Posted on January 7, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

A beautiful reminder that Christmas is an every day undertaking. We are fortunate. Here in Edmonton, we celebrate the orthodox Christmas used by Slavic peoples and their religions and today is Christmas again or still.

David Herbert's avatarGrits and Grains

“When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.”

Howard Thurman

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About ivonprefontaine

In keeping with bell hooks and Noam Chomsky, I consider myself a public and dissident intellectual. Part of my work is to move beyond (transcend) institutional dogmas that bind me to defend freedom, raising my voice to be heard on behalf of those who seek equity and justice in all their forms. I completed my PhD in Philosophy of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA. My dissertation and research was how teachers experience becoming teachers and their role as leaders. I focus on leading, communicating, and innovating in organizations. This includes mindfuful servant-leadership, World Cafe events, Appreciative Inquiry, and expressing one's self through creativity. I offer retreats, workshops, and presentations that can be tailored to your organzations specific needs. I published peer reviewed articles about schools as learning organizations, currere as an ethical pursuit, and hope as an essential element of adult eductaion. I published three poems and am currently preparing my poetry to publish as an anthology of poetry. I present on mindful leadership, servant leadership, schools as learning organizations, how teachers experience becoming teachers, assessement, and critical thinking. I facilitate mindfulness, hospitality retreats. and World Cafe Events using Appreciative Inquiry. I am writing and researching about various forms of leadership, how teachers inform and form their identity as a particular teacher, schools as learning organizations, hope, nonviolence and its anticipatory relationship with the future, as essential elements to teaching and learning. Academic publications can be found at Ivon Gile Prefontaine on ResearchGate

10 responses »

  1. Dr Niamh's avatar ontheplumtree | January 7, 2013 at 4:53 pm

    Lovely poem, and it is so necessary to keep the soul intact and be reminded of our Humanity through the voice of the poets..

    Reply
  2. Dear Human's avatar The Other Side of Ugly | January 7, 2013 at 5:36 pm

    Yes it is, everyday is Christmas and everyday is happy birthday and everyday is New Year’s Eve, and everyday is valentines….I could go on and on…

    Reply
  3. David Herbert's avatar David Herbert | January 7, 2013 at 8:26 pm

    Thank you for the reboot Ivon, and Happy Christmas to you, your loved ones and those you reach to. Here in UK it’s everyone getting back to normal for the first full working day after Christmas. Trees and decorations now all down and away.

    Reply
  4. Stefanie Neumann's avatar Stefanie Neumann | January 7, 2013 at 11:25 pm

    Some say “a spark of the light of Christ is within the heart of every human”.
    If that is true we can shine that light every day and make it a Christ-mas day. 🙂

    Reply
    • ivonprefontaine's avatar ivonprefontaine | January 8, 2013 at 12:17 am

      I agree Stefanie. When I slow down a bit and quiet my self, I find the spark of light of Christ. It is when I get busy that I lose track of that.

      Reply
      • Stefanie Neumann's avatar Stefanie Neumann | January 8, 2013 at 12:25 am

        The problem you are describing is familiar to me, Ivon.
        It helps me to stay aware when I remember to check-in several times a day for a minute or so and just breathe gently. – Or to read great reminders posted by people like you! 😀

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