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Brave New Year (In a Brave New World!)© Joan Archer
Happy New Year! Have you made your resolutions yet? I am not a person to make resolutions-I have known that I have little resolve since I was very young. I give myself a lot of room in this area-I make more "Wouldn't it be nice if's?" than I do actual stern "I resolve to's". Maybe some of you could take this as a resolution of your own-give yourself a bit more room to be a human being. What would the world be like if everyone did this? Possibly a bit more forgiving.
For this past Christmas, I was given the gift of forgiveness. Two friends with whom I'd had a falling-out with a few years ago decided to be kind and forgive me this year, so I have had the best Christmas season ever. Of course, I had to ask, but they let their kindness overtake their other feelings, and so I am on top of the world. One was my dear friend Mary, with whom I have been friends for twenty-seven years! I knew better than to disagree with her, after all we've been through, but we're still learning things about each other, after all this time. This brings me to my favorite Bible verse, which I am always quoting to my sons, "Ask and ye shall receive; Seek and ye shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened unto you." I always remind them, of course you must do the asking, seeking and knocking. Nothing just shows up out of the blue that you'd really want. So, there is joy in this world. I feel re-born! Another (hopefully!) joyful event has occurred in the homeschooling world. According to an article in the Omaha World-Herald (Dec. 28, 2000), William Bennet, our former drug czar and Education Secretary, has joined ranks with some other investors to form the first K-12 school over the Internet. So far, it only goes up to second grade, but I am thinking it is a start. Yearly tuition, according to the article, is $1,500 a year. This is pretty steep, so they are going to offer some scholarships. I think this is a step in a positive direction. For poorer school districts, this would mean no taxpayer burden, for there is no building, transportation or other services to have to support. A handicapped child is often more comfortable in their own home, not having to bear the combined burdens of school work and the cruelty of some children. Their situation would never have to be a burden on a teacher, nor on themselves. Everything they need would be available in their own home. I am reminded of a case a few years back, when a child needed more care than the teacher could comfortably give. Very Personal Details of this child's care were blasted on every news cast in the city, and the teacher went to court to fight having to take care of this poor kid in her classroom. Can you imagine what a positive learning environment that was? The other children making fun of you, the teacher seeing your very existence as her personal gift from Hell, having your personal business broadcast everywhere, and having no control over the fact that you were born handicapped? |
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