Trust the River

My colleagues and I often find ourselves complaining about having to grade papers.  Of course, that is not a fair critique of our work.  After all, we are the ones who asked for it!  But I never hear us complaining about what we asked for.  It is as if the students got together and decided to do some work in order for us to complain.  I don’t discount the amount of time it takes to offer good feedback to students.  Theoretically, that is why we are doing it.   

I never forget that people before me did it for me.  Not for a minute do I think all the things asked of students are worthy.  I do believe some examinations are pretty silly.  Sure, any faculty can force students to learn things for a short period of time.  But I wonder if that is real learning.  Especially in an era when we can find almost all the information we want online.  When I was in college, “google” was not a word.  I never “googled” anything.  It gets very easy.  I can be driving and ask Siri and she immediately comes through with some needed information.  Times are different. 

I do not think my way of doing things is superior to anyone else.  But it does fit the way I want to see people who take my classes interact with material.  Because I am not teaching material that must be known in order to make it to medical school or send rockets to Mars, it is not necessary for students to have facts.  I try to put some attention to the process of critical thinking.  And in doing so, I am quite sure every other faculty person thinks they are doing the same thing.   

One of the things I most enjoy when I read the papers from students is to see what they thought was important in their reading.  In fact, I am surprised that students are surprised there is “so much reading” in our time together.  How much is “so much” is obviously relative.  I don’t think it is too much; they do.  I can say other places require more, but that makes no impression on them.  If they were aware, I am sure they could find places where there is less.   

My favorite thing is to see what they learned in their encounter with spirituality.  And secondly, I am intrigued what they felt was important.  Clearly, we can learn things that we don’t consider important.  I learned many of those kinds of things in school.  But I also forgot most of it.  This leads to the quip many of us use when we say that the process of learning is as important as what is learned.  If I can learn to learn, then I have it made.   

Another thing I very much like when I am reading papers is to see specifically what they might give focus.  This often happens with a quotation they might choose.  Quotations can be used for a couple reasons.  One thing quotations do is emphasize something.  A student might be making a point and choose some quotation to solidify the point.  Another thing quotations do is give a focus for student thinking.  It is appropriate to give a focus via a quotation and, the, develop ideas from that quotation. 

And so I am eager to see what students lift up through quotations.  This happened in a recent reading of a paper.  When I am teaching Contemplative Spirituality, I use a book by Richard Rohr called, Everything Belongs.  Students are usually challenged by Rohr, especially, if the students have grown up within the church.  Some of what Rohr offers is a healthy critique of “churchy” ways of thinking and acting.   

Rohr is a good writer and can turn a phrase in memorable ways.  So when I was reading along in a recent paper, I was delighted to see the student pick off a phrase from Rohr.  Rohr uses the image of the river.  The student obviously was attracted to this image.  Rohr uses the image as a means to show us how to engage God and life.  The student quoted part of a sentence.  Rohr talks about our “ability to trust the river, to trust the flow and the lover…” (142) 

As I recall this phrase, I am sure Rohr is talking about faith.  Faith is trust.  Rohr sees the river as a given---just as life and God are given.  We are in life and we also are in God.  The question is our awareness.  We are tempted to think we are independent.  The student was challenged by the idea we are already in the river.  The question is whether we learn to trust it?  Can we trust the flow?   

Assuming the river somehow symbolizes God, can we trust the lover?  This is a challenge for all of us who assume we are independent.  We think we cause our own flow.  Sometimes we make too much of an effort.  We grunt, push, and try to force things.  Relax, I hear Rohr, advising. The student caught the point in his quotation from Rohr who tells us that “We need to allow it flow…” 

Because faith is always an issue for me, I welcomed the chance to be led back to the river.  I know I have a tendency to want to be controlling it.  That is the opposite of faith.  I need to be reminded that I already am in the river.  Faith is always trust.  I want to allow it to flow.  It already knows better than I where we are heading. Rohr is correct; we are heading toward love, because we already are in love. 

Trust the river…