Well, well, well, it's been a while since I last posted. The last post was about two weeks ago. A lot has transpired since then. With each turn of our world circumstances change, don't they? How are we mere mortals to know which road to take when so many present themselves before us? I mean we aren't omniscient, so how are we to pick the correct path? What do we do when faced with a problem.

For months now, I've been faced with a terrible choice. I, as a teacher, have been forced to exercise myself from that position and take the part of a parent. That is very hard to do when the teacher in me has been such a strong part of my identity for such a long time.

Sometimes I wonder if being an English teacher makes it more difficult to be a human being. I know for those who don't teach English you may wonder what in the world I could mean. What I'm referring to is that we have at our disposal the words of all these brilliant writers to spur us on to action. We have Emerson telling us that "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." He goes on to tell us that good and bad are only labels and that we must follow our own hearts. His friend and colleague Henry David Thoreau tells us to "march to the beat of our own drummers." We have studied The Crucible and witnessed the power of slander and suggestion. We have also studied The Grapes of Wrath and seen how people take advantage of their fellow human beings in desperate circumstances. We have studied the horrors of WWII in books such as Hiroshima and Farewell to Manzanar. We have stood back and objectively examined the horrors of the damned human race as exposed by Mark Twain in his many novels. We have seen the demented and deformed in Flannery O'Connor, been a guest at William Faulkner's table as he exposed the downfall of the American South.

We English teachers know the depths of depravity to which man can sink. We know that all it takes for evil to prevail is for us to allow it, but we still find it difficult to speak out when we know it is right. Perhaps, I've witnessed too many fingers pointing and laying blame on others to be willing to do it myself. I am not sure. All I know is that regardless of my own faults, I think it is time that I speak out against a fellow teacher and say, "I'm so sorry, but I can no longer sit back and allow your mistakes to continue."

I feel so bad about having to speak out, but I feel I have no choice. Those of you who know what I am speaking of, please, know that I do not wish to point fingers. I know I, myself, have sinned immensely. I am speaking out now, only because I truly believe it is what I should do. What if no one ever tried to stop an injustice? You're right it would continue and most wouldn't even be aware of it.

Pray for me to have strength.