Tag Archives: teacher as transformer

Manifesto of a Mad Farmer

Posted on February 19, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Tony at A Way With Words asked if I like Wendell Berry. I do and rank him among my favourite poets. When I hear or read his name, I think of this poem.

What does it mean to be radical? The word radical comes from Old English and means going to one’s origins or roots. When I read this poem, it reminds me of the possibilities in a radical life. I can seek out my roots, the wisdom of those who came before me, and lived on the land. I love the second stanza and it just carries on from there for the rest of the poem.

Do something that does not compute, make many tracks, and sometimes confuse the world of where I go. Go against the grain.

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

21 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Synchronicity and tagged creativity, eloquent questions, Manifesto of a Mad Farmer, Mindful Practice, nature, poetry, stewardship, teacher as transformer, Wendell Berry. Bookmark the permalink.

Let Evening Come

Posted on February 16, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I am at the end of the week. It was good. Silver Birch Press invited me to submit a poem for publication and I sent End of the Week for an upcoming anthology. When I began to write poetry again a few months ago, it filled a creative and reflective void in my life. I did not expect the invitation, so I am grateful for the invitation and acceptance.

Jane Kenyon wrote this beautiful poem about the end of day. I think it speaks to the need for sabbath on a daily basis and at the end of the week. Last week, when I attended a presentation by Dr. Philip McCrae he used the term digital sabbath at one point. As I navigate this emergent digital landscape, I recognize the importance of taking time each day away from the computer. It made a difference this past week. In the silence, I find peace, wisdom, and love in the gap between each moment.

Let the light of late afternoon
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down. Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to air in the lung
let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don’t
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

32 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged creativity, End of the Week, Jane Kenyon, Let Evening Come, Mindful Practice, Phil McCrae, poetry, Silver Birch Press, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Making Contact

Posted on February 16, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

What drew me to education? I believed, and still do, I make a difference in the lives of young people entrusted to me for a year or more by their parents. It is a covenant. Yesterday, someone noticed a sticker on the classroom door. Someone had written: “Mr. P. is a good Math teacher.” A student asked if I was a good Math teacher and I responded, “No, I teach students, not subjects.” Virginia Satir described the contact teachers encourage children’s lives. We must never lose this aspect of relationship with other people, particularly children. The reciprocal nature of being is critical to humanity and humanness. The whole person emerges in the safety of these relationships.

I believe

The greatest gift

I can conceive of having from anyone

to be seen by them,

heard by them,

to be understood

and touched by them.

The greatest gift

I can give

is to see, hear, understand

and to touch

another person.

When this is done

I feel

contact has been made.

27 Comments

Posted in Education, Mindful Life, Reflective Moments and tagged community, creativity, education, eloquent questions, learning, poetry, teacher as transformer, virginia satir. Bookmark the permalink.

The Old Man and the Sea – The Limerick

Posted on February 15, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

We wrote limericks again today. Some students finished the ones they had begun and others were absent. One student from the latter group wanted to know what could go with something about the sea. I threw this out, but she wasn’t interested. I think it is the abridged story of the Old Man and the Sea.

There was an old man who lived on the sea.

He loved an occasional cuppa tea.

Unfortunately, he the water was from the brine.

He joyfully turned to wine.

That drunken old man who lived on the sea.

10 Comments

Posted in Education, Humour, Lesson Plans, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, education, learning, Limericks, Mindful Practice, poetry, teacher as transformer, The Old Man and the Sea. Hemingway. Bookmark the permalink.

Silence

Posted on February 14, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I posted the wonderful poem Daybreak last night and I was reminded of the need for silence as I wrote. Community members added a rich tapestry about the need for silence and the role it plays in life.

It was pretty quiet today and I felt at peace with where I am at and who I am today. I realized I have not written poetry nearly as much recently and found myself drawn to the words I used last night in the preamble.

Silence–

A beautiful place,

Just being,

Hear like never before.

Cradled in gentle spaciousness;

Watered, nourished–

Rest in silence’s glow,

The moment embraces.

Pause–

Breathe–

Listen–

Stillness welcomes.

Refreshed–

I rise,

I grow,

I create.

14 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, Mindful Practice, poetry, reflection, silence and solitude, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Daybreak

Posted on February 13, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Silence is a beautiful place to be. I grow in that space and feel the energy renew me. I can stop and listen to what my heart says. Silence, in that way, is the vital pause in life. It is the pause that refreshes to use a line from popular culture. I find humility in my silence because I take time, listen to my self, and listen to the other.

I found this beautiful poem from Nobel Laureate Gabriela Mistral. She was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

My heart swells that the
universe
like a fiery cascade may
enter.
The new day comes. Its coming
leaves me breathless.
I sing like a cavern
brimming
I sing a new day.

For grace lost and recovered
I stand humble. Not giving.
Receiving.
Until the gorgon night,
vanquished, flees.

25 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, Daybreak, education, Gabriela Mistral, Mindful Practice, poetry, silence and solitude, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

A Path for Warriors

Posted on February 9, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I commented I finished Margaret Wheatley‘s book, So Far From Home. She concluded with a beautiful poem. It reminded how importance quiet and mindful moments are. I was less rushed these last couple of days and it was like a digital sabbath.

Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk, wrote: “The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation in violence. The frenzy of the activist…destroys his own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

My mother used to teach us about being Soldiers of Christ. We walk in the “same steps as Christ” (2 Corinthians 12:18, 1 Peter 2:21). We “[pray] always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18), and “open your mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel” (Ephesians 6:19). Soldiers, in this context, seek peace from within and quiet the mind so their actions and words parallel each other.

We are grateful to discover our right work and happy to be engaged in it.

We embody values and practices that offer us meaningful lives now.

We let go of needing to impact the future.

We refrain from adding to the aggression, fear and confusion of this time.

We welcome every opportunity to practice our skills of compassion and insight, even very challenging ones.

We resist seeking the illusory comfort of certainty and stability.

We delight when our work achieves good results yet let go of needing others to adopt our successes.

We know that all problems have complex causes. We do not place blame on any one person or cause, including ourselves and colleagues.

We are vigilant with our relationships, mindful to counteract the polarizing dynamics of this time.

Our actions embody our confidence that humans can get through anything as long as we’re together.

We stay present to the world as it is with open minds and hearts, knowing this nourishes our gentleness, decency and bravery.

We care for ourselves as tenderly as we care for others, taking time for rest, reflection and renewal.

We are richly blessed with moments of delight, humor, grace and joy.

We are grateful for these.

39 Comments

Posted in Leadership, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged human-rights, inner wisdom, leadership, Margaret Wheatley, Mindful Practice, poetry, sabbath, So Far From Home, soldiers of christ, spirituality, teacher as transformer, Thomas Merton. Bookmark the permalink.

Human Hearts and Spirits

Posted on February 9, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I had another great day at Teacher’s Convention. Made another contact for my dissertation process. It is quite interesting the willingness of people to help.

~~Harry~~ Russ who provides the blog wrote this beautiful poem. I finished reading Margaret Wheatley‘s book, So Far From Home. She referred several times to human hearts and their capacity for love and kindness. Parker Palmer, in his book Healing the Heart of Democracy, referred to the heart being able to hold so much. ~~Harry’s~~ Russ’ poem reminded me of their writing and I think he is on to something: the heart and the spirit combined have incredible capacity.

“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the human heart can hold.” Zelda Fitzgerald

…But if I might be so bold
While I don’t know the exact amount
From what I have found
I believe
The human spirit
Can store
Even more

12 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, Human Hearts and Spirits, Margaret Wheatley, Mindful Practice, Parker Palmer, Poet's Corner, poetry, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Tao Te Ching #33

Posted on February 7, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I was busy today and am off to a dinner meeting momentarily. I took a deep breath and remembered to breathe. I attended Teacher’s Convention which is unique to Alberta, for the most part. The Alberta Teacher’s Association, our professional organization/union, organizes several each year depending on geographic locations. There is a large exhibit hall and many presentations. I find it challenging as it is busy, crowded, and noisy, but there was a great presentation and another good one. The first presenter spoke on a topic similar to what I am massaging for a dissertation topic and, when I approached her, she graciously agreed to share more of her thoughts and I will contact her. She was genuinely interested and I am pretty jacked.

I also found a nice little restaurant. It wasn’t lost, but I had never been there before and it was a nice place. I finished the book I am reading while I ate lunch. I could have focused on the challenges–noise, crowds, and busyness–instead I pulled three great things out of the day and feel energized. I found this beautiful little poem by Lao Tzu and it resonated. When we turn in and find the extraordinary of the ordinary that is true power.

Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self needs strength.

He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perseverance is a sign of will power.
He who stays where he is endures.
To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.

25 Comments

Posted in Leadership, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, Mindful Practice, servant-leadership, spirituality, Tao Te Ching, Tao Tzu, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Compassion

Posted on February 5, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Thich Nhat Hanh provided this beautiful quote about compassion and embracing who we are in this world. I need to be inside of someone else`s skin to build compassion.

The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognize the physical, material, and psychological suffering of others, to put ourselves “inside the skin” of the other. We “go inside” their body, feelings, and mental formations, and witness for ourselves their suffering. Shallow observation as an outsider is not enough to see their suffering. We must become one with the subject of our observation. When we are in contact with another’s suffering, a feeling of compassion is born in us. Compassion means, literally, “to suffer with.”