an allegory, or, this morning's sunrise

i woke up this morning to sit and watch God begin the day. i walked about 40 yards behind our house, across the elementary school courtyard and sat on a big rock by the trees next to the cemetary. i was a little disappointed that the Eastern horizon was shadowed with clouds. because of this, the beginning of the sunrise was not as spectacular as i had hoped. i couldn’t see the sun but i could see it brightening the clouds to my right and left with soft shades of pink and orange. these objects in my periphery were made beautiful by the sun, even though i couldn’t see it. then i started to see the sun a little more directly. there was a sort of window between the clouds that was filled with golden light. like the clouds on the periphery, the borders of the box were lit by the sun but much more dramatically. the edges were etched in brilliance, their soft lines cut into diamond edges. finally, only after the sun had made these ordinary clouds things of beauty and majesty did it show itself. it was almost as if i had to see the sun in other things before i could see it directly. once it peeked through, though, it eclipsed all with the power of its light. its brilliance made me cast my eyes down. soon the sun had lit all around. i could see everything. not only that, but clouds that had appeared dark, gray, and ominous before were now shown to be harmless puffy white clouds. the sun had stripped them of their malevolent nature and shown them to be nothing to be feared.

i hoard chalk

there is a definite chalk shortage at assumption high school, here in the lovely marshall islands. its a dog eat dog world out there, survival of the fittest. what does this mean? well, at assumption, teachers rotate to the classes. each class has its own room and the teachers move around. when i am done teaching a class, i clean out the chalk trays. i take every piece i can or i will run out and not be able to write on the board. i hide them in my desk. once someone took chalk out of my desk. i consider this a breach of the rules of the chalk famine. pants pockets and desk drawers should be strictly off limits. sometimes i forget to take the chalk out of my pockets. then i'm stuck walking around with a whole bunch of chalk stumps rattling around in my pocket. this is not a pretty sight.

things are good in majuro. i have read 10 whole books since i left the states. i am over halfway done with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which might be my favorite one so far. i have started writing stories and junk. i am playing guitar alot. i am getting up early in the morning to pray and center myself. also, after drinking too much coffee for the first month or so, i decided to give it up for a while. i don't need that stuff to be me!! i haven't had a cup since monday and i am feeling OK with it...althought im not sure how much longer it will last. i am feeling like a real teacher. i even refer to myself as such to my students: "now, if you have any questions, you're in luck. this is biology class. i am a biology teacher. so i might be able to help you."