Inthe beginning God ereated the heavens and the earth. now the earth was formless and empty darkness was over the surface ofthe deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, ‘And God said, "Let there be light” and there was light. God sar thatthe light was good, and he ‘separated the ligt from the darkness. And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” ‘So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it [And it was s0, Ged called the expanse, "sky" And there was evening, and there was morning. the second day. Mystery Student-—having returned from the desert he walked into the TS (theological ‘seminary)—as he did he met another new student who was seemingly intent on getting to know young Joe--why, he did not know.-.e walked up to him and said.."1 sold my Lexaus, and moved here.."_ Young Joe was not sure what to make of this—-was he supposed to be impressed? He supposed so—although there was something odd about the ‘manner in which he said it ~-and the tone in which he addressed young Joe. Joe was here to study and take eare ofa few other things —that was it. [Mystery Student—As he was walking from the library toward the theological seminary just in time for class he noticed a fellow student who had the class at the same time walking towards the library . That was odd, he thought, why would he be going to the library at this time, Although he had noticed a few other strange things as well—this same student and one other who tended to be sneaking and peaking around: and this student in particular was a very confrontative and overly-amiliar, an overbearing sense of tentitlement. Fletch often left material at his personal carrel in the library, not thinking anyone here would be concerned with it; but now he began fo wonder. As he sat down in the cass, he once again wondered why this student would be heading fo the library at the time he should be heading towards class. About ten minutes after class had begun, this ‘student walked in, Later, Fletch noticed things missing on his desk. Why this fellow student would care about his papers and work, he had no idea. Although he did know that the student had some trouble with Greek and he wondered if he thought he could find some helpful re-writes from Fletch's carrel. Whatever, and he did not care to muse over it for Tongs but it threv him off a bit, when this student continued to try to shake things up. And what he was doing was wrong. te departed in faith, and he returned in faith And he continued in faith. He was apart and pact of the covenant, there could be no mistake about that. What did that signify now? What might the response be? He continued to go forward studying Greek, considering the knowledge he had‘acquired, and taking proper care of matters, as much as he could. He intentionally kept himself slightly unattached--so that he would be ready o respond as called-~the difficulty became ‘dealing withthe rarginals, the nominals~these were, in fact, more of a discouragement than others-~-for they lived by the law, and would net beable to rise above it “I don’t meant to petifog, but there were a few things that were simply not right, and these were some of them-—-\shat inthe world would motivate a person fo move ffom an oasis back to the east, and to subject himself to a lower standard oF living and grinding academia’? and to add to that insult, and a duplicitous, scheming, smooth-talking landlocd/roommate? When he drove up tothe house he saw a young man working on the porch--this ws ‘room torent. Fe rolled down the window-—~"is this where the room is for rent?" The young ‘man looked at young Joe Fletch who hal only jut returned from Africa and was looking a bit scruffy, and afler pausing a moment said, "no, its the house next door” ‘Toe looked down st his pad, and double-checked the address, "Are you sure? the ad atthe college lztve this address?~-the young man came up to the window, and said, "oh re you from the college?"---and then proceeded to show him the house. He was a soft-spoken young man, seemed a bit odd, but maybe that was simply because he had been working on the parc all day. F. decided to take the room, It was cheap and adequate forthe time being. His only concern for the house, Later, he asked him, “what's your major?--the young man replied, "uhhh-ar"--—the funny thing was, he said in an odd mannet~-or, he dig, but he didht..Why was he so evasive? But then maybe that was begging the question, or petifogeing. Maybe it was none of his business, Dut then again, he had rented a rocm-—and it seemed only normal that one socialize abit. He decided to wait it out and see how things proceed. For now he had his mind on more important things. ‘The other student living in the house were a strange mix of people--but he would adjust or ‘cope, perhaps, and anything beter than that would be @ luxury. One of the other students, 3 pseudo-tntellectuat particularly annoyed him, always tying to detract fom the Word~-reducing ito study or an analytical perspective, or descriptive, rather than a being living, an ‘embodiment, This student was a danger, he sensed that right away...The other ones were less {ntentionally such:mannered, but there was a strange aura surrounding the milieu..He would have to make determined effort to stay away as much as possible. According to somebody, it was among the top five poorest cities in the USA. Twas here where Joe Fletch found himself, Eager to do what his degree allowed, namely, teach. P. hhad arrived on the beginning of a journey, that ofa renewed self a renewed spirituality, renewed optimism and enthusiasm to do something positive; no holds barred. ‘Ie was a beautiful campus, a beautiful setting, When the school journalist came andinterviewed him as a new teacher, and asked him why he chose to teach here, he thought for 4 moment, reflecting on his own background and his knowledge and experience with ‘Spanish. Simply put, he lke this population, and he knew the advantages of being bi Tingual. His other offer had been Hungary, but as he thought about it, he was just as glad to be here. So hesaid, and it was printed in the school paper the next week, "Mr. *, the new teacher, said he had the choice between teaching here or Hungary, and he chose here because of a variety of reasons, but including the potential of bilingual students to excel.” F. was temp, stumped, presently floundering in the urban jungle of, a conglomeration of store, buildings, houses, anda few parks. Furthermore, there were human faetors leading to the Confision ofthe stuation; however, he was avoiding the deadly oppressive heat of the desest. He was a teacher. Taught to teach, Hired to teach. And here he was, teaching; but wondering ‘why nobody else was; o at least didn’t want to talk about it, He thought about what Bertrand Russel once said: "The U.S. isthe only major country on earth that deliberately avoids teaching the children o thik dialectically"; and "good things happen to the human spirit when iti left alone'~are the schools dumbing the kids down? Seven negatives reinforced-—confusion, class position, indifference, emotional dependency, intellectual dependency, provisional self-esteem, fone cant hide Day 1, year two-heat index 137 degrees. The AC in the portable room was broken. ‘The o atom in the ext buened his pat ion. He wane did more harm than good, Here's to idealism, teaching English. ‘The room filled with brown bodies, Martinez, Guerra, Sanchez, Anguiano, Castro, Rios, Diaz. Fletch wrote to himself, "the kids come pouring in out ofthe 100plus heat.a mixture of Mexican and Mertizo, mostly Mexican—proud kids, more or less, alot of their heritage is very noble. Now they are the last of the melting pot. First it was the europeansthen the asians.and now the Mexicans-although in California, they are the Californios. And this isn't new its the same old thing. These kids come from a variety of backgrounds: some professional, some migrants, some speaking excellent English, others barely. It is my desire fo get to know these kids, and their heritage, and do whatever [can to help them learn..." "That was day 1 “Lam not real happy with the P's actions, but until the final chapter is written, one cannot be completely sure how egregious his actions are.." the teacher, a former attorney, said in regards to the principal (On the Radio—taking about criminal fats: it is based on greed, not need 2)criminals are not sub-IO. 3) crime, in fat, does pay. Gunshot detectors $2000 each, You need 100 to cover one square mile Joe, F the new young teacher, had worked hard the first year in the valley, not taking any sick days. Spending free time touring the valley, hiking, roaming with his dog, Itwas now