“The Golden Rule” Defense for Gay Marriage on Mother’s Day Weekend?
True, the Golden Rule or “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is universal. Children need to know also, however, that everyone and anyone will not inevitably “be their friend.”
Despite our best efforts towards a daily practice of random acts of kindness, everyone and anyone won’t necessarily feel obligated to reciprocate them. If human empathy, solely, defined our world, how many casualties of American war, school, and community intimidation and violence would there truly be?
Children also need to know about the prerequisite of critical thinking concerning the sum total of their “way of life.” The fact that something has never or doesn’t ever “dawn on them” will not mean that all thought processes stop from that point on.
Furthermore, children and adults need to know that being non-confrontational verbally all of the time is not being loving towards them or others. As a religious teacher that I know states, “This may be a comforting theology, but unfortunately, it is not based on reality.”
This is the same reason that the application of the Let People Know or Diamond Rule is practiced in great spiritual homes across our nation and abroad everyday. If you love a person, you will let them know about the short and long-term consequences of their chosen behavior.
If I am acting in a manner that will result in injury or death, on earth and in the afterlife, I would hope that someone would let me know. This is the action that I want people to take on my behalf.
Perhaps, if a person belongs to a powerful social, economic, or political group, they may be accustomed to not being held “personally” or holding friends and family “accountable” for violations of “best practices” or divine law, now. Others, who don’t possess the socio-political connections, solely, rely on God to even the scales of justice when their government is not working appropriately. No one else, ever, may be present. It just might be, from a human standpoint, lonely. Most children that I know, definitely, need this information.
Therefore, do something good for others, regardless of whoever they are, or whoever they perceive themselves to be. Be confrontational with others when necessary. The lives you help save, hopefully, will be many, as well as your own (Ezekiel 3:21).
Have a Happy Mother’s Day!
Pamela Ellis, Ph.D.
Harambee Conference, LLC.
www.harambeeconference.com
To: President Obama on "gay marriage"
As a religious American, I will vote in accordance with my understanding of spiritual teaching described in Holy Biblical text. I am saddened by your decision, and not in agreement with your understanding of spiritual teaching. Spiritual teaching precedes man-made laws and the decision of people to reject the teachings found therein in a so-called "gay marriage." I love people, therefore, I will let people know when they are making a decision that is contrary to revealed spiritual truth. People cannot give you a right that was never theirs to give you in the first place... God ordains marriage, we don't... When each of us meet our Maker, the final truth, or error, of our choices will be revealed. There will be no political party present to provide support for any one of us when we meet our Maker face to face...
With that said, Republicans and Democrats, we all have sin, need to repent, and fall short of the Glory of God in our ability to be Christlike... Again, I say "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17).
Pamela Ellis, Ph.D.Harambee Conference, LLC.www.harambeeconference.com
The Hierarchy
Who among us wants to be great in the year 2012?
(Matthew 20:26-28)
…but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Are you a servant leader by divine spiritual calling, or by choice? Who would choose to become a slave, and a servant to all? Aren’t the words servant and leader oxymoronic in today’s age? In our institutions, leaders are served by servants and employees, not the other way around.
Large income and wealth inequities assure that this system remains in place to benefit a few at the expense of so many disenfranchised and marginalized social groups. Which one of us in the year 2012 consciously choose to be a slave or servant to people in need? It is so…the conscientious people, the exalted people, not by their choice, but by deference, or God’s design?
The man who insisted just yesterday that I go first in line was “one of these.” He would not hear my objections. He simply said, “I am old school.” I said to him, “No one is more important than anyone else.” He replied, “What you are doing is more important than what I am doing.” How did he know that? We were strangers to one another. He really didn’t…unless in the Spirit…he was informed, or was he possibly suffering from low self-esteem?
I was catapulted to the front when I personally would have chosen some “middle of the road” invisible location…again. Very often, people are merely going where other people want them to go, or is it where God, or where they themselves want…to go?
Should I, or should you, make a scene in that, or similar situations? If you are a servant leader, it may not be by choice. Maybe you were divinely chosen for “your place”…for such a time as this…(Esther 4:14).
Your reply comments, positive and/or negative, are very much appreciated…
Journey of Advent 2011 - Lectio Divina
It’s all Gift…
The idea of “first” is paramount in our understanding of life on planet earth. So during this Christmas season, take time to reflect on your “first” experiences.
I
take note of who sends me my “first” Christmas card. It is the same person each year. I, also, take note of who sends me the “most
holy” Christmas card. This
acknowledgement always goes to my “Loving Sisters of Baltimore Carmelite
Convent”. I think they must spend the
whole year in preparation of finding the right illustrator and meditation with
prayer for this blessed season. My years
of weekly study with them, in the past, continues to be rewarded.
My first Christmas present received during the Advent Season 2011 was a divine inspiration of how God has gifted me in my personal life. By extension, God gifts all of us, but so many are unaware of what or how spiritual and material gifts are manifested. The sad fact of the matter is that the notion of divine love as a fulfillment is so removed from many over the holidays. You don’t necessarily have to be duped into a belief of nihilism.
The people who I know who profess a personal relationship and earthly life with the Divine Christ subsist on daily scriptural readings and meditations. In a process of personal spiritual formation and the lectio divina, many consider the highest order of prayer.
Reference: http://www.crossroad.to/glossary/religious.htm
Lectio Divina:
"Lectio Divina", a Latin term, means 'divine reading' and
describes a way of reading the Scriptures whereby we gradually let go of our
own agenda and open ourselves to what God wants to say to us…
1. "Lectio (reading) where we read the Word of
God, slowly and reflectively so that it sinks into us. Any passage of Scripture can be
used....
2. "Meditatio (reflection) where we think about the
text we have chosen and ruminate upon it so that we take from it what God wants
to give us.
3. "Oratio (response) where we leave our thinking
aside and simply let our hearts speak to God. This response is inspired by our
reflection on the Word of God.
4. "Contemplatio (rest) where we let go not only of our own ideas, plans and meditations but also of our holy words and thoughts. We simply rest in the Word of God. We listen at the deepest level of our being to God who speaks within us with a still small voice. As we listen, we are gradually transformed from within."
This process of divine communion was thought to have been aptly described first by Origen Adamantius, born in Alexandria, Egypt in 185 A.D. The focus of this type of prayer is simply to know more deeply the incarnate Christ birthed within the soul of the believer.
Oh yes…material gifts, how could they possibly compare to divine riches?
Thank you to all those who think we need something anyway... Sometimes, we actually do...
There are so many sources of daily scriptures and meditations that I have been led to over the years. In the computer age, I have mine e-boxed from presentation ministries. I deconstruct those readings, and supplement with other readings as led by the Holy Spirit. My girls enjoy the responsorial songs found in the few minutes of devotion that we share in the morning...
Share your spiritual experience on the meaning of the Journey of Advent 2011, and the subsequent implications for the New Year 2012 with those of us who need to hear..the Divine words within you…
Speak to those with an ear to hear...
Be courageous, rise up, lectio divina, and prophesy…
School Discipline Disparity is Documented
Take a careful look at a national and local article below with several important links featured within them also:At the very least, I want to know that adequate school policy is in place, and that school authorities require planned discussions at each local school regarding student discipline policies, followed by careful documentation and analysis of what teachers and students seem to have most difficulty with class and behavior management.Upon a completion of an assessment, plans for improvement must be documented. Teachers and students must be held accountable. If teachers are having difficulty with class management, their skill level will be in need of improvement, and "in service" professional development coaching warranted. If students are "acting out" in class, counseling and, if absolutely necessary, "in school" suspension is preferable to long term "out of school" suspension.
American Education Week 2011
Visit and/or send a letter to your local school during American Education Week 2011 (November 13-19).
If you would like to share strategies and outcomes, feel free to do so on our blog. Staying engaged is essential for student, family, and community success!
Keeping the lines of communication open,
Pamela Ellis, Ph.D.
President
Harambee Conference, LLC.
www.harambeeconference.com
Destined to Die – A Contemporary Crucifixion in 2011
by Pamela Ellis, Ph.D.
Why did Jesus have to die? What did he do that was wrong? What crime did He commit?
Imagine Jesus being at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA in the Year 2011 with friends, a place that he might frequent in that it would be a garden...a Garden of Gethsemane, a place where he was accustomed to meeting with those who enjoyed his companionship.
Upon the departure of Jesus and friends from the Italian Gardens, a group of men with lanterns, torches, and weapons appears. Jesus, knowing what was to come, goes forward to them to ask, “Who are you looking for?”
They answer him, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
He says to them, “I AM.”
Judas his betrayer was also with them.
When he says to them, “I AM, “
they turn away and fall to the ground.
So He again ask them,
“Whom are you looking for?”
They say, “Jesus the Nazorean.”
Jesus answers,
“I told you that I AM.
So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”
Simon Peter, who has a sword, draws it,
strikes the high priest’s servant, and cuts off
his right ear.
The servant’s name is Malchus.
Jesus says to Peter,
“Put your sword into its scabbard.
Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave
me?”
And Jesus touches Malchus’ ear and heals him. (John 18:4-11, Luke 22:51)
What? Why was Jesus given a cup; a cup of suffering, by His loving Holy Father?
How many modern day parents can
rationalize any suffering, i.e. the sacrifice of inordinate amounts of toys, money, clothes, vacations or
the performance of community service from their children for others...not to mention the thought of well-conceived government social
service programs paid for by tax dollars for others?
Oh yes, for others… for those in this world without the basic necessities of life on an ongoing basis due to the vagaries, i.e., uncertainties of life on this planet.
Would they not, instead, believe that their child’s self-esteem, and indirectly their own, would be jeopardized if they did not give them, practically all, that could possibly be fathomed or desired even though their choice would mean stark deprivation for others?
Who are we? What kind of people have we become, or even have always been?
We are people who make a daily choice to live either for God or, totally, for our own social, ethnic, class, or nationhood identification due to greed, as a quite possible unacknowledged reason.
God, the Father, prepared the Lamb, Jesus, before the foundation of the earth. He knew, beforehand, our desperate need, and also our desires, that are often so very contrary to our best interest, as well as the interests of others. (John 1:29, Isaiah 49:6, Jeremiah 1:5)
Oh, but for His finished work on the cross on our behalf, we could have not done this on our own...enter into His Holy Presence.
In our search for Jesus, now and for all eternity, let us consider how we may meet the needs of others, as he has done for us, subsequently acting towards eliminating the legitimate concerns of those ill-treated by the world systems in place.
Are we, too, destined to die? (Luke 9:23-25) “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gain the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost?”
The leaders of the day were insanely jealous of Jesus’ popularity and success as a teacher. So in their minds, there was only one of two alternatives. Jesus had to be silenced. Jesus had to die.
Have you encountered irrational reactions from others due to your God-given aspirations? Do you believe that you have encountered people who desire success and happiness for your life, or the opposite; people who exhibit tendencies of deprivation, isolation, or even as desired for Jesus, death?
May we celebrate with thanksgiving and
perseverance anew the life found in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as
individuals and communities. Although,
first we must take and crucify base desires, thoughts, and actions that do not
emanate from our love for God, ourselves, and others, Oh Lord, on your
historical cross…a modern, contemporary crucifixion…in the Year 2011.
Dear Reader, your comments are certainly appreciated...
Making the Grade: The Seven C's of Teacher Evaluations
Who Wins...Who Loses?
The 2010 political race is a bellwether that reveals the travesty of American class warfare. The philosophy of human dignity and true freedom is what is at stake for the working and middle classes.
Is it surprising to anyone that people who could most benefit from social programs are the most ardent opponents of them? The ultra-privileged few oppose social programs as a point of pride, as if they were not lavishly assisted by others. Oftentimes, there is a deliberate choice by the wealthy to keep workers at a subsistence level to maintain their appearance of superiority.
Without resources to adequately fund education, infrastructure, and an administrative system by a government system, the alternative is a pure profit motive where trust would be solely placed in the hearts and hands of big business at the expense of a common good motive. Limited capitalism with governmental restraint of its adverse “self-only” mechanisms is a virtue.
Full human development, like health care services, is a basic human right, something that we want for everyone in a moral society. This requires a pooling of resources, i.e. taxation and insurance programs.
So why the opposition by many who make up the American mainstream? Joe Bageant, a Winchester, VA author notes, “These days, working-class Americans are conditioned to respond not as individuals whose opinions may differ radically from the opinions of their neighbors….They are conditioned to be, as essayist Lewis Lapham wrote, ‘happy villagers glad to wave the flags and wage the wars, grateful for the good fortune that placed them in the care of a sublime leader.’”
Do we really want the establishment of postmodern neo-fascism in America? Big business corporate titans cloaked by the actions of extremists buoyed by the support of the uninformed masses lacking the critical thinking skills to see that there really isn’t much interest in returning favors.
The observation by Author Chris Hedges that, “We stand on the cusp of one of the bleakest periods in human history when the bright lights of a civilization blink out and we will descend for decades, if not centuries, into barbarity” is no idle threat.
The U.S. spends far more than any other nation on earth on the military, 46.5% of the world’s total expenditure. Other nations highlighted in the study show significant restraint for the practice with China, France, UK, and Russia at 6.6%, 4.2%, 3.8%, and 3.5% respectively. (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)’s 2010 Year Book ).
Military weapons and soldiers are sadly becoming our chief exports. How many of us truly want our sons and daughters offered as a sacrifice to the military industrial complex?
Freedom is secured with shared intellectual responsibility by all for a sane direction of American democracy, one nation working together, both locally and nationally, providing goods and services to people at home and abroad.
During this election, protect your right to an access to 21st Century information, i.e. a critical thinking education with consequent quality of life benefits for all Americans.
The constitutional preamble elucidates the vision of, We the people, that is primarily what government means, a due respect for many voices from a diversity of social identities that make up the American social fabric. If we lose human respect and affirmation, we gain instead shared degradation. We lose our individual, state, and national soul, and our freedom.
We all would do well in considering the wise words of the well-admired First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt who noted, “One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes.” Choose wisely, our present and future depends on it.
Pamela Sanders Ellis, Ph.D.
Community College Issues and Answers: An Ethical Leadership Framework
PowerPoint Presentation by Pamela Sanders Ellis, Ph.D.
What connotes successful curriculum integration of organizational values and personal ethics?
• Literature discussion, self-assessment of personal values, student role-playing, and journey mapping.
• Campus, state, and online leadership development academies to demonstrate professional ethical
identity success.
• Qualitative research that examines the experiences of individuals “on the path toward constructive
professional ethical development” (Harbour et al., 2007, p. 181).
Harbour, C. P., Anderson, S. K., & Davies, T. G. (2007). The consequences of compromised ethical identity development in community college leadership. In D. A. Hellmich (Ed.), Ethical leadership in the community college: Bridging theory and daily practice (pp. 61-76). Bolton, MA: Anker
