昔日文章

  A couple of Sundays ago, Jan 22, the first reading was from the book of the prophet Jonah 《約納先知書》.  We are very familiar with the story.  I have two things for you to think about. First, why did Jonah get swallowed by a whale?  Because he did not want to go to Nineveh.  Why?  Because Nineveh was the capitol of Assyria, and Assyria was the enemy of Israel.  Why would Jonah want the Assyrians to repent and not be punished (think “wiped out”) by God?  Hurray.  Go do it, God.  So Jonah would not go.  But God WANTS them to be saved.  And God insisted.  That is the background of the story. Second, most people stop reading after the first 3 chapters.  The most interesting part is in chapter 4.  Take the time to read it now, or else the next paragraphs will not make sense.  (pause) So what does it say? ‘Then the LORD said, “You are concerned over the gourd plant which cost you no effort and which you did not grow; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot know their right hand from their left, not to mention all the animals?”’  (vs 10,11) God cares for all people, including our enemies, because He created all of us.  We are His children regardless of race, ethnicity….. The story of Jonah is not simply about his being swallowed up by a giant fish.  It is about: 1. God wants to save the world, eventually sending His Son Jesus to die on the Cross. 2. God wants us to love even our enemies. 3. God will even use someone like Jonah, who did NOT want to do His Will, to be His prophet. So really, we have no excuses, if we believe in Jesus, even when we are not willing or obedient.  He wants us do His work of Love and Salvation. On a more timely application to this lesson, let us look at the issues of ecology（生態學）, environmental protection（環保）and abortion （人工流產，墮胎）.   Sunday, January 22, 2011, marked the 39th anniversary of the legalization of abortion in the US in 1973.  In Hong Kong, abortion became legal on Feb 17, 1981. To be honest, when I was growing up in Hong Kong I knew about abortion but did not think much about it.  It was just there.  I did not consider whether it was right or wrong.  It had nothing to do with me and this was before it was legalized. I first thought about it when it became legal while I was at the university in US.  We were discussing it and listening to what the Church had to say. Even today, most discussions involve the issues of the rights of the woman to choose, to decide for herself about her own body.  Other discussions are about the circumstances of the pregnancy, the supposed population “explosion” etc…  (It is certainly not about our sinful misuse of the gift of sexuality by one or both parties that resulted in a non-desired condition of having a baby.) I would just like to know what did the innocent baby do to deserve such a horrible death?  In this day and age, where we are so concerned with the preciousness of the environment and green earth, we simply ignore the preciousness of a human life.  We treat a baby worse than the worst enemy of society.   We are thinking like Jonah, of our own self interests. Jesus wants more from us.  He wants us to love one another as He has loved us.    

  Happy New Year! On the last day at nursery last year, our little boy brought home some New Year handicraft. On the picture below this article, you can see his photo, a 2012 calendar, his handprint with five little snowmen, one on top of each finger, and a short poem which reads as follows: There aren’t just 5 little snowmen as anyone can see, I made them with my hands which is a part of me.  So when I’m grown and older, you will look back and recall,  the Christmas of 2011, when my hand was just this small!!!   Isn’t this a lovely poem? If you ask our little boy what he wants most, he will tell you that he wants to be as big as Daddy.  Every one of us wants to start afresh and make new goals in our life. That is why we begin each year by making resolutions. Have you made yours yet? Before we decide on how we want 2012 to be different from 2011, let’s reflect on our strengths and weaknesses in academic performance, personality development and physical health in the past year first. Then set some specific and attainable goals for 2012 that you want to achieve. For example, I resolve to read a story book each month; I resolve to be nice to other kids; I resolve to limit computer games. A study has shown that we can keep our resolutions if we break our goal into smaller steps and reward ourselves when we achieve one of these. Some other successful techniques include telling our family and friends about our goals and keeping a diary of our progress. Let’s hope that we can stick to our resolutions throughout the whole year.   Glossary: New Year's Resolutions: 新年新決心 Strengths: 長處 Weaknesses: 弱點 Academic performance: 學業成績 Personality development: 人格發展  

  教育是良心的工作，也是團隊的工作。「育人」與「教學」兩者是相輔相承，必須並重。品德是學習的基礎。我認為在學習過程中必須以德為本，以德為先；「育人」應該是學校每天的重點工作，也是學校成員該有的共同信念。 我特別尊敬教育工作者，因為他們的工作任重道遠。要提升國民質素，品德培育就是關鍵所在。人要有好的素質必須從教育開始。當孩子遇上家長疏於管教，或過份溺愛，又或受到社會不良風氣所影響時，孩子就更需要老師好好的引導和教導，並加以悉心栽培。「育人」的工作是需要一代一代的不斷延續，而老師秉持的教育信念和使命感，更是成功培育下一代的鑰匙。  現今社會被物質主義、消費主義充斥著，人的價值觀也扭曲了，人的素質有走下坡的趨勢。我們實在有需要從小就為學生在品德及提昇國民素質上打好牢固的基礎。日後無論是投身社會工作，或繼續升學，也能提升社會整體市民的素質，改善我們的生活質素，及加強香港在全球一體化下的競爭能力。 或許我們不能改變外在的大環境，但我們可以營造自己的小宇宙：就是悉心地培育學校裡的孩子，讓他們從小就能建立正確的道德價值觀，使其身心靈得以健康地成長。最終使他們能做一個有獨立思考及分析能力、懂得珍惜和感恩的人；懂得愛家庭、關心社會和國家的好公民。 「人格」是孩子最重要和最珍貴的東西。它不是金錢可以買回來的；它更不會被奪去，且能永隨孩子，讓其終生受用不盡。 這天晚上，我們跟麥惠貞校長餞行了！由於家庭的需要，麥校長不得不選擇從教育前線退下來。坦白說，我們都捨不得她的離任。她不單是個卓越的領導，還是我們的良師益友。歡送晚宴上，這一切都表露無遺。除了有家長、學生代表娓娓道出與麥校長的生活點滴外，麥校長的丈夫——朱明先生也細說當年，憶述麥校長銳意在教育界一展抱負的念頭。 十八載的歲月轉眼即逝，如今回顧過去，麥校長的理想已經實現了，她可以無憾地在其教育事業上劃上一個圓滿的句號。能夠成為學校的一員，我感到無比的驕傲。我們全體老師特意選了’YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE’一曲，獻給我們敬愛的麥校長。正所謂「天下無不散之筵席」，深信她必定會繼續在不同的地方發光發熱，為教育界獻出點點光芒。       嚴仕梅老師 大角嘴天主教小學（海帆道）