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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

"C" is for Confucius . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,
Let me now go to the field,
and glean ears of corn after him
In whose sight I shall find grace.
And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV


"C" is for 'Confucius.' Back in early February 2003 I took the 'Train the Trainer' course through my local Boy Scout Council. Through the day long training we were taught how adults learn and how to use various ways to present materials in our trainings so that all would learn from them. And the core of trainers, leading this training, demonstrated this throughout the whole training . . . not that they were pointing this out to us, but I had noticed the different approaches they were using.

Early on in the training one of the trainers asked if anyone knew 'ASL,' American Sign Language. I slowly began to raise my hand and the other 4 or 5 Scouters (Adult Scout Leaders) at my table told me NOT to do it, to keep my hand down. I told them I had to raise my hand, as a Scout is 'honest.' I was the only one of the 15 or so Scouters taking the course that did! I had no idea why the trainer asked this, wondered if it might be because they had a Scout or Scouter somewhere who needed someone to sign something to them. Nothing more was said at this time.

A couple of hours later, those at my table were asked to leave the training room to go work on something. We went to the other side of the Council Office and sat down around a conference table with one of the trainers. He had a Confucius saying written on a large chart and he told us that he was going to teach us to sign it, using ASL. The moans and groans around the table from my fellow Scouters was loud and clear and they all turned and looked at me and blamed me for this. I, on the other hand, was excited! I had taken a class, taught by one of the other employees in my department at American States Insurance Company, through 'Free University' back around 1981 or 1982, and learned some sign language.

The trainer went on to tell us that his wife, taught him how to sign this and so now he was going to teach us. He showed us how to sign each word and described how each sign is done. Later he gave us a sheet of paper which described how each sign was made. We did the signs along with him and had time to practice as a group and on our own.

I was the only one who seemed to take this seriously. I didn't know any of the others taking this training - they were from other parts of the Council, and I only knew two of the trainers. I had just driven about 45 miles one-way from my home to the Council Office in a heavy snow, something I don't like to do, slipping and sliding along the way. A normal drive that I can do in an hour or a bit less took me over two and a half hours that morning! I was determined that I was going to complete the course and 'pass,' and not have to come back a second time! Little did I know that all one had to do was to show up and appear to participate.

The rest of my group ended up having a conversation about something they were doing in their District, which I knew nothing about and didn't really care about, so I spun around in my chair and worked on learning this Confucius saying as I looked at the snow, still falling down on the woods out back.

About 15-20 minutes after we had been pulled out, another table of Scouters came out and they went and sat in the Library, just down the hall from where we were. I expected they were going to learn something else that they would share with us later. That we would have a chance to be the 'trainers.'

After 45 minutes or so we were reunited in the training room. The trainers talked a bit and then said that each of our 'table groups' was going to share what we had learned. Just as I had thought, right? Wrong! The first group to share was the group that had stayed in the training room - OK I get it, we were all taught a different form of sign language! Nope. Next was the other group that had meet in the library. OK, looked a bit like what we had learned, but not really. Then it was my groups turn . . . I was ready! Hummmm, seems I was the only one who was ready - the rest of my group had no clue - I stood there and I signed the whole thing, rather easily! I impressed myself.

The 'lesson' here was in the words of the Confucius saying we were signing:

'Tell me and I forget.
Show me and I understand.
But, let me and I remember.'

This very simple Confucius saying was to help us see, understand and remind us how adults learn. Some learn best though 'lecture' or hearing, others through 'demonstration' or watching/seeing and yet others through 'hands-on' or doing it themselves. Most of us, however, learn best through some combination of these three.

As I woke up this morning, or should I say while I was  still half asleep this morning, I was thinking about this commitment that I have made this year, to blog the Quaker Alphabet, and this Confucius saying popped into my head - the connection between the two didn't take long for me to see. And that this Confucius saying needed to be included in my Quaker Alphabet, it did seem to fit. Why?????

Like I said earlier, this Confucius saying was taught to us to help remember how adults learn. My group was given it all - we were told how to do the signs, we were shown how to do them, we had a paper with the signs described on them and we were allowed lots of time to practice them with someone who knew how to do them and could help us - all we had to do was to ask. The second group was told how to do the signs and had the paper and time to figure it out together. The third group just had the paper and they were on their own to figure it out. Each group was also given a different amount of time to complete the learning task.

I've said it several times, this was a training to teach us how to train other Scout leaders, give us the tools we needed, to learn how adults learn but more importantly how to present the material in a variety of formats so that all could learn from it. I think the same can and should be applied to children as well - they don't all learn the same way either.

So, why have I felt so strongly lead to share this story here. Well, the way I see it, it's how we learn and understand our faith as well, isn't it? One way doesn't work for all and sharing our faith in different ways helps others to understand it.

We can read and listen till we 'turn blue in the face' or 'till the cows come home.' But not everyone and not every concept can or is understood just by reading it. We can read our Bibles, the journals of George Fox and other early Quakers and other Quaker writings - but do we all understand it?  Is it all always 'clear as mud?' No, it's all left up to different interpretations - not all Quakers think exactly the same or do things the same - we are a rather diverse faith as can be seen in our theology and in the ways we worship - unprogrammed and programmed.

We also learn by example - seeing others in worship, living their faith and talking about their faith. Some concepts are more easily understood when we see them being done. I am a convinced Friend and I come from a programmed Meeting. I was first exposed to unprogrammed worship when I first met with a group of Scouting Friends in April of 2007 - during the business meeting. Last February I was invited to join a local worship group that sits in expectant waiting. And this last summer I went on a Pilgrimage with and among Friends through Ireland/Northern Ireland - among unprogrammed Friends, for two weeks - an amazing journey! I learned so much not just about my Irish Friends but about Spirit lead vocal ministry along the way. A different group/gathering of Friends doing what I had heard about and experienced (or so I thought) in a very limited way in my programmed Meeting, with Scouting Friends at the end of our business meetings and among a group of other programmed Friends in a worship group.

By doing and living our faith - doing it out in the open, publicly if you will, we are 'teaching' others around us. Through our sharing and interaction, we learn so much more - more about ourselves, our faith - what it is to be Quaker . . . we learn to understand.

I love to learn, I don't like to read. I love to talk and share - during a conversation with a Friend last spring, about my going on the Pilgrimage to Ireland, said she hoped what I got out of this experience was that I would ". . . learn to shut up and listen!" OUCH! "That you will learn to shut up and stop telling 'Luanne stories,' and listen to what others have to say." But . . . I have and do listen and I do know what's going on. When I shared with my Meeting in September, after I had returned from the Pilgrimage, I shared that I had learned to listen - I learned it was so much easier to listen, to really listen, when everyone else around me was quiet and listening too. Listening to that still small voice, the voice of the Holy Spirit, the voice of God . . . which isn't always so still and small!

It's been ten years since I learned this Confucius saying, the spoken words and the signs . . . I still remember the words and I can still sign it.

What are your words and actions telling others, around you, about your faith? What 'lessons' are others around you trying to share with you - about their faith - Quaker or otherwise? Are you listening? Are you learning? What have you heard today, this week that you need to learn and remember?





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