If there are ever two areas that ought to be leading the way it is our religious organizations and educational institutions. In other words, church and school. Yet, if we really critically take a look at the way of the world today, you will find that church and school seems to lag behind the rest of the world. The school system is still working for the most part off of the agricultural model, hence the scheduling between 8:15 a.m. and 3:10 p.m. This schedule was done to accommodate farming. The fact that we have summers off is not so much for the heat as it was/is again to accommodate the farming schedule. We have gone through the agricultural age, industrial age, and on through the technological age into the informational age and we still run schools the same way we did over a century ago. Technologically we lag behind corporate and other sectors of society that school ought to be at the forefront.Many churches are not much better. Still doing things the same old way because that's the way we've always done it; not realizing that the message does not change, however, the method of delivering the message may change. We still drive cars, just not Model T's. For some reason, we feel we can do any old thing any old kind of way in church. The rules that apply to other areas for some reason don't apply to church. In many instances we treat our jobs better than we treat our church responsibilities and our alledged love for God. In cities such as Newark, Paterson, and Jersey City, there are churches sometimes two doors away from each other, and certainly on each corner (Particularly in Newark) and yet our world does not seem to be changing. It certainly begs the question are we as serious about education and the souls of others as we say we are? Critically think about it.
.jpg)
2 comments:
If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways, then they shall see my face and hear from heaven. Who said it, but none other. God is doing a new thing, and regardless what others may think, everything is by HIS design. Even the destruction was allowed to achieve his divine plans. People have made money off of the lives of many of us, especially, the children. A lot were good old fashioned choir singing gloating "church folk" and that was by design also. But God is not a man that he should lie, and he said, If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. It is the time to lift HIM up and let him fulfilled his promises made to all mankind. This world, this country, this state and especially this city, must repent and return to a life of prayer. Corporate prayer and good old fashion revival will turn this thing around. I mean I would love to see it happened at HINCHCLIFFE Stadium, how bout that? Want to see those walls come tumbling down, just like Jericho? We actually don't need the physical church buildings anymore, because I can recall that Jesus turned over tables, when he saw what the Pharisees and Company were doing in the Temple. Am I right or what? It kind of remind me of someone turning over the table at a card game or something because of cheaters. Well, I am going to leave that alone. Oh, by the way, I can vaguely remember you playing back in those days. By the grace of God, the latter days will be better than the former days, that's the word. Let's bank on it, because those that are in Christ are not in crisis. Peace
I must disagree with you Marc. We are not running schools the same way they did 100 years ago, and if we were our schools would be much better off.
Would we have allowed a student who threatened to stab a teacher in his eye with a pen to remain in school?
Of course not! Not even 25 years ago when I was in Middle School. In fact, I was the child who got suspended for not paying attention, talking, and generally not giving a hoot. After not attending 7th or 8th grades because I just just had no desire to, the nice Judge sent me to a nice school in the Amish country in the center of PA. The best 9 months of my childhood, for once in my life I was receiving proper guidance. I lived there and took and passed my GED there.
Funny, they found out that I was a genius. Go figure! LOL They began to understand me and to challenge me. In 6 months of school I was able to learn everything I missed by not staying in school for the previous 2 years and what I needed to know in order to test out of high school by passing my GED.
Then started my 5 year period of smoking marijuana and angel dust and later my 3 years of snorting cocaine. Then one night after snorting cocaine, my friend John Carmichael told me he want more coke and I said no, and that I was going to bed. He then told me he would hitch hike to his sisters.
The next morning he knocked on my bedroom window and told me to let him in. When I let him in he told me "I just got laid and you're my alibi." He went down to my basement to sleep and when I woke up I asked him to explain his comment. He had some explicit words for me and I told him that I was going to see our girlfriends, we were dating two Egyptian Jewish sisters back then.
Needless to say, I told both of them what John had said. (They had an open relationship) And we went to my house to get John and hangout. John saw us pull up and came to the car. The first words out of his mouth were "Jamie, let me tell you about the girl I raped last night." Then he said that he was just busting my chops because of my earlier questions. After a wonder hour of making love with our girlfriends on the couch(yes, I said it. Four people making love on one couch. To be young again! =] LOL), John made the same statements.
Later that night, I drove John to his new job at Pathmark in Kinnelon. On the way, he confessed to be that he had raped a woman the night before. He went into details about it stating that he had broken into a village apartment through the window. He said that he knew how because he had lived there for many years. He said that he was looking for something to trade for crack on 10th Ave. He said that while he was in the bedroom looking, he heard noise in the living room so he went to look. He saw a woman sleeping on the couch. I thought he told me that he took her nighty up and placed it over her face. But I later found out that he used his shirt.
After covering her face, he went to turn her over so that he could sodomize her. He said she begged him not to do it and promised he could do anything else to her, but not that. To this he told me "Out of spite, I fucked her in her ass anyway!" I still hear it in my head every day, for the last 19 years I have had this memory.
This man was my best friend! He was literally my partner in crime. And we were brazen! We robbed a soda machine of all of its money and sodas over a half hour period, during the day, in front of the Pathmark in Bergenfield while people were going in and out of the store looking at us. We pulled up to a Hagen Daz truck parked outside of the Grand Union, and with traffic behinds us, we emptied the cases of ice cream into my Caddy. We panhandled inside of Port Authority and picked fights with those who gave us a hard time. We shared our girlfriends, meaning that we would have threesomes with women. He even taught me how to give oral sex to women. This made his girlfriend very happy. LOL We even shared the crack and our own money. I was like his broker for the women. I don't know why, but different women would come to me on a weekly basis in order to get him to sleep with them. Many times, they slept with me to get to him. LOL He once told me that I got him laid more than he does for himself.
So now this is my dilemma, what was I to do? I was molested as a child and was told by the prosecutors office in Chester County PA that the man who did it will just call me a liar and that I should go away. Rape for me was unforgivable. But he was my dog, my best friend, we broke the law together, we laid the same women, and we always had each others backs. We would walk down to Governor Street when we were younger in the middle of the night to get some weed. We knew most of the people there and they all were cool.
So what did I do? I drove home and watched TV. Then I called my ex and talked to her and told her about the confession. She tried to guilt me into turning him in and even went as far as stating that she would tell her father, who was a cop. I then told her that I was going to go to the 7-11 because I was thirsty and that I would talk to her in the morning.
I walked to the 7-11 and bought myself a drink. When I walked out, there was a cop hanging in the parking lot. So I approached him and began to discuss the incident from the night before. I didn't tell him right away that I knew who did it, but I agreed to go with him to discuss the incident. On the way, I told him I knew who did it. After stating all of the facts to him several times, he said that he believed me and told me to go home and to not call anyone, especially John.
They went up to Kinnelon and picked him up at the store. He confessed after a few hours of interrogation.
I don't know why, but I was mad at myself for a long time for turning him in. I knew that I did the right thing. Friend or not, I couldn't risk him doing it to another woman. No one deserves that.
Almost twenty years later, I am faced with the same dilemma. A student in Paterson Public Schools came to me and told me that an Assistant Principal had run his hand across her breasts.
I reported it to the Principal. Then I never heard anything more about it. And ever since I had been trying to get some type of real investigation going. Good luck with that! A State run district, what good was it to report it to the state. OK I think I rambled long enough.
God bless you Marc, and I hope that you become a principal soon.
Post a Comment