Thoughts from Great Expectations #4

 

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I think my favorite characters in Great Expectations are Joe and Herbert. They love and give without expecting anything in return. They see the best in others and they want the best for others. They are both the kind of friend I’d love to have.

But I also like the way Joe talks.

For example, instead of just telling Pip that everyone is about the same, he says, “…And all friends is no backerder, if not no forarder.”

Which reminds me of my husband’s favorite line in True Grit.  When Rooster Cogbun is being questioned in the courtroom – this is the dialogue:

Cross-examining Lawyer: So, you say that when Amos Wharton raised his axe, you backed away from him.

Rooster Cogburn: That’s right.

Cross-examining Lawyer: In what direction were you going?

Rooster Cogburn: I always go backwards when I’m backing up.

 

But I digress.

Here is another example of Joe’s verboseness: “It were understood,” said Joe, “And it are understood. And it ever will be similar according.”

Near the end of the book, Joe is trying to gently break some news to Pip:  “I think,” said Joe, after meditating a long time at the window seat, “ as I did hear tell how that he were something or other in a general way in that direction.”

Now, Joe is a little wordy, but, I’d rather talk to a kind conversationalist that to a griping grumbler. Wouldn’t you?

 

 

Thoughts from Great Expectations #3

 

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“There’s one thing you may be sure of Pip,” said Joe, after some rumination,  “ namely, that lies is lies. However they come, they didn’t ought to come, and they come from the father of lies, and work round to the same. Don’t you tell me no more of ‘em, Pip. That ain’t  the way to get out of being common.” – Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

 

Lies is lies. However they come. And, boy, have they come around this election season.  I can’t even begin to list all the lies spewed out, words twisted, cover ups,and  empty boastings.

 

That aint’ the way to get out of being common. Common is a good way to describe our candidates. Also trite, platitudinous, monotonous, vapid, insipid, full of tripe and drivel.  I just love synonyms.

 

 

I have no great expectations this election season.

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Thoughts from Great Expectations #2

 

 

…those six days which were to have run out so slowly, had run out fast and were gone, and tomorrow looked me in the face more steadily than I could look at it. (Pip) – Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

 

Life seems like this so often – the days run  out fast and are gone. People are always saying “I can’t believe it’s fall.. almost Christmas… a new year already…  spring again…  another birthday… school is out… time for school to start…”

 

Some days we want to run out so slowly. Like the days spent with grandkids, or the afternoons on the beach, or the long awaited vacation. Is there a way to slow them down? Not literally, of course, only God controls that. But, maybe they would last longer if we savored them the way we savor a lollipop or peppermint stick. If we truly tasted the good.

 
Then there is tomorrow. Looking us steadily in the face as we try not to look back. The way my dog looks at me while I’m eating supper. I try not to look at her. But, it never makes her go away. She might lie down at my feet for a while, but she’s still there. So it is with time.  

Thoughts from Great Expectations #1

“…I have often thought that few people know what secrecy there is in the young, under terror. No matter how unreasonable the terror, so that it be terror.” – from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

I have come to understand this more the older I get. Last year our grandson went through a long patch of waking up afraid in the middle of the night. It wasn’t an easy fix, because it was difficult to understand just what was going through his mind. No matter how unreasonable his terror may have seemed to an adult, it was real to him.

Last week I experienced the crushing heartache of a young boy gripped by a real fear. His aunt had overdosed and was not expected to live. Here he was at school, with all the ridiculousness of middle school going on all around him, and he was worried, afraid, and grieving for someone close to him that he may not ever see again. She was miles away in another town and he was helpless.

I’ve had students who have lost siblings and parents while under my care. I’ve known some who have attempted suicide and others who have been tugged through a messy divorce.

As teachers, we are a part of a student’s life for hours on end. We can make the most of our relationship with them by being more perceptive and understanding. But most importantly, we can take them to the Lord in prayer.