Chapter One is on the heart's desire for God. I did several effective activities (I'll post more on those later), but the culmination of them was a short paper. Students had several choices, but they were basically asked to reflect on their own heart's desire for God and the journey of discovering this. They also had the option to do a creative writing piece in which a character (fictional or otherwise) would go about the same thing.
When I read them, they were by far and away the best work I've ever seen from my students (I had these same kids as juniors last year). Students who are not academically inclined really showed me that they were more than capable of doing quality work... I just had to find their strengths.
I'm planning on posting quotes from their papers in my room next week, so today I passed the papers back and asked them to pick out their favorite quote from the paper. I compiled these and tomorrow they will write them on large paper so that they can be displayed (they will write a different student's quote to preserve their anonymity... we know each other's handwriting).
Here are some of their quotes. No doubt context plays a role in understanding some of them, but even still, many are quite profound all on their own.
I started by stopping.
I had been force-fed so many helpings of this God of mine that I just accepted him without really understanding.
Something God had created, and even through awful weather had been thrown at it, it still stood tall with scars from the journey as a reminder of the road traveled to get to the place it was today.
She was never afraid of dying because she had such a great life and was going to a better place.
I realized that God is truly with me in all steps of my life.
I understand that I am part of the universe and that someone or something (God) must have created it all.
I believe that one day there will be a better life than this.
There must be a place where all good deeds don’t go unnoticed.
I experienced God more when I received my Confirmation last year because I received the grace that he offered.
I want my children to realize that God created them in their own special way.
We are able to come to know God through creation because he put a little bit of himself in us and I decided that I want that part of my being to shine and be most prominent.
I see the beauty in life but I see so much bad that the good is just erased.
Why have faith in God if you’re still a fallible human who can choose to do anything?
I think God has a plan for everyone but sometimes it’s a little blurry. You just have to wait for the fog to go away and you will be able to see your path.
But I realized that for things to turn around and good things to happen, you just have to wait and everything will work out.
But where is the future of this religion?
I feel if you are going to love someone, you need to have God there to help you through the relationship and get you to love him.
If I had to put all my trust in someone, God would be the only one I know who wouldn’t let me down because he wouldn’t build my heart to break it down… that is like an architect building the Eiffel Tower and then knocking it over.
I’ve realized not to hold a grudge against God.
I naturally believe some things about God, but I need a full explanation in order to be satisfied.
Every time I try to understand God there are ten more things I don’t understand.
The Church says that brains should tell you God created the universe.
God is always there to listen to your problems and no one can take his place in your heart.
Some people are always searching for something better, they’re never completely satisfied, and no matter what they say, everyone is on a quest for happiness.
You can have anything in the world but if you don’t have a connection with God, you have nothing.
I always thought that it was wrong to question the faith or to doubt the faith, but I’ve realized that it is something we must all do if we are to grow in our faith.
It is an amazing feeling to feel closer to the one who designed and made us who we are.
The happiness where you’re constantly smiling for no reason because you have Someone on your mind who you know is thinking about you too.
It’s not that you have to be taught, it’s more common sense.
People use God as an excuse to do what they want, they abuse the name to the fullest extent and never look back.
She started to rethink God and believe that he must really be there and must do everything he does for a reason.
One can never profitably replace God with other objects.
By rejecting God, it can hinder me in the future.
He told her all about the Catholic Church and its activity in the world: homeless shelters, schools, colleges, and so on.
This whole time I was sad, but all I had to do was look in my heart for happiness. I would have found God. He was there the whole time.
I don’t know if there is a God. I had happiness, had love.
Believe in something you must, but religions just separate people.
We are indeed here for God. He created us so that we could know his love and that we could love and serve him in return.
I have learned if there is a God, there is a devil.
He didn’t want to make this easy for us, but he wants us to struggle a little, to prove to ourselves that we are strong and capable of living in a world like we do today.
Heaven is only attainable because of Jesus and God’s love, and we must be in God’s grace and friendship in order to achieve eternal happiness.
He sees, but does nothing; hopes, but knows fate.
Labels: Catholic education, school
