The Beautiful Writing I Read

I've traded hours of filing through used bookstores to the evening hours (that sweep away so quickly)it takes to read my students' papers and general assignments.

But all my mannerisms are the same. I file through, looking at their names, though I probably shouldn't because of the bias that's already in my mind. It's no different, really, than judging a book by its cover, and I believe it is our duty as readers to "judge" that book or that student paper in a positive light. We are doing our research and gathering information on the story/paper, and we are exploring the reasons why the words written are developed as they are. As readers, we not only want the story, we want the context. And as a teacher, I must know my writers.

And most of the time I do not desire a grade be placed. They see themselves on a spectrum with other students, like I'm just hanging them on a clothesline in order of dulls to brights. "You're a C+, Son. You're like a soft greeen. In the middle you go."

So I read these papers and I want to enjoy them, appreciate them, give them the full attention of a good audience, and I can never say enough words to express how I understand brilliance within them that I know is just waiting to burst open.

Instead of throwing out a B, I ought to say, "Your paper right now is the supporting actress of the show. [insert relevant critique to the student's paper]. Make it the lead. Placce our attention on your words, not only on the ideas you present."

I can teacher talk for hours, so I'll stop me here.

What I really wanted to talk about was how God seems to replace all our time spent on one activit with time on another activity. For instance, I used to spend my time at coffee shops and with my nose in a book. Now it's a stack of papers on one side and a pile of text books on the other (for planning).

Or maybe what I really wanted to talk about was how I love reading e-mails from friends and family.

The goings-on of everyday life.

Or maybe it's the Facebook posts. All the little messages sent and wall posts and moments in pictures hanging in the air....

Or maybe it's the Psalm I quickly chose before class began. And as I'm reading, I think, "I've never seen that before," and all I want is for them to care and for us all to stop ourselves in our tracks and humble ourselves for the Lord.

Or maybe it's the Ning where my composition students post their thoughts and ideas in blog-like posts, and as a class we comment and interact with their writing. The poems, unedited, the prose, the raw style.

Altogether, maybe it's the fact that I cannot get away from reading and from paying attention to the world around me. The written word is so beautiful, and I have the utmost respect for it. And maybe I love it so much because with it, God inspired the Word into Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.