N.T. Wright

"Don't despise the small but significant symbolic act. We live still in this modernist dream which says, "Unless you can change the whole thing, it's not even worth trying." That's not what Jesus did. Jesus did small but significant symbolic acts, each one of which was freighted with kingdom meaning. God probably doesn't want you to reorganize everything overnight -- learn to be symbol-makers and storytellers for the kingdom. Learn to model genuine humanness in your worship and your stewardship and your relationships -- the Church's task vis-a-vis the world is to model true humanness as a sign, as an invitation."

~ from The Challenge of Jesus, NT Wright

Benjamin Franklin

Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.

Benjamin Franklin

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.

Anne Frank

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

Leo Tolstoy

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

John Wooden

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”

Anna Lappé

Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want.

Anna Masterton Buchan

It is wonderful how much news there is when people write every other day; if they wait for a month, there is nothing that seems worth telling.

Susan Brookhart

"Most of the time, it won't be a matter of changing people's minds, but rather of addressing their concerns."

"Starting the Conversation about Grading" Educational Leadership, November 2011, pg. 14

Geoffrey Mills

"Any type of change, however small, may be viewed as threatening by some. After all, the status quo is familiar and comfortable. But the era of schools that refuse to innovate is past. The ever-changing social and political environment in which we live necessitates that teachers become sophisticated instructional leaders and decision makers who have the skills to empower students and other individuals in their learning communities."

Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, pg. 161

Sarah Peyton

Having just attended that recognition of my grandparents, and then being privileged to read of the impact of your grandfather's life has really spoken to me, and encouraged me.  During this time of transition from college to the real world there are so many things up in the air.  So many ways my life could go, things I could attempt, ways I could spend my time here on earth.  But looking to the fully lived out lives of our older brothers and sisters in Christ reminds me that there is really only one thing I need to focus on; just one thing that I need to do in order to reach the end of my days and look back and say, "yep, I lived it as best I could."  And that one thing is to use the gifts He's given me to demonstrate His love.

June 20, 2011