blind as to why handicaps afflict mortal man.
John 9:2 "And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"
    The Pharisees were blinded by their dogmatic keeping of the Law.

    John 9:16 "Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them."

   His parents chose blindness to protect their place in Jewish society.

   John 9:20 "His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:  But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself."

  I asked for a volunteer in seminary on Friday, one who would choose to be blindfolded for half the class. He was at the mercy of those who would tell him where to walk and where to sit. He became quite docile and compliant to accommodate his handicap. What a relief to be able to act for himself. The principle that resonated with me is that agency requires sight, and sight is given through the mercy and atonement of Jesus Christ.
  John 9:39 "And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth."
   Where am I still blind to see?

Morning Lines #25- What a Puzzle

Picture Puzzle Piece 

by Shel Silverstein

One picture puzzle piece

Lyin' on the sidewalk,

One picture puzzle piece

Soakin' in the rain.

It might be a button of blue

On the coat of the woman

Who lived in a shoe.

It might be a magical bean,

Or a fold in the red

Velvet robe of a queen.

It might be the one little bite

Of the apple her stepmother

Gave to Snow White.

It might be the veil of a bride

Or a bottle with some evil genie inside.

It might be a small tuft of hair

On the big bouncy belly

Of Bobo the Bear.

It might be a bit of the cloak

Of the Witch of the West

As she melted to smoke.

It might be a shadowy trace

Of a tear that runs down an angel's face.

Nothing has more possibilities

Than one old wet picture puzzle piece.

    I do jigsaws in the winter. It teaches me to see. I am often blind to many aspects of my life. I have a big picture but the details get confusing.

Collecting Pottery

   I am surrounded by talented artists of every kind and I like to collect pieces that make me happy. Liz Lewis, a local potter, makes dishes we love to use. We have small bowls, a big bowl, and this last birthday my daughter gifted me with plates with round edges and a little teapot. I love them!

                     It is amazing to me how a lump of clay can become a vibrant, colorful bowl.

                       Those hands have a touch and the clay molds to become what she desires.

   During December, Liz opens her studio and I visit with the intention to buy something new for my cupboards. I think I will add to my rounded plates and make it a set of four.

Twinkle Lights

I have been teased about loving twinkle lights all year round, but the truth is I love them in my living room, my work space, my kitchen, and I would put them in my bathroom but my husband put his foot down on that location.

   I believe my fascination harkens back to the days of childhood when my mother took me on evening walks through the neighborhood. She liked going at dusk when people had their windows open and the lights in their houses were just coming on. The coziest homes had soft lighting with the glow twinkling into corners.

      My enjoyment is shared by my daunter who decorates with light in her bedroom. So, as the season approaches when it is kosher to turn on the twinkles, I must say, "Twinkle lights all year long." Check out my Pinterest board of twinkle lights.

Repentance

My Early Morning Guests took a basic doctrine assessment test last Monday. The purpose was to find out if my students understood principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Immediately following the test each student received an answer sheet to see how they did. The results were varied and we reviewed the questions that everyone missed and talked about the questions everyone got right.  The very last question was an essay question that went like this: Suppose a friend asked you, "What is required for full and complete repentance?' What would be a correct response? Now, mind you, it was 6:30 am and my students don't especially like writing. Everyone included feeling sorry, confessing the sin, and trying to make things right. No one mentioned Jesus Christ or his atonement. 

  That raised a red flag for me. Are we teaching the principle of repentance without the doctrine of the atonement of Jesus Christ? The next morning we played 7 Little Words.

   This learning readiness game was intended to spur more discussion about what complete repentance
entails. For more direction about this game click here.

    The next morning, day three, I asked them to answer the same essay question in their journals. To my dismay, Jesus Christ was still missing from the process of repentance in everyone's answer. This called me to action. Every Friday our devotional will be entitled "Faith in Jesus Christ Friday". We started with the account from Enos, looking for what Christ offers in the process of repentance. To have our guilt swept away is pretty awesome. My hope is that He will be the anchor we wrap ourselves around.

Free the Onion

  I read about a very unique children's book entitled "The Onion's Great Escape" and purchased it recently for my grandson.

   We really enjoyed reading it aloud together. There are two plot lines, one is the rescue of the onion from the "fry" and the second is the quest to answer life's really hard questions. For example; if you have more and more thoughts, will your head get bigger? We wrote the answers to the questions in his book and after each page, freed a little more of the doomed onion until,……

                                                   He escaped to be ever an entity in himself.

                   Which left the book with a gaping hole but still readable and enjoyable to ponder.

     Great for a Christmas gift, boys or girls 6-12. The questions are deep, deep , and deeper.

Seminary Faculty Meeting

   "Early one morning, just as the sun was rising....."

I was invited to a seminary teaching meeting across the many waters. We were introduced to SST, sequential scripture teaching, another way to describe teaching how to search in the scriptures. Over the last eight years I have tried to wrap my head around this way of teaching and each year it becomes clearer. Here is my understanding of it in a step by step process.

  1. Decide which block of scripture you are going to teach

  2. Read and search for doctrine and principles

  3. Prayerfully consider which D&P best fit your class.

  4. Check with the resource teacher's manual to see how these D&P's are presented.

  5. Write some search, analysis, and application questions for your students.

  6. Give time for students to read, look, and write.

  7. Discuss their ideas

  8. Tie up and connect ideas with a summary, story, video, ect.

Sequential Scripture Teaching

 Looking for doctrine and principles in different blocks within a chapter.

What I know for sure from finally making journal writing happen is that each student needs to learn to write about what they are finding in the scriptures. My students don't love it but I see positive benefits from that consistent effort. Once a month I have a game with questions where it is open journal only. My point is made when they find the answer written in their own hand.

                            The journaling can reveal thoughts that bear testimony.

                                  We keep track of our personal reading here as well.

   As the age for going on missions went down the need is ever more urgent to understand doctrine and apply principles. Much can happen here early each morning.