"I would never belong to a group that would accept someone like me as a member." ~g. marx

thought one:

ask a Latin what it means to be well-educated, using the phrase bien educado. Bien educado means someone who is gracious, polite, and, in short, "well-socialized." some readings (Trumbull, Bridging Cultures Between Home and School) for a class on bilingual education point out some differences between collectivistic/ individualistic societies:

* From such a [collectivistic] point of view, cognitive development in itself is not the main goal of development, or at least it is not seen as a goal in itself apart
from development that characterizes a good human being in that context.

* "Many European-Americans believe that the self is "located solely within the individual and the individual is definitely separate from others. From a very young age, children are encouraged to make their own decisions" (Lustig & Koester,
1999, p. 95.) They are expected to learn to maintain strong borders between the self and others.

But a child reared in a collectivistic community is socialized to have his or her sense of self based on affiliation with the group, principally the family, and responsibility to the other members of the group, rather than on personal achievement for his or her own ends.

There is less psychological or emotional distance from other people, and "the collective becomes the place in which people find their identity as human beings" (Brislin, 1993, p. 49.) In Korean culture as in the cultures of immigrant Latino families, it is group membership that largely defines the self...

One reflection of this orientation is seen in people's perceptions and use of the personal pronoun "we"... ["We"] is used in many cases where a Euro
pean-American would use "I."

[hmmm: "we love you..." "we miss you..." "we were thinking about you the other day..."]

thought two: expanding personality

the more varied our communities, the more our character has a chance to expand. When looking at some personality tests for lesson plans a while back, i noticed that, in my never to be humble estimation, Christ would fall about smack-dab in the center: wryly rational and phlegmatic, precisely and unapologetically choleric, deeply feeling and divergently thinkingly melancholic, and a dining and imbibing sanguine. (probably the last one would have the least evidential back-up in Scripture, but I think the principle applies:) the closer you are to Christ, the more rounder a personality you become.

You can un-self-consciously confront and lead or “pass through the midst of them” observing. With an uncomfortable intensity you can critique the wrong and articulate the right. “to what shall I liken the Kingdom of heaven?” the thing is, you’re really multi-faceted, and really not muy-fleshly. You’re not infected, sabe? You don’t have to worry about “disposition” and “strengths” because Christ’s Spirit is your strength and His mind yours. It’s beautiful, really… we are persons, and some things we will always do worse/ better than others. Some things we might not “enjoy” as much. But, they are not in the realm of impossible.

We have access to be more. Your personality is your freedom, not your cage. The stony, passive rumishungu type can weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. The girl plagued by the fear of man can bear witness before kings and councils, synagogues and the congregation. The angry, abrasive youth can learn humility, servanthood, and to excel in words fitly spoken, like apples of gold in setting of silver. The smiling, nodding, chameleon-like socialite can be persecuted by those who first hated his Lord, and rejoice to have it so! God rounds us, ‘tis true, ‘tis true. There is Scripture… the voice of truth in prayer… and people.

thought four: on adulthood and the community

I never thought of myself as a grown-up until so many small voices started with the “Mizz Hernandez” bit back when I was 17.

it was disconcerting.

Poor things, what a world they’ve got, if i get a title and a last name. By the time I was 20, cheeky youths were used to getting the cheeky-esque reply to inquiries into my “real” name:
“first name: Mizz. Last name: Hernandez. What’s yours?”

no doubt about it: i was grown.

thought three:

kids' eyes relax when they smile at you. few adults smile at me like that. it’s amazing. i wonder when people stop trying to make eye contact in crowded places? i bet it's somewhere around middle school...