Monday, March 25
Mark 11:12 – 14:11

During Holy Week, Jesus was once again in Jerusalem for Passover– a regular occurrence for Him and for other first century Jews.  The first account we have of Jesus visiting Jerusalem during Passover was when He was about 12 years old.  It’s a familiar story, and one of the few accounts we have of His childhood.  Jesus remained in the temple even after His parents had left the city to return home.  According to the King James Version, when His frantic mom finally found her lost child (after days of looking), Jesus responded, “I must be about my father’s business.”  With the 20-20 vision of hindsight, we probably understand His statement more and/or differently than Mary did.  Much of scripture describes how Jesus did His father’s business –through His life and ministry as well as through His death and resurrection.   I sometimes wonder if someone analyzed my life, whose business would they think I am doing?

During Holy Week, Jesus continued to do His Father’s business.  No special names (like Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday or Easter) are given to Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week.  However, scripture contains much detail about these three days.  In many ways, it was “business as usual” for Jesus.  He continued to be about His father’s business.  He continued to teach, to heal, and to courageously and assertively confront what He saw as wrong– using both words and actions. He seemed to live Holy Week as he did His entire life:  with a clear sense of direction and purpose.  Perhaps that was one of the keys to His grounded fearlessness, compassion and peace–even during days of betrayal, unjust treatment, pain, humiliation, stress and tragedy.

When we think of our businesses, we often think of our professions/jobs:  whatever it is that finances our lives.  Maybe we need to rethink that. During this Holy Week as we explore how to more deeply share the promise, it may make sense to contemplate what it would mean if we were to actively, consciously and consistently do the part of the Father’s business that He has called and equipped us to do.

Holy Father,

Help us realize and fulfill Your purposes for our lives.   Help us to be about Your business as we live this day and every day.  Amen

Excerpted from a Holy Week Devotional Guide written for South Main Baptist Church in 2011

by Dr. Linda Brupbacher

Holy Week is a special time in many Christian traditions.  It begins today.  I’ll post a short devotional for each day during this Holy Week—beginning today.  Each is excerpted from a Holy Week Devotional Guide I wrote for South Main Baptist Church.  Each will include a reference to a scripture, a short reflection on that portion of scripture and a prayer.  I hope these will be meaningful to you.

Sunday, March 24, Palm Sunday
Mark 11, 1-11

Actually, two processions entered Jerusalem on what has come to be known as Palm Sunday:  a royal procession and Jesus’ procession.  Pontius Pilot had left his luxurious headquarters in Caesarea Maritima to help keep the peace in Jerusalem during Passover.   His entourage entered the city with all the trappings of power typical for an influential representative of the Roman government. This contrasted sharply with Jesus’ entry into the city.  Unlike Pontius Pilot, Jesus rode on a lowly donkey–not on a strong, regal stallion.  Accompanied by peasants, not cavalry and soldiers, Jesus’ procession represented the kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of Rome (the source and symbol of power and prestige in that society). 

As Jesus rode into the city, people shouted, “Hosanna!”  There was honor, hope and real joy.  For Jesus and for His followers, it was a time of celebration.   I marvel at His ability to celebrate on that day.  Jesus was entering Jerusalem–where He knew He would soon be arrested, ridiculed, tortured and crucified.  Surely He had already begun to feel some of the dread He expressed in the garden when He asked God to spare Him from death on the cross.  Yet, somehow He didn’t let fear and apprehension about what was coming destroy the beauty and joy of that Sunday.  Instead, He embraced the triumphal entry experience and celebrated with His followers.

Palm Sunday offers us two powerful and positive models: 

(1)   Jesus celebrating and enjoying the specialness  that Palm Sunday offered–and  not letting  dread and worry  about what would happen next poison His present (even when He knew tough times were coming);

(2)   His faithful followers choosing to be part of our savior’s procession rather than that of Pontius Pilot:  honoring Jesus’ way of humility, service and sacrifice rather than Pilot’s way of power, greed and self-protection.

Holy God,

Help us not ruin the positive possibilities of today with dread and worry about what might (or might not) happen in the future.  Help us have the wisdom, strength and courage to join Your procession rather than that of our secular society.  Amen. 

By Dr. Eloise Hughes

It’s almost spring, and my thoughts turn to gardening, especially with my grandchildren, Ben, 7 and Madi, 4.  There are so many parts of gardening I enjoy, getting the soil prepared, planting the seeds, watering and removing weeds, and, of course, harvesting and eating the fresh produce.

And I wonder if this love of seeing the growth and harvest of my garden is a result of my becoming a teacher…because, you see, we as teachers prepare ourselves by working hard and long, developing our professional selves and spending many hours in prayer, asking God to bless our endeavors.  In addition, we prepare our classrooms to be the best possible environment in which children can learn. Planting the “seeds” of knowledge and love of learning into our students is one of the most important elements of our job.  Along the way, we encourage, mentor and discipline our students so that the outcome of their time with us will be the most productive experience possible. 

Most of all, we love the maturing and growth of each child we teach. Some catch on to each new skill and quickly master the content; others take much longer and lots more work on our part to produce successful efforts.  I am reminded of my radishes; 15 days after planting, radishes are ready to harvest. The grandchildren love to pull these, not eat them, just pull them out of the ground; they are not very patient waiting for the other plants to produce…

…at the same time I remember a black-eyed pea that had hardened over the fall/winter months and worked itself down in between the bricks on our back porch.  A few weeks ago, during a rainy period, the life in that black-eyed pea finally sprouted forth to the amazement of all of us!  But however long it takes, the fresh produce is always worth the wait!

Teachers have to exhibit that same kind of patient spirit, loving the quick learners and as well as the “light bulb” moments in those who struggle along the way, but finally succeed.

As I continue in my profession of working with young adults who desire a teaching career of their own, I have continued to enjoy seeing the wonderful harvest!

I am very proud to admit that I continue to keep in touch with many, many students I have taught over the years, and, now I am at an age when memories of my time with them have become even more precious to me. Try to visualize your own life after 40 years of teaching, and think of the hundreds of children whose lives you will have touched and maybe even changed…it’s an absolutely wonderful  perspective to take even as you begin your career.

In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul states, ^“I planted the seed, another (Apollos) watered it, but God has been making it grow.”   Teachers know the same is true of each student…we may plant a seed and see it grow, or we may plant and wait for what seems like forever for results, and sometimes, we plant and never know what eventually happens…but with God at our side guiding us along the journey, teaching continues the most rewarding profession of them all!

Suggested Bible reading: Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23

Photography courtesy of Jim Hughes Photography

by Dr. Linda Brupbacher

Not long before Christmas, a friend was complaining about someone she employs as a caregiver.  Cooking then cleaning up the kitchen is part of the caregiver’s ongoing responsibilities.  Yet dirty dishes were left in the sink.  In frustration, my friend said, “It only takes three minutes to rinse them and put them in the dishwasher.”   She’s right—about dirty dishes and about so many other things as well.  Picking up my office and clearing my desk before I go home, filing papers, sending an email expressing appreciation, greeting students at the classroom door, recapping at the end of a lesson or meeting, previewing the next lesson, meeting or task:  they all take three minutes (or less).  The list could go on and on—and include activities in both personal and professional arenas.

Self-talk, the messages we send to ourselves, can help focus, calm, encourage and motivate us. The brief phrase (it’ll only takes 3 minutes) and the core idea it embodies have become helpful self-talk for me.  When I’m tired and ready to go home (and not wanting to clean up my office before I leave),  I tell myself, “It’ll only take 3 minutes.”  Somehow that encourages me to go on and pick up.  I’m applying the “only three minutes” self-talk to other things as well—at home and at school.

 It’ll only take 3 minutes: it’s a short but potentially motivating bit of self talk.  I wonder:  are there times when “it’ll only take 3 minutes” might be useful to you or to your students?  Is there other self-talk that is or might be helpful? 

by Dr. Linda Brupbacher

By Dr. Stephanie Ellis

Long have educators and mental health professionals known that working while in school has mixed benefits and detriments for student development. And long have we believed that more hours equals worse performance. In fact, there’s been a rule of thumb for quite some time that – while in high school – anything over 15 hours per week should be avoided. Alas, for many students who are partly (or even fully!) supporting their family,  that is impossible.

A new look at the data now suggests the picture is much more complex (as we should suspect, since we are complex people living in a complex culture and a complex world). A recent article in Developmental Psychology (Bachman, Staff, O’Malley, & Freedman-Doan, 2013) reports findings from over 600,000 high school students over two decades that show strong cultural influences in how school and work impact students.

Let’s start with this: It’s easy to assume that long work hours means less time for homework and study, which causes lower grades. And that’s certainly possible. But also consider the self-selection explanation – that students who are doing poorly academically choose to work more hours (for many possible reasons). And what about cultural differences? There are clear differences in both ethnicity and SES in terms of how often students get hired (i.e., White and Asian American students and those from a high SES background are more likely to be hired) and how many hours they work (i.e., Latino/a and African American students and those from a lower SES background are much more likely to work longer hours).

And now let’s add this: In addition to the strong, repeat finding that longer work hours correlate with lower school performance, longer work hours also correlate with more substance use! So is impulsivity a factor in all three? How about stress? Are students who work longer just out at night more, so they’re more likely to drink and use drugs, and thus don’t perform as well at school? Or is something else going on? What clarity can we get here?

Bachman et al.’s (2013) findings don’t answer this question. If anything, they add a shade more to the complexity of the issue. Here’s the big news: White, Asian American, and higher-SES students show MUCH stronger correlations among the three variables (that is, when they work longer hours, their school work suffers much more and they are more prone to substance use). This pattern is much less evident for Latino/a, African American, and low-SES students. In a nutshell, “it thus appears that any costs possibly attributable to long hours of student work are most severe for those who are most advantaged” (p. 1).

Here are some possible explanations the authors give: Among the more advantaged students, those who choose to work long hours, drink more, and underperform in school are just the ones who are acting out, and all three of those domains are areas for them to show their rebelliousness.  For the less advantaged students, those who are selected for jobs may be those who are less prone to problematic behaviors like drinking and low academic effort. It may also be that more advantaged students work less because they need to and more to accumulate “play money,” whereas those students from less advantaged backgrounds see their work as important for supporting the family financially and as a stepping stone for their careers, which could indicate different value systems that interact differently with academic work and substance use. These are just a few among many possible explanations, but they serve to begin describing the complexity of these issues.

So it’s to you, now…

Teachers and future teachers – what do you make of this? What does it tell you about helping students balance their lives and achieve academically?

College and graduate students – what’s your story? How much are you working? Partying? Studying? What relationship do you think these factors have for you?

And here’s the full reference, if you want to read the article for yourself:

Bachman, Staff, O’Malley, & Freedman-Doan. (2013). Adolescent work intensity, school performance, and substance use: Links vary by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Developmental Psychology, no pp. doi: 10.1037/a0031464