Wednesday was May First. For workers around the globe, it was May Day. But for high school seniors, this is college decision day. The day students declare their allegiance to what will be -- if all goes according to plan -- their alma mater and go off to school dressed head to foot in branded spirit wear. But getting to this point has been an education in its own right . And as the parent of one of these high school seniors, I have learned a thing or two. First, the process takes longer than you

In my Perspectives piece last month, I didn’t give you the whole story about my idea of “spiritual shape-shifting” for healing a splintered society. Shape-shifting is the ability of mythical creatures to change into another person, creature, gender or species. When I add “spiritual” to this idea, I mean being intentionally curious and respectful as you walk in the shoes of another person whose shoe size doesn’t fit you, so to speak. So how might this happen? If you can set aside for a moment

Growing up in the 60s and 70s in a Methodist church was an entirely different experience than what I witnessed a few weeks ago. The church I attended when I was young was a gothic-looking building with a spire. Older ladies wore hats and gloves to the services. I was on my best behavior as I sat in the pews, wearing a nice dress and sporting my black patent leather Mary Janes. We had music in the church. Hymn numbers were posted on the wooden boards at the front of the church and the

Finally, the windows are open wide. The fragrance of fresh wildflowers and damp earth flow through them, and suddenly, so too does the hooting happiness of a pair of owls singing in our backyard trees. To hear their music better, I leave my lazy nest of blanket and books and step out into the dark night. Warm moist air embraces me like a hug from an old friend. Shining stars and a sliver of silver moon hanging low over the treetops surprise me with their brilliance. Immediately, words from the

Note: Today's Perspective was recorded before this weekend's Poway Synagogue shooting. In the last couple of months there have been horrific acts of hatred. While not as highly publicized as the fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, three historically African-American churches in Louisiana were burned within 10 days. A man has been arrested and charged with a hate crime in connection with the fires. Since Reconstruction, black churches across the South have been the target of racists, from

We all get depressed, some of us more than others. I suffer from mild depression, and when an attack comes, I head for the nearest large pharmacy. I don’t buy anything. I just roam the aisles. I soon realize that I’m not the only one in pain. I see rows and rows of pain killers. I see that I’m not the only one with muscle aches. I see seventeen varieties of braces. I get down about aging, but then in the drug store I spy what seem to be thousands of ways to hide wrinkles. Is there anything more

A school bus rumbled past the house. Then another, and another. It was mid-morning, long after school had started. By the time the caravan ended, there were about 12 buses parked, engines running, along two blocks. I asked one of the bus drivers what was happening. He said it was a drill. It took me a moment to figure out that he meant it was an active shooter drill. The buses were waiting to evacuate the kids from nearby Littlejohn Elementary School. The children filed onto the buses. They were

They say you should always begin at the beginning, but I ignored that advice. I wrote the last line of this poem first. Contrary ways are my vice. If you don’t know where you are going, you are very unlikely to get there. So I wrote the very last line first, to make my goal easy and clear. I’ve wanted to try my hand at this thing, if time and tide will allow. The best time to plant a tree is 50 years ago, but the second best time is now. Each day at 8:50 I listen intently, to see what the next

Occasionally, Perspectives regular Elsa Glover hands the mic over to a fellow teacher in the Kaneland School District and they record a guest Perspective. This week, we'll hear from 7th grade teacher Shannon Shanahan. It’s National Poetry Month and as a Language Arts teacher, I look forward to analyzing poetry with my students. Today, I must share with you Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” because of its simplicity, but more because it reminds us of hope’s power. “Hope” is the

“Only when the last tree has died, the last river been poisoned, and the last fish been caught, will we realize we cannot eat money.” -- A Cree Tribe Proverb from 350 years ago. In 1762, after coal was discovered, Pittsburgh began to be known as the “Smoky City” or as “Hell with the Lid Off.” Still there were people who believed the smoke was good for their lungs and helped crops grow. In the spring of 1962, Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring sold more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries,