connect the dots .____.

Today (actually, yesterday) in my mechanics of deformable bodies (strength of materials) class, the topic was shear and moment diagrams. A fair amount of drawing was involved and something that I have been aware of since I started teaching hit me like it never did before. Indeed it is far more difficult to draw freehand a vertical line on a whiteboard than it is to draw a horizontal line; but I never thought I'd draw a reflection out of this observation.

I would take horizontal lines as our connections to our fellowmen. For mere humans like all of us, it generally (and relatively) is easy to establish and maintain these horizontal lines on our own. Vertical lines are our connections to God. Sins have severed these ties. These sins have made it practically impossible for us to draw perfect vertical lines on our own.

The solution is simple. We just let Jesus be our "RULER" - the Ruler of our lives, and our connections to God will be as straight as it should be.

on teaching (and learning as well)

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge.

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.

If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.

The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.

And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.

For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.

And even as each one of you stands in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.

- Khalil Gibran

The Lord has once again shown me favor and gave me the chance to raise my education up a notch. I have recently become a student pursuing a masters degree in civil engineering in one of the universities in Cebu City.

One of my teachers, the college dean nonetheless, shared to us, not only his extensive knowledge in numerical methods, but also his learnings in life as well. He shared to us what the author Khalil Gibran wrote - the one you read above.

My teacher says and I qoute "I have seen the whole spectrum of teaching, and this is by far the best..." referring to the passage above. He says this is teaching principle.

I will make the same passage a guide to my learning and to my teaching in the future.

"The greatest title a soul can attain is to be called TEACHER"

My dream of becoming an educator is on the verge of becoming reality. Some rich high school kid needs a tutor. And a friend of mine is recommending me for the job. I hope and pray that I’ll get it.