Words from the Heart

  Gray Winter Garden January 2007   Seven years ago this past January, I began this blog as part of a teacher training I was taking.  Looking back over the past seven years, so much has happened.  Reading the first blog entry I ever created made me smile, especially after this VERY snowy winter.  In spite of that, it seems that there is still much truth in what I wrote.  Let me share it with you, again.   After living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I never thought I would be depressed because it hasn't snowed! The lack of white stuff here in New England is so disheartening. What is it about snow that makes most people feel good? Could it be that the sparkling flakes create a fantasy world in the sunshine or moonlight? Or, is it that the child in us longs to run headlong into a snow drift rolling over, arms waving madly, to create a snow angel? It is gray out at the moment. It feels as if the world is in limbo. Nature isn't dea...

  The recent controversy over the Coca-Cola commercial in which people across this diverse country sang, America the Beautiful , in their native languages has spurred me to write.  As an educator and as an ordained minister, I feel called to point a few things out. First, the attitude that if you live in America then you should speak the language of the country is a bit skewed.  "America" is vast, consisting of North, Central and South.  The "native" language of this vast land is Native American in its various dialects.  Quite honestly, I only know a handful of people who speak Native American. I come by this knowledge through the privilege of an education in Boston schools, which at the time I went to them were not considered to be the cream of academia.  However, I had amazingly dedicated teachers who informed my awareness that we - those of European roots - were not "native" to this land we call The United States. To be honest, I think the fact ...