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HOW TO TEACH!        DO 1828        Carrie, France 12/10/80

       1. IF YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE SCRIPTURE READING, I FIGURE YOU GUYS AT LEAST WOULD HAVE SETTLED DOWN & GOTTEN QUIET BY THIS TIME! I hate to come in the midst of confusion like I have the last several times, in a big hubbub, & it takes a half-an-hour to get you guys settled down! So I don't want another big break & a lot of confusion right now, if you don't mind, because we're very short on time & I want to get right into it! Amen, Lord bless this little review now, they've already prayed & sung & studied & read & meditated, & now we trust that we shall find out that they have learned something. Bless our little sharing together, Lord, & make it a blessing, in Jesus' name. Amen!
       2. I'LL GIVE YOU A LITTLE REVIEW & SEE IF YOU LEARNED ANYTHING FROM YOUR READING. I'll not surprise anybody, but I'll start going around the circle. I like that. That way you get prepared for the shock & you know who's going to be asked a question next! One of my favourite teachers was a classical music & dance appreciation teacher in college. He was himself an outstanding ballet artist, especially interested in ballet, so he taught us a lot about ballet & had us listen to a lot of ballets & ballyhoo! He had a class of about 200 of us, just a semester elective course, one of those things you don't have to take if you don't want to, but it was a lot of fun & I figured there wasn't much work to it & not much study, so I took it. There was no textbook, it was all lectures & music, & you got to sit there for a couple of hours sometimes just listening to beautiful music.
       3. BUT HE HAD ONE BAD HABIT!--Which I guess maybe was a good thing in some ways, because if you really listened, you should know all the answers. You didn't know who was going to be called on next, much less know the question, but he would just pick somebody out & he had a phenomenal memory for the names of the people in the class. He'd do like this: "Richard, who was the World's first great male ballet dancer of modern times who could do three pirouettes in midair before hitting the ground again?" Well, the answer, of course, was Nijinsky. If you got it & you knew the right answer, he gave you 100 for the course, & that was the only question he asked you for the course! If you missed it--zero!
       4. YOUR WHOLE COURSE WAS DEPENDENT ON YOUR BEING ABLE TO ANSWER ONE QUESTION, & YOU NEVER KNEW WHAT IT WAS GOING TO BE! Some, of course, loved him for it, those who knew their music & artists, & some of them hated him. And I was sure thankful, I don't think he ever got around to me!--Ha! I don't remember just what he did with the people he never popped a question to, I think he just passed them, apparently, because I passed. So if you didn't know the answer, woe be to you! But if you knew the answer--100! I thought that was the most unfair way to give an examination of anything I ever saw!
       5. I ALWAYS GAVE AT LEAST 50 TO 100 QUESTIONS ON ONE OF MY EXAMINATIONS. That gives you a much better overall average, because then the teacher knows whether you have a pretty good grasp of the subject, & you're bound to know some of'm. In fact, you're probably bound to know most of'm. I used to give them credit for passing if they knew at least 50% of the answers, at least half of them.--And I graded on the curve besides. If the highest grade in the class was 50 & they only got half the answers, I gave them an A-plus & I graded on down the line to zero.--Ha! (Fam: I bet they really loved you for that!) Yes, they did.
       6. WELL, I LEARNED MY LESSON BY GRADING THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY WHEN I FIRST GOT THERE AS A TEACHER. When I was in school before as a student myself they had the numerical percentage grades, didn't even use A & B. They used exact percentages according to the percentage of questions that you were able to answer correctly on a final exam. So you made either 97, 98, 99 or 100 exactly depending on the number. And the exams usually contained never less than 25 questions, which gave you a value of four for each question or as high as 100 total. Usually they gave you a 25, 50 or 100-question exam, which I thought was very fair, & that's the way I did too.
       7. BUT I HAD SUCH A DUMB BUNCH OF STUDENTS! I had to assign them the lessons to read, & then we'd go over them in class, & then we'd review'm again before the exam. The first time I'd assign them homework to read, next time we would discuss it in class, the third time when we were ready for the exam we'd review the same chapter, whatever it was, fourth time we'd give'm the exam, fifth time we would go over the exam again in class & give'm the right answers so they could see what they missed & why. We would go over that lesson & those facts at least five times in any given class, & by that time they should know them pretty well. So all of those things helped them remember.
       8. BUT GRADING THAT WAY WAS PRETTY SEVERE FOR SOME DUMB BUNNIES WHO COULD HARDLY EVEN READ IN CALIFORNIA! Here were kids getting into Junior High School & they couldn't even read yet, think of it! Poor kids!--And a lot of them were pretty dumb, which is one reason they sent them to our school & paid to have us teach'm instead of sending them to public school, because in public school they couldn't make it. We had to be a kind of combination reformatory & retarded students' outfit & it wasn't too easy.
       9. WE HAD REPORT CARDS EVERY MONTH & MY FIRST MONTH OF TEACHING I FLUNKED SO MANY OF'M IT WAS PITIFUL! They didn't even hardly know any answers! I turned in my report cards to the Superintendent & he came rushing down almost hysterical! He said, "Dave, if I give these report cards to their parents, we are going to have a war! It's going to be bedlam! These parents are all going to be down here after my scalp! They pay to send these kids here, & they don't pay for grades like this! Now listen, if you had a certain proportion of your students failing, then that would be normal! But when most of the class is failing, or at least half the class got F in the course, then it's not the student, there's something wrong with the teacher!"
       10. WELL, I DIDN'T NECESSARILY AGREE WITH HIM ON THAT, but since he was the boss & I was the employee & the teacher, I had to accept what he said, that there was something wrong with the teacher.--And he said the thing that was wrong with the teacher was that I didn't grade on the curve. He said, "A class only knows & learns as much as the teacher teaches them." I said, "Well, when I was in school you were supposed to read the text & learn it out of the book! The teacher didn't have time to teach you everything!"--Just like I did with you today. I was very busy with something very urgent that had to get out quick, so I thought I'd experiment with a little Study Hall for a change. Did you have a good time? (Family: Yes!) Very good. There's no use my sitting here while you have to do all that which you can do on your own!
       11. SO I SAID, "OKAY, IF YOU SAY SO, YOU'RE THE BOSS!" Well, I kind of got to where I liked the idea. For one reason, it made our report cards look a lot better, made me look a lot better too, made the poor students look a lot better & everybody was a lot happier, including the parents!--And they weren't sorry to fork over their money every month. But in a way, in that kind of a class it's the only fair way to do it, & the only way to do it at all where they make any kind of a showing.
       12. THIS IS WHAT THE BIBLE CALLS "JUDGING OURSELVES BY OURSELVES!" (2Cor.10:12) It's not by the rest of the World or 100% of 100 questions, but comparing ourselves with ourselves we would take the guy with the highest grade on the test & give him A-plus, & work on down from there. The next highest guy got an A & the next guy got an A-minus, the next guy got a B-plus, B, B-minus & so on down the line. I had two groups of them because I had 50 students, 25 in each grade, about 25 7th-graders & 25 8th-graders, & I had to teach them both. Each one was a whole class in itself but with only one teacher.
       13. IT WAS KIND OF LIKE THE OLD COUNTRY SCHOOL, ONLY A WHOLE LOT MORE STUDENTS THAN MOST OF THEM HAD. A country school is a one-room school where they had several different grades going & usually only had about a dozen or two dozen students. But when you've got 50 Los Angelinos, some carrying knives & some straight out of reform school & a lot of tough characters--one girl already had a baby & a few other things--why, it was a pretty rough class! That's the age which all educators say is the most difficult to discipline & where you have the most disciplinary problems. Up through about the 6th grade they'll more or less eat out of your hand, they're not too hard to control. They usually really love their teachers & try to please, except for a few little rotters. But by the time they get to the 7th & 8th grade they're 12, 13 & 14 years old & declaring their independence from everything.
       14. THEY ARE THE ORIGINAL DROPOUTS! They no longer want to obey parents nor teachers nor preachers nor politicians nor the System nor anybody! They are in a state of declaring independence from anything & everybody! That's when they usually drop out of church. They'd drop out of school if they could, & they do a lot, play hookey & get in all kinds of trouble. They are almost full-grown in body but not in mind.
       15. THIS IS LARGELY DUE, OF COURSE, TO THE FACT THAT THEIR PARENTS DIDN'T GIVE THEM THE PROPER TRAINING & DISCIPLINING & CERTAINLY DIDN'T BRING THEM UP IN THE NURTURE & ADMONITION OF THE LORD. David here will probably be a preacher by the time he's 12 or 13! He's already a preacher & loves the Lord & loves & knows the Word, & so did my first children. They were never delinquents or juvenile problems. Sometimes they were problems but nothing really serious.
       16. THE WORST ONE THAT I HAD THE MOST PROBLEMS WITH WAS DEBORAH. She was the most rebellious & the most stubborn & the most wilful & the most selfish & the most like her mother, sorry to say.--Because her mother reared her & her mother was the only one that could even talk to her, & treated her more like a sister than a child. She spoiled her rotten & there was nothing I could do, because every time I would try to discipline her, her mother would intervene & interfere & Deborah was her little pet. Well, now you see how well it came out.
       17. BUT THE OTHER THREE WERE AMAZING! Aaron was definitely an iconoclast & definitely a rebel, but he was usually quite obedient. He wouldn't always take it without asking why, but he would want some good reason for it & some good legal, lawful reason why he should have to do so-&-so. I'd usually have to quote him Scripture or it didn't work! Pretty soon he got to knowin' the Bible better than I did & he always had an answer for everything!--Ha!--But by that time he was leading the Revolution & playing his guitar & inspired & composing as I don't think anybody I've ever seen or heard before or since!--Living with his head in the clouds & in the Spirit World nearly all the time & spouting out such wisdom & music & Scripture!
       18. I USED TO REALLY DEPEND ON AARON BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW ALL THE REFERENCES MOST OF THE TIME. I can tell you approximately where it is or what book it's in or maybe even whether it's in the first half, last half or whatever, who said it, but my parents didn't emphasise memorising the references, I'm sorry to say. They made me memorise a lot of Scripture & I can tell you which Psalm I'm quoting & that sort of thing, but I wasn't too good on exact references. But there was not a verse of Scripture in the Bible I could quote but what Aaron could instantly give me the references just like that!
       19. I'LL NEVER FORGET AT HIS GRADUATION FROM HIGH SCHOOL the head of the History Department or the Dean said, "You know, you should be sure that that boy goes into Law School. He's got a brilliant mind! He's got the mind of a lawyer! If you don't make a lawyer out of him you'll be failing that boy, because he could be a brilliant lawyer!" I said, "He already is!" He said, "What?" I said, "He's already a lawyer of the greatest Law in the World!--God's Law!" He was kind of stunned & shocked, but being a good old Texan, & most of them are God-fearing, he sort of nodded his head & went, "Hm, hm, well, that's not too bad!" And dear Aaron, that's as far as he got too, high-school, & the Bible was his college & that's all he needed.
       20. ALL THESE DOPE ADDICTS & DRUNKS & WILD GIRLS & HIPPIES & WHATNOT WHO HAD BEEN THROUGH THE MILL WOULD GIVE THEIR TESTIMONY, & he'd get up with his guitar about to play a song & he'd say, "Well, I was a dirty, filthy, vile, stinking little sinner till I got saved at the age of five!" Ha!--And everybody would roar! Well, if you rear them as you should, you wouldn't have so much trouble. But these were some classes I had, & I was thankful in the long run that my teacher gave me that out, that I could grade them on the curve.--Get the highest grade in the class & start there on down.
       21. THAT'S WHY THEY ALL GOT SO MAD AT ME IN MY LAST YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL! I entered one of the biggest High Schools in California, Monterey Union High School. They ran the buses as far as 60 miles away to pick up students.--Not a round trip, those poor kids from Big Sur rode the bus 60 miles in the morning & 60 miles to go home at night!--And they came from everywhere around there, including halfway to Salinas & halfway to Santa Cruz. It was a huge monstrous school!
       22. THEY HAD A GREAT BIG TOUGH ATHLETIC TEAM, footballers & in every sport, who were really great stars & great leaders in that area in sports. They were great from their shoulders on down, but from there on up, forget it! Their poor fathers & mothers had been cotton-pickers & migrant workers & field workers & whatnot & the poor kids had never had much education & didn't know very much & they were pretty dumb. I felt sorry for'm.
       23. WHEN I CAME & STARTED IN MY LAST YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL I HAD TO MAKE UP A YEAR-&-A-HALF OF CREDITS IN ONLY SEVEN MONTHS. So I went to work on it & took the books home & studied & read. I always liked to make good grades, not just for the grades but I always liked to do my work well & learn & get it right, so I did.
       24. AND WHEW! DROPPING ME IN THAT CLASS WAS LIKE DROPPING A BOMB! Up to that time the teachers had been grading there on the curve too & everybody looked like they were doing great, even though nobody made hardly even 50 on a test! Then I started getting straight 100's or in the 90's every single time. Well, you know what that does to the curve! It's like that old joke about the coloured Pullman porter that I told you. Remember that one? Ah, I'm so glad it's been so long you forgot it!
       25. THE ENGLISHMAN WAS VISITING AMERICA, so after the porter made up his bed on the train that night the Englishman got out his purse & reached in & said, "How much am I supposed to tip you? What's the average tip you're supposed to get?" The coloured boy saw his opportunity, & this was way-back-when, remember. He said, "Oh, five dollars, Boss. Five dollars!"--Ha! So the Englishman started pulling five dollars out of his wallet & he said, "That seems to me a bit high", but he gave the five dollars to the coloured boy. The coloured boy looked at him & said, "Yes, Boss, you's the first one what's come up to the average!"--Ha! So that's sort of like what happened to my class when I landed in it, I was the first one that had come up to the average!--The first one that'd ever hit that class who made such good grades!
       26. SO THE POOR STAR ATHLETES WERE PRACTICALLY SCREAMING, READY TO WRING MY NECK! I was almost afraid for my life! First they started begging me, "Dave, please, please, don't make such high grades! You're making us all look bad! We're going to flunk out on the football team, we're going to flunk out of sports, we've gotta make so much to stay in." I said, "Well, I can't help it, why don't you guys study? All you have to do is read the book like I do!" Poor guys, a lot of them could hardly read!
       27. THEY SAID, "WELL, CAN'T YOU JUST MISS A FEW, YOU KNOW?" I said, "I'm sorry, it's against my religion! If they ask me a question, I have to tell the truth! I'm not going to lie. If I know the answer I've gotta give it!" They said, "But couldn't you slip us a few then? Just slip us a few!" Poor guys! I had all the football team sitting all around me whispering, "Hey Dave, what's the answer?"--Trying to get the answer!
       28. I SAID, "BOYS, I CAN'T DO THAT EITHER! THAT'S AGAINST MY RELIGION! THAT'S CHEATIN'! That's allowing you to steal. That's letting you lie! First you steal the answer, & even if I give it to you, it's a lie, it's not true, you don't know it & you'll get a grade that's false! I'm sorry, it's against my religion!"--Ha! I said, "I just can't do it!" Well, that was one required class they had to take, I think it was California history. It was only a semester course & almost the whole football team, track team & everybody was in there.
       29. BEFORE THE NEXT REPORT CARD CAME OUT, THE TEACHER SAID, "DAVE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO TAKE THIS COURSE. You obviously know it, so I'm just going to give you an A for the course & you can transfer now & take something else, because you need to make up a lot of credits. I'll give you full credit for the course." I thought, "Well, how can I pass up a chance like that?"
       30. AT FIRST I WAS QUITE PROUD OF MYSELF & THOUGHT, "MY, I DID SO WELL!" They used to do that in early years of school, they'd skip you a grade & here I was gettin' to skip again after all these years! But then a little bit afterwards when I began to meet the football team & they were all smiles & all so nice to me, it began to dawn on me why I was allowed to skip this grade!--Ha!--Because the coach was determined not to lose any of his players & I could've been the cause!
       31. WELL, I WAS JUST TELLING YOU ABOUT HOW I USED TO GIVE TESTS & how some other teachers used to give tests. I didn't like that one-question-per-semester exam! So I always really tried to be fair to my students. I wouldn't even give'm 25 questions, I'd give'm 50! It was easy to give a 50-question test & lots of them had simple little answers that they could easily know.
       32. AND WHEN IT CAME TO THE BIBLE, I BELIEVED IN GIVING OPEN-BIBLE TESTS! They had Bible in Christian school & also later in the Soul Clinic course, & I figured this way, that you're always going to be using your Bible when you're witnessing, you'll usually have it with you & you'll usually open it to show them the passage etc. & let them read it, which is the most effective way of witnessing.--Not just quote it to them, not just read it to them, but turn around & say, "Here!"--& hand it to them & let them read it for themselves! It's very effective, because they'll memorise & remember 80% of what they see & only 40% of what they hear.
       33. SO I FIGURED IF THEY'RE GOING TO USE THEIR BIBLE IN WITNESSING, THAT BIBLE TESTS COULD BE OPEN BIBLE TESTS!--WHAT THEY USED TO CALL IN SCHOOL, OPEN-BOOK TESTS. I used to give a few of those, especially on a lot of these big long thick history books & stuff like that, that had all these facts & names & dates & places. I thought, "My Lord, that's hard enough even for me to remember!" I'd gotten into school so late, about a month or so of school had already gone by & four teachers before me had quit. I was the fifth & I almost quit, I wanted to quit!--Ha! Whew!--But I finally got to where I really loved that job & loved those kids & I stuck with it for about three years with only one interruption--the Soul Clinic!
       34. BUT IT WAS TOUGH AT FIRST BECAUSE THE KIDS REALLY KNEW MORE ABOUT THE COURSE THAN I DID! They had the textbooks before I did & they were already supposed to be studying them, although you wouldn't have known it with some of them. So I tried to keep at least one jump ahead of'm & I would say, "Now your assignment for tonight is to read chapter so-&-so!"--And I'd rush home right after my bus route & start reading it myself, because I hadn't read it either!--Ha! So it was my assignment for the night & I had to read that chapter the night before so that when I got to school the next day I'd at least be up with them. Of course, they were supposed to have read it that night too & a lot of them didn't, so that was their own fault.
       35. SO I'D EVEN GIVE'M OPEN-BOOK TESTS THEN, LIKE I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU RIGHT NOW! I figured if they had read it, they'd at least know where to find it & they could remember that they'd read it somewhere & they could find the answer there somewhere. And to make it real easy I'd start right at the beginning of the chapter & start asking questions. So even if they hadn't read it that night, if they were real smart & fast readers, they could find it real quick.
       36. YOU SAY, "WELL, THAT VIOLATES THE RULES OF HOMEWORK ETC., DOESN'T IT?" No, I figured the idea of school was to learn, & it was to learn facts--names, places & dates. I didn't care how they learned them, as long as they learned them! They got kind of a kick out of trying to find them, & you could tell the ones who'd read the chapter the night before because they found them real quick, the really good students. But the ones who hadn't, of course, were really searching the Scriptures to see if these things be true, & it wasn't too easy on'm! So I could pretty well tell who had studied & who hadn't. At least when they found it, they usually remembered it. If they hadn't remembered it from the night before, at least they remembered from finding it that day, & it's amazing how little things like that will help things stick in your head.
       37. THEY ALWAYS EXCHANGED PAPERS, OF COURSE, TO CORRECT EXAMS, YOU DIDN'T CORRECT YOUR OWN PAPER. I always made sure they didn't exchange just with the guy next door or in front or behind, either, who were usually good friends or neighbours & with whom they could somehow work things out! They usually exchanged with people at a great distance. I'd say, "Row so-&-so, exchange with row so-&-so." They'd never know what row they were going to exchange with so they couldn't make advance preparations to make a deal!--And it was always a different row!
       38. THOSE TEMPTATIONS COME TO ALL STUDENTS, YOU KNOW--OR A LOT OF THEM ANYWAY!--Ha! Even dear Peter knew what I meant by looking in the palm of his hand for the answers! A lot of our students were very good palmists, they could read palms!--Especially if they'd written the answers in their palm before class!--Ha! Some of the little rascals would even write on their cuff, & I'm sure their mothers didn't like that!
       39. LET'S SEE, WE HAD HOMEWORK, CLASS DISCUSSION, REVIEW, EXAM, CORRECTING THE EXAM, & then when they got their paper back, everybody would want to know what was wrong with this answer & this, that & the other, & they'd go over their own paper again, the sixth time they went over those facts! And of course particularly the ones they missed they were very interested in to see what was wrong & how they missed it. A lot of them were like the boy in "Peanuts": Once when they lost the ball game he said, "How could we lose when we're so sincere?" No matter how sincere they were, they could still miss questions if they didn't know'm!--Ha!--Which is another proof that, "There's a way which seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death!" (Pro.14:12)
       40. THERE WERE A LOT OF QUESTIONS THEY THOUGHT THEY HAD THE RIGHT ANSWERS TO & THEY WANTED TO ARGUE ABOUT, SO WE HAD TO HAVE AN OPEN DISCUSSION TIME AFTER THEY GOT THEIR PAPERS BACK. They'd say, "Well, he just couldn't read the way I spelled it, that's all!" I'd say, "Well, bring it here, I'll look at it."--And sometimes they were right. Sometimes it got to somebody critical or into a good student's hand & they were a little too self-righteous & a little too hard on'm, but if they were close I'd give them half credit. For some of the poor dumb ones I used to say, "Well, even if you couldn't spell it, if you started it with the right letter, you were trying to spell it. I know you had the right word in mind even if you couldn't spell it right." I mean, I had to, I had some real dummies in that class!
       41. I'LL NEVER FORGET MANUEL OREJA, HE WAS A GIANT, WHEW! I mean, he was over six feet tall & on the football team & everything, a great huge big guy! He walked up to me & looked down at me like this, you know, "Now look here, brother so-&-so!"--And I paid attention! And the poor guy, he was all brawn & not much brain--through no fault of his or God's & maybe not his parents, but the System--because he hadn't learned very much & he was pretty thick. So I always tried to give these guys the best deal I possibly could, often open-book tests, & if they had read it, why of course it was pretty easy. If they hadn't read it, well, that was a little difficult, they had to read quick. So they really had no excuse for not knowing the answers.
       42. I FIGURED THAT THE MAIN IDEA OF SCHOOL & OF LEARNING IS TO LEARN, & TO LEARN IS TO KNOW. The sad part about some people is they're "ever learning & never coming to a knowledge", as the Scripture says. (2Tim.3:7) It means they're always being taught & you're trying to teach them, but it never sticks in their heads! It goes in one ear & out the other, or whatever. It just doesn't seem to stick. So I thought that if I went over the answers enough times it would make it easier for them to remember.
       43. SOME OF THE TEACHERS THOUGHT I SOMETIMES MADE IT TOO EASY GIVING OPEN-BOOK TESTS & THAT SORT OF THING. They said, "Anybody could find the answers that way!" I said, "Good, my purpose is for them to be able to find & know the answers! If I can make it easier for them to do so, then I will. It's not necessarily strictly a memory course, although I do want'm to remember, & the more we go over it & the more they read it, the more they see it & the more they hear it, the more they will remember it!" The law of memory is repetition!--Repeat, repeat, repeat!
       44. SOME PEOPLE HAVE CRITICISED MY PROSE--A NICE JOURNALISTIC WORD FOR WRITINGS--FOR THEIR TAUTOLOGY. Do you know what that is? (Fam: Is that going over & over & over it?) Repetition, repeating & repeating & repeating the same thing so many times. But by the time I get done, you're not apt to forget it! I've said it so many times, so many ways, the same thing, that usually when you get done with a Letter you know what it was about & you know what I was trying to get across & what I said! The Lord does the same thing in His Word, He repeats, repeats, repeats, over & over again.
       45. SO I'VE HAD PEOPLE CRITICISE & SAY, "WELL, IT'S FULL OF TAUTOLOGY, REPETITIOUS!" One lawyer that criticised my writings for that, a friend of one of our FFers, said, "But it's true, I'm a lawyer & that's one way to make people remember! We do it in law all the time. We go before the jury & we repeat & repeat & repeat till they have memorised it & they can't forget it! We keep repeating & repeating certain facts & certain points of the case to the jury so they can't forget it!"
       46. SO THIS AFTERNOON WE ARE DOING WHAT SOME TEACHERS DO, WE ARE STUDYING ABOUT STUDYING!--Without studying what we're supposed to be studying! But maybe you learned a little something from it anyway. (Family: Yes!) At least maybe you learned what my policy is & that I'm a pretty easy-going teacher & I won't make it too hard on you. Well, it's 6:30 & that's as long as we should go & that's going to be the end of your lesson for today!
       47. CAN YOU GET A MORAL OUT OF THAT ONE? WHAT'S THE MORAL OF THAT LESSON? I just taught you a lesson, really, on teaching & on learning! (Fam: Make it easy for people to learn.) Try to make it as easy for them as you can. I really used to think some teachers in school deliberately tried to make it as hard for us as they could.
       48. I'LL NEVER FORGET MY POLITICAL SCIENCE TEACHER IN UNIVERSITY. They gave us a book this thick to read--this wide, this tall & that thick--for a one semester course we were having! I mean, you had to read reams every day to get around to that class next week even! It was terrible!--And it was so complicated & it was so involved & blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, people's opinions of different politicians & political systems & historics of politics & all that kind of stuff. I didn't realise it was so bad until I started taking that course.--Ha! I really was sick of the System then!
       49. WHEN I WAS GETTING NEAR THE END OF THE SEMESTER, I GOT FED UP! I didn't make a very good grade on the final exam, I think one of the poorest grades I ever got. He didn't like me, anyhow, 'cause I was always challenging him in class. He was trying to put across his ideas & his philosophies & I would frequently challenge them because they were frequently a challenge to my Christian outlook on things. So I was kind of a thorn in his flesh & he didn't like me anyhow & he gave me a pretty poor grade.
       50. IT'S FUNNY HOW KIDS TAKE GRADES! Did you ever notice that in school when they'd get their report card? If it was an A they said, "Oh, look what I made!" If it was a D or an F they said, "Look what the teacher gave me!" That's just human nature!--Ha!--And it goes on all through life! If you accomplish something good, "Hm, look what I did!" But if you didn't do so well, "Hm, look what they made me do! It was their fault. She made me do it. He did it. God did it. It was His fault!" People go all the way through life with that same attitude.
       51. SO EVEN IF WE DIDN'T GET INTO YOUR BIBLE LESSON TODAY, YOU DID YOUR HOMEWORK, I TRUST, & IT WASN'T EVEN HOMEWORK, I LET YOU DO IT IN CLASS!--Pretty easy! Maybe you needed a little lesson on teaching others to teach others to teach others, because one of these days you'll be teaching others. Having sat here I'm sure you will, God willing, & nearly everybody who has, has gone on to teach others.
       52. WE'VE HAD A VERY LOW PERCENTAGE OF FAILURE FROM THIS CLASS, THANK THE LORD, SO THAT SHOULD ENCOURAGE YOU! When they graduated & went elsewhere, they went on up the scale from this bottom to some higher place & are now running some parts of the World! Dave & Carmen used to be our gardener & maid, & she couldn't even speak English. Well, now they're running the whole Latin-speaking World & doing a tremendous job of it. That's quite a big territory to rule over, huh?
       53. SEE, IF YOU'RE FAITHFUL IN A FEW THINGS LIKE GARDENING & MAID WORK, ONE OF THESE DAYS WE'LL MAKE YOU A RULER OVER MANY THINGS WITH A LOT BIGGER RESPONSIBILITY & A LOT MORE TO DO! They just simply were lowest of the low, bottom of the totem pole even in our little Colony, but they were faithful & diligent & they sat at my feet & learned & did well & they went on from being gardener & maid to something far greater. They finished their education with me, they finished this course & are gone on to a greater responsibility, taking care of translation of all the Letters into Spanish & Portuguese.
       54. DID YOU HEAR SOMETHING? (Maria: I wanted her to make sure Techi was warm enough.) Oh me, she went in there & woke her up! (Maria: She was ready to wake up anyway.) Well, Honey, I would rather have seen her sleep for these few moments of the rest of the class than to have disturbed her to cover her! Obviously your mind wasn't on the lesson.
       55. I USED TO CALL ON PEOPLE FOR ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS WHEN I COULD SEE THEY WEREN'T PAYING ATTENTION! It's amazing how when you're in a class or a church congregation, you think you're lost & nobody knows what you're thinking, but I could always tell when somebody's mind was wandering. Even if they're looking you straight in the eye, you can usually tell if their mind is wandering, & I would stop & ask a question.--And almost invariably they didn't know the answer because they weren't listening, & I knew it. That's why I asked them, to wake them up!
       56. BUT ANYHOW, WHERE WAS I? Most preachers wouldn't ask that while preaching because they're supposed to know everything. I've known a lot of preachers that went right on & forgot to finish what they were saying because they were ashamed to admit to the congregation that they had lost their place & lost their train of thought. But I used to stop & ask the class, "Now let's see, where was I?" It not only helped me to find out where I was, but also helped me to find out if they were listening. So where was I? (Fam: You were telling about Dave & Carmen.)
       57. SO YOU'RE IN TRAINING HERE, & WHO KNOWS WHERE YOU MAY GO FROM HERE? We've had very few leave this class or this Unit who have not gone on to greater responsibilities. Very few have failed. We've had a few who flunked, sad to say, like Tim & Deborah & Jethro, there have been a few. Of course, Jethro never wanted to be in my classes to begin with, so I won't necessarily blame him too much. He was kind of roped into it by his wife, who was apparently looking for power & glory, I'm sorry to say.
       58. DEBORAH WAS NEVER VERY DEEP SPIRITUALLY & WAS ALWAYS REBELLIOUS & ALWAYS WANTED HER WAY & USUALLY GOT IT, so that was her way & she got it this time.--But it was certainly the wrong way. You see, when we reject the Truth, when she rejected what Dad told her to do or say, then the Lord allows strong delusion, & now she's under the control of the Evil Magician & has been for a long time, sad to say. Well, I know the Lord loves her & He'll take care of her & teach her a lot of lessons, & maybe some day she'll come back. I know one thing, she'll certainly go to be with the Lord. I think she's having her eighth or ninth child now & I don't know how many more that poor little frame can stand! I used to say she was a strong mind on a weak chassis. Well, sometimes if you have a strong motor on a weak chassis, it's kind of hard on the chassis.
       59. SO ANYHOW, YOU'RE VERY LIKELY TO GO ON & TEACH OTHERS BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN HERE, & most of the people who have been here with us have learned enough to go on & do a pretty good job in another job or responsibility elsewhere. PTL!--And I hope it's an even bigger job than you have now. You say, "Well, how can I have a bigger job than this? I'm with you,this is the top!" As I used to say, "Oh no, this is the bottom!" This is where you start, more or less.
       60. YOU DON'T WORK YOUR WAY UP HERE, REALLY, YOU SORT OF WORK YOUR WAY DOWN! You don't get here until you're pretty well down & broken & humbled & where we're pretty sure the Lord can use you. You've been tried out in a lot of other places first to see if you are humble enough & broken enough that your ego can stand to work here without getting inflated!
       61. SOME PEOPLE WHO'VE COME TO WORK FOR US A LITTLE WHILE GOT INFLATED: "Oh, we worked for Dad!" Well, sometimes they didn't last very long. They went around bragging about it afterwards but showing a very poor example of it, sad to say. I'm thinking about one right now who wasn't with us too long. But anyhow, there've been a few. Most of our students, thank the Lord, make it, pass, graduate & go on to better things! So don't get too bored here because you probably won't be here forever & you'll go on to something better with more variety & less boredom & maybe more action & more responsibility & where you can be your own boss more, maybe, & do more as you please, but maybe with a bigger job & more responsibility.
       62. AS I USED TO TELL SOME OF THE GUYS WHO CRITICISED THE WAY I RAN MY SCHOOLS & CLASSES: "WOULD YOU LIKE THE JOB? DO YOU WANT TO DO IT? I'LL BE GLAD TO GIVE IT TO YOU!" That usually changed most of their tunes! I only had the most egotistical say, "Yeah, I would!"--Smart-alecks! To one smart wise guy, I said, "Well, you're not going to get it because you'd ruin the place in one day!"--Ha! But most of the folks who've worked with us have done well, haven't they, Honey? (Maria: Yes!)--Gone on & done well, TTL!
       63. THAT WAS RACHEL'S PROBLEM, SHE NEVER REALLY HAD ENOUGH TIME TO SIT UNDER MY TEACHING LONG ENOUGH. She was down at the Club a lot, but not in my classes enough. She worked with Deb & Jeth too long, that was her problem.--And that was Tim's problem, he'd been with Rachel too long. So I hope those of you whom we're trying to reclaim from Rachel's old Chain, that we're going to be able to rehabilitate & salvage you & rewire you & brainwash you so that you'll do better!
       64. SHE HAD A PRETTY GOOD CHOICE OF MEN, she really picked the best, the cream of the crop, but she didn't train'm too well in the way we do things. So you may have to have a lot of re-training & re-education when you come here. Well, again we're talking about education, aren't we? This must've been your lesson on education today, but we've got to let you go.
       65. ANYHOW, THAT'S THE WAY I USED TO RUN MY CLASSES, & THAT'S THE WAY YOU'LL FIND ME IN CLASSES WITH YOU AS WELL. I try to make it easy for you to learn.--Like the little story about the little neighbourhood girl that was such a good little girl in her neighbourhood & was always trying to get the kids to do the right things the right way etc. Then she died, went to be with the Lord, & before the burial etc., suddenly at the parents' door several little urchins showed up with a little piece of paper in their hand.
       66. THEY SAID, "WE ALL TALKED ABOUT IT & DECIDED THAT THIS IS WHAT WE'D LIKE FOR YOU TO PUT ON HER TOMBSTONE."--The mother took the little scribbled piece of paper & deciphered it, & it said, "She made it easy for us to be good." And I thought that's a sweet thought, that's what I try to do for you. I try to make it easier for you to be good, I try to make it easy for you to do good, I try to make it easy for you to learn, & easy to learn so that it won't be too difficult for you.
       67. BUT I CERTAINLY TOLD THAT POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR OFF AT THE END OF THAT COURSE! In fact, that was the end of my college education too! I said, "I have decided that these institutions of yours of higher education are designed to try to make things as complicated & as confusing & as involved & as difficult as you can!" You just think about college & all that stuff. I don't know what kind you went to or if you ever did, but they really make it hard for you to learn & hard for you to be good, & they go into so much junk it's ridiculous! I said, "You make simple things complicated! You could take the simplest thing & you make it so complicated nobody can understand it!" I really told him off right in front of the class!
       68. (TECHI: TEDDY BEAR!) Hello, Sweet Baby! Has Teddy Bear been sleeping? I think that Techi's been sleeping too! She was a little embarrassed, she didn't expect to see all of you sitting here so she's a little bit bashful! She isn't bashful very often, so give her credit for being bashful once in awhile. Ha! I love you, Sweet Baby! XXXXXXX!
       69. SO THAT'S YOUR LESSON IN EDUCATION TODAY, & I HOPE WHEN YOU ARE A TEACHER OF OTHERS YOU'LL TRY TO MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM TO LEARN, EASY TO KNOW & EASY TO BE GOOD, BECAUSE THAT'S THE WHOLE IDEA! I want you to know, I want you to learn, I want you to be good. Why make it difficult? Why make it tough? Why make it hard on you? If you can make learning easy, great! Why not? You little sweet baby! XXX! Look at all of our Family all around the table studying their Bibles & listening to Daddy teach'm while you had a good nap! TYJ! Let's hold hands, shall we? Amen! As we pray the prayer He taught us to pray: (Prays the Lord's Prayer.) Bless & keep us the rest of the evening & our absent Family in other places, in Jesus' name. She was very patient, she held my finger the whole time.
       70. IF YOU WONDER WHY I PRAY THE LORD'S PRAYER THAT WAY, SOME DAY I'LL TELL YOU, & THAT'S A WHOLE LESSON IN ITSELF! You can get a whole sermon out of the Lord's Prayer. As you notice, I don't pray it in the usual way that you've learned it in church--they could say it in their sleep & still not even know what it means. I try to put expression & meaning into it the way you ought to pray it, & I hope you learn. Sometimes I pray it a little fast & get ahead of you because you're used to that church rhythm. Instead of lockstep, I break step & it kind of shocks & wakes you up to what you're saying! If you always march in lockstep with everybody else you can do that automatically without even thinking about what you're doing. You learn that in the army.
       71. THAT'S THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF CLOSE-ORDER DRILL, & HERE I'M TALKING ABOUT TEACHING AGAIN! You spend hours in close-order drill on the drill field: "Left, right, left, right, left, right! One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four! One, two, three, halt!" You learn all those things: "Left, right, left, right, one, two, three, about face, to the left, march! To the right, march!" You learn all these things in close-order drill. You'd get to where you could just do it automatically without even thinking about it!
       72. THAT'S THE WHOLE IDEA OF THE ARMY, TO LEARN TO OBEY AUTOMATICALLY WITHOUT THOUGHT! That's why I feel so sorry for these poor guys who were in Hitler's army. The Germans were notoriously good disciplinarians to teach their army & officers to obey without even thinking about what they were doing. They're not supposed to think about it, they're just supposed to obey, they're just supposed to do it. They're not supposed to stop & think it over as to whether they should or not, the whole idea is instant obedience, to make obedience absolutely instantaneous without thought, without consideration, just like a machine, automatic.
       73. WE'D PRACTICE SOMETIMES TWO-TO-FOUR HOURS ON THE DRILL FIELD JUST MARCHIN' UP & DOWN! They called it close-order drill & I really enjoyed it, believe it or not, I loved it! It was fascinating! It was good exercise to get outside in the fresh air & sunshine, anyhow, or go outside sometimes in the snow & the moonshine! But anyway, it was really interesting to be able to snap instantly to those orders & know exactly which way to do it. It's really fascinating! Some of the poor guys never could get the hang of it, it was pitiful! They were always going the wrong direction & lousing things up or something, especially when they were new. But thank God in Boy Scouts I'd had some close-order drill, so when I got to the army it was nothing new.
       74. THE WHOLE IDEA IS INSTANT OBEDIENCE WITHOUT THOUGHT, AUTOMATIC OBEDIENCE! Hitler's poor generals & army officers were taught automatic obedience without thinking about it. You say, "Well, they should have thought about it."--But you're not taught to think for yourself in that kind of an army! The American army supposedly teaches you to be more independent, think for yourself, have greater personal incentive or initiative & get bright ideas on your own to do something different, supposedly, that's what they say. But when I was in the army it wasn't that way!--Ha!
       75. --LIKE I TOLD YOU ABOUT SETTING THE TABLE FOR ARMY MESS HALL! I set the table, knife & fork the way my Mother always taught me, the Emily Post way, you know?--And the Amy Vanderbilt way. You're supposed to put the fork on the left side & the knife over here & the spoon beside it, like that. It's really European setting because the Americans actually use the fork always in their right hand, not the left like Europeans.
       76. SO I WAS GOING AROUND NICELY SETTING ALL THE MESS HALL TABLES & THE MESS SERGEANT CAME OUT & SAID, "HEY, DAVE, WHAT THE HELL'RE YOU DOIN' THERE, ANYWAY? YOU GOT THINGS ALL LOUSED UP!" "What do you mean loused up?" I thought if there's one thing I knew how to do, it was how to set the table! I was going to really show'm! I mean, everything else in the army was new & I was learning, but here's one job I could do right! He said, "Look at the way you set the table!" I said, "What's wrong with it?" He said, "Well, look at the silver!" It wasn't even silver, it was stainless steel, but anyhow.
       77. I SAID, "IT'S PERFECT! LOOK! FORK HERE, KNIFE HERE, SPOON HERE!" He said, "That's not the way to set the table!" I said, "It is so! My Mother taught me that way & it's in all the etiquette books, Emily Post, Amy Vanderbilt & all the rest!" He grabbed the silver & slapped it down: "This is the way you're supposed to set the table!" I said, "No, it's not, that's wrong!" He said, "No, that's the way you're going to set the table here!" "I say it's wrong!" He said, "Dave, if you ever learn anything in the army you're going to find out this: There's a right way & there's a wrong way & there's an army way, & you do it the army way!" I never forgot that!--Ha! Maybe you've felt that way around here sometimes, I don't know! There's a right way & a wrong way & an army way & an Uncle Dave way, & you have to do it my way!
       78. I REMEMBER OLD TED GRONAVELT WHO USED TO TAKE CARE OF THE KIDS. He was a great guy, but he'd been a drunk all his life & was about 35 by the time he got with us, a converted bum, so it was pretty hard for him to change at his age & a little hard to teach him sometimes. But he loved kids & he was real good with them, so we let him take care of the kids a lot of times during class, the little ones & big ones too, my kids etc. I was trying to explain one day how he should do something & he said,
       79. "WELL, I DON'T THINK YOU'RE RIGHT, BUT YOU'RE THE BOSS! SO, OKAY!"--Ha! At least he was honest about it & he was a very likeable guy & usually he did things very well. We even let him spank the kids once in awhile, especially Deborah when she was naughty, she was one case! If that girl had just been aimed the right direction by her dear Mother she really could have gone a long ways!
       80. WHEN THEY BACKSLIDE THEY ALWAYS PLAN ON DOING GREAT THINGS, YOU KNOW? They're going to publish great books on childcare etc. We've probably already published more on childcare than she ever will! We still use some of her materials, a lot of it is good stuff, but we had to change a lot of it too because her way of doing things was not necessarily our way. Her authoritarian dictatorial way & rigid way was not necessarily always the loving way & was not always the easy way & was not always the natural way! She read too many books, the wrong kind of books.
       81. WELL, I HOPE YOU LEARNED SOMETHING, AT LEAST, ABOUT EDUCATION & ABOUT TEACHING & HOW TO BE MERCIFUL TO YOUR STUDENTS SOMEDAY. I hope you find I'm merciful to you! I'm pretty easy & even when you make mistakes I think I try to correct you. I even try not to give orders. I try to make suggestions or ask you to do things or ask you if you would like to do a certain thing. Once in awhile, if I have a little problem, if I'm in a hurry or I feel a little upset or something, I might just say, "Well, you just do it!"--Like I used to do with my kids, "You just do it because I said to do it. You don't have to know why, just do it!" But usually I try to get you to do things more or less on your own & the way you feel they ought to be done without giving you too much instruction.--Unless you do it the wrong way, then I may try to correct you & try to show you a better way to do it.
       82. SO I HOPE THAT YOU'LL MAKE GOOD TEACHERS FOR YOUR STUDENTS LONG AFTER I'M GONE. It won't be very long, but a little while anyway, long after you're gone from here, if & when you ever do go. PTL! I don't know about some of you, like Sue, she's like the Scripture that says, "One that sticketh closer than a brother!" (Pro.18:24) Ha! Maybe it's because she's a sister! But I'm sure the Lord will have His way, don't worry about it. Don't get any mistaken ideas from what I just said that we have in mind shipping some of you off soon or something! We haven't any such ideas that we know of, 'cause we need every one of you & hope you'll last as long as we need you & as long as possible, & we do need you.
       83. BUT THERE ALWAYS COMES A TIME IN MOST PEOPLE'S LIVES WHEN THEY DO MOVE ALONG. The Lord doesn't want you to get bored or tired of the same old thing. One of the seven things psychologists say that everybody needs is change, some change! Of course, we get enough change without even having to leave this Unit! The Mayor told us yesterday, "Of course, you're only going to be here three months, so I don't see why anybody should complain about your trailer or the laundry."--A gentle hint that you have to get permission from the prefecture to be here longer than three months!
       84. HE'S A GOOD POLITICIAN, REMINDS ME OF A PREACHER! The best politicians I know of are preachers! Every good pastor is a good politician or he wouldn't be pastor very long. He has to learn how to make everyone happy & please everybody. I don't envy this guy his job!--I look at politicians in amazement because they have to please the majority of the people, & the majority are always wrong, & it's pitiful! I don't see how any politician can really be self-respecting in his own heart & mind when he knows lots of times he's pleasing them when they want him to do something he knows is wrong.--Like coming to our gate, because they wrote a formal complaint, apparently, having to ask us to move the trailer & the laundry, about which he couldn't care less & he probably didn't think was fair.
       85. BUT THEY'RE SOME OF HIS VOTERS & THEY'RE PROBABLY PRETTY INFLUENTIAL VOTERS with that big a shortwave outfit over there, brother! They're probably pretty smart & pretty influential. With that huge antenna he's got on top, if he doesn't like the mayor he can tell the World about it! It's amazing how much news those CBers & shortwave hams pass along in their gossip & their gab. The guy must have some kind of pull or the Mayor wouldn't have responded so quickly & come over here, when he obviously acted like he didn't want to & he felt sorry about it. Whether he intended to or not, I don't know, but I took it as a gentle hint from the Lord to move, 'cause I always wait for some kind of hints or samples or little indications as to whether it's time to go or not.
       86. SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE & SPREAD ALL THIS FERTILISER & SOW ALL THIS GRASS SEED BEFORE WE GO. We don't have to take it with us, after all! You say, "And waste all that time we've been spending on that garden & growing that grass & cleaning the place up? Now you're going to move on & you're not even going to get to enjoy it?" What do you mean? I've enjoyed every minute of it, all of it, & I'll be proud of it when we get done!--Work well done! Haven't you read "Change the World?" When that owner or agent ever comes to see this place again he's going to be dumbfounded, & I think if we ever ask for a recommendation from him he'd probably be happy to give it to us!
       87. I WAS PRAYING ABOUT THIS LAST NIGHT & IT CAME TO ME THAT THE LORD MUST LOVE THE GUY THAT OWNS THIS HOUSE. He must be some kind of a good guy or maybe the Lord's trying to show him He loves him, or maybe He's trying to witness to him or something, considering what good care we take of it & how we've cleaned it up & fixed it up, the yard & all the rest. He's going to be dumbfounded! I'm sure that our dear little repairman out here has probably already told him & the agent & everyone what a beautiful job we're doing on the place & what good care we're taking of it. It's a testimony, it's a good witness!--And if we've even said, "God bless you" to him, which I'm sure we must have, he's probably gotten the point that, "Well, they must be religious or something, at least they believe in God", & you give God the credit. That's why I always like to say "God bless you!"--Even though it's a little identifying & sometimes it might be risky for security. In the States it's a very common thing to say & announcers will even do it on radio & TV shows as they sign off, but it's not quite as common over here.
       88. WELL, I HAVE ENJOYED IT & I'VE ENJOYED LOOKING AT IT ALREADY & IT LOOKS A LOT BETTER. Every time I go out there in the yard & see it I have a feeling of great satisfaction, a work well done! You've cleaned it up, made it look nice, we're enjoying it, so what if we don't get to enjoy it forever? So what if we only get to enjoy it three months instead of six? So what? I mean, we got to enjoy it. Even if I had to move out tomorrow--I hope we don't, Lord help us--but I would have enjoyed every moment of it!
       89. I'M LIKE THE OLD LADY WHEN THEY MADE FUN OF HER BECAUSE SHE BELIEVED THAT WHEN SHE DIED SHE WAS GOING TO GO TO HEAVEN. "Ah," they said, "didn't you know all that stuff's been debunked & there's no such thing as God, Bible & Heaven? That's ridiculous to believe like that!" She said, "Well, even if it ain't so, I sure have had a good time gettin' this far!" So, think that one over!--Ha! Even if we don't get to enjoy it forever, we've had a good time gettin' this far, haven't we?--And I intend to finish that lawn before we go! GBAKY busy for Him!--In Jesus' name, amen!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family