merry early new year (i can only hope one direction kicks off the party tomorrow night on someone’s new year’s concert coverage:)

i guess this week answers the question of “what mr. mayfield does when he has a week off” – at least for this week, it seems he read…

“the prince” by machiavelli – like most literary references, this one really is a short cut that undercuts the references meaning – that is to say, i’ve heard the phrase “machiavellian” for years – it was supposed to mean a power-hungry ruler – the book, or essay, really wasn’t as large as that term has come to mean – for 125 pages, i definitely think AP gov’t students should all give it a whirl – what else do they have to do?

“institutes of christian religion” by john calvin – another great example of short cuts to meaning – calvin is always seen as a heartless early leader of the protestant reformation – reading his work gives him more flesh, more kindness – of course, i had an edited translation – i think the full work is 1,500 pages – that’s a lot of writing

“cost of discipleship” by bonhoeffer – bonhoeffer was a german pastor who resisted the nazi gov’t – and lost his life in WWII – great book about how discipleship means putting action to your faith – not just listening

“running for my life” by lopez lomong – a re-read – excellent, excellent book about running, faith, perseverance, schooling, poverty, government, refugee camps, adoption – just an encouraging read – makes me want to go out and run 30k

so congrats to the four of you that have earned the mega-huge bonus for between quarter points – i guess everyone else will fail – if you’re genuinely curious, we won’t have journals this week because there’s only a couple of days – but i guess if you’re working ahead, i will have you journal the monday of the BCS game so you might want to work ahead – oh, i did read notre dame’s game notes so i have fun irish trivia for anyone that wants:)

sincerely,

mafeld