Ethic Soup

It's Spring! Gardeners Say a Little Prayer

 

The gardener's prayer/poem that follows is by Czech author, playwright and journalist Karel Capek. May the Lord grant, to all of us who garden, nature's rewards for being alive and smelling good. (I can't help it, as it's part of my nature.)

 

Gardener's Prayer

by Karel Capek

 

O Lord, grant that in some way

it may rain every day,

Say from about midnight until three o'clock

in the morning,

 

Horrible Third Grade Quiz Suggests Killing Illegal Immigrants Possibility

 
 

It's very disturbing that yet another American social studies teacher has allowed racist and anti-human rights suggestions to be admitted into the classroom and influence students.

WHAT IS AN ILLEGAL ALIEN?

This time it was in Duluth, Georgia. A social studies teacher, at  Chesney Elementary, gave third-graders a homework quiz based on a story called "What is an illegal alien?" 

The lesson included a multiple choice question which asked: "What does the U.S. do with illegal aliens?"

Here are the possible answers:

A.  The U.S. puts them to work in the army;

B.  The U.S. shoots them into outer space;  

C.  The U.S. puts them to death;

D.  The U.S. sends them back where they came from.

A Spring Prayer: Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Winter is almost over! Spring begins in just two days. Spring, the vernal equinox, will begin Sunday, March 20, at 7:21 EDT.

So you have two days to practice balancing your raw eggs on end. It can be done. You do need patience, practice and proportioned eggs. With the right shape and a pinch of salt, you can do it.

 

SPRING PRAYER

For flowers that bloom about our feet;

For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;

For song of bird, and hum of bee;

For all things fair we hear or see,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

 

For blue of stream and blue of sky;

For pleasant shade of branches high;

For fragrant air and cooling breeze;

For beauty of the blooming trees,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Looking at the photos of hyacinths and tulips, can't you just smell their fragrance?

May all the people who are suffering in the world feel the hope and beauty that Spring promises.

CLICK AND READ: "It's Spring! Gardeners Say a Little Prayer"

CLICK AND READ: "Autumn in the Garden"

CLICK AND READ: "Autumn Meditations"

Hip, Hip, It's Pi Day! Have Some Pi-Pie

 
 

Happy Pi Day! Today's date is March 14, or 3.14, the first three digits of pi, and that's equal to the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.

This is a special day for math geeks to revel in the glory of pi. Ain't it grand? And to celebrate Albert Einstein, whose birthday is today too.

Celebrations for the enigmatic number -- which never ends and never repeats -- are many and usually pie-related events including: pie-throwing contests, pie-eating contests and pie-give-aways.

Self-Compassion: Give Yourself a Break, New Research Urges

 

It's a fast-growing, new kind of psychology called self-compassion. It's concerned with how kindly you view and treat yourself. And, psychologists are doing more and more research on the subject.

OTHER-COMPASSION IS NOT SELF-COMPASSION

Just because you are understanding and supportive of others does not indicate that you are also self-compassionate. In fact, research finds that those who are the most compassionate of others often score surprisingly low on how they treat themselves and frequently berate themselves for perceived failures.

How do you view yourself?

GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK

Do you give yourself a break, accept your imperfections? If you do, you are on the path to better health, say researchers.

If you score high on tests of self-compassion, you're much more likely to experience less depression and anxiety, and be happier and more optimistic, than those who are not as kind to themselves, reports Tara Parker-Pope in The New York Times.

Black 10-Year-Old Student Refuses To Play 'Slave' for Teacher

  
 
Teacher, Teacher

by

Sharon McEachern

 

Teacher, teacher

Open your ears

Hear your student cry his tears.

 

Teacher, teacher

Open your eyes

See your student how he cries.

 

What's wrong Teacher?

Are you deaf, dumb?

You get some that crazy rum?

 

You can't feature

Me as a slave

Me and mine already gave.

 

No, no teacher

I'm only ten

But still I will not pretend.

 

You be the slave

I'll be master

Then you will learn much faster.

 
HOW CAN A TEACHER be so insensitive as to ask a black child to play a slave for a social studies lesson in a simulated slave auction? Apparently a fifth grade teacher in Gahanna, Ohio, doesn't understand why her/his actions would be considered inappropriate or even insensitive. To me, this has the ring of other examples where educators have been blindly or obstinately intolerant. Isn't that the definition of "bigoted?"