Some health issues are self-inflicted. Such is the case with this canine remedy cartoon. This poor dog needs to stop chasing cats!
There are some dogs that are adept at chasing cats. Then there are others that really should find another hobby! We had a dog that wasn’t cut out for cat-chasing since she was not bigger than most of her targets. I have learned to beware of dogs and fools!
When it comes to students, nothing inspires a love and respect prayer like a hard test! This cartoon was inspired by one of my classes.
It reminds me of the quip, “As long as there are tests, there will be prayer in schools.” That quote has been around at least since 1964 when the US Supreme Court ruled in Engel vs Vitale that organized prayer in public schools is unconstitutional.
Yes, I’ve had a few tests like that. It’s amazing how our priorities change when we come upon a test, isn’t it? Tests and promises seem to go hand in hand!
Change can be hard in churches and in children’s ministry. I remember one church that had some old curriculum dating back ten years or more. One of the teachers was comfortable with it and had no desire to update or refresh the lessons.
This led to the following cartoon idea:
Truths are timeless. But cultural references can get stale quickly. If you have a curriculum that references pet rocks, mimeographs, or George Beverly Shea, your lessons probably need to be updated.
That isn’t to say new is always better. Many churches are on tight budgets. Plus, lessons of the past can have a solid track record that the new curriculum can’t compete with. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it, right?
That said, I sympathize with publishing houses. After all, It is very difficult to keep a business going when past lessons work just fine. Is it the teacher’s problem that a publishing house needs to keep the lights on? No, but we lose something special when we lose a publisher due to economics.
I’ve been on the side of the teacher’s desk and the publisher’s. I’ve come to realize we need each other. Without innovation coming from publishers, we begin to lose our effectiveness to reach new generations. And without affordable options, teachers have to find ways to cut costs without losing their ability to reach kids.
In other words, Kids haven’t changed over the years, but culture sure has! What may have grabbed a child’s attention in the 1970s won’t do so now. Technology has grown and our attention spans have shrunk. We need to keep teaching timeless truths but do so in a dialect that speaks to today’s culture.
I drew this cartoon for Kidzmatter Magazine.
Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.
When I first drew this cartoon, I was concerned mainly with safety in children’s ministry. I had no idea a few years later I would be managing at a printing facility. Since then, I have truly learned safety is the best policy.
Before then, I didn’t think too much about workplace safety. I had been in office settings. When I visited warehouses and printing facilities, I let the host worry about safety. I see now how foolish that was. For there are hazards even in an office environment.
Mentoring is quite the buzzword these days. It seems everyone has a mentor and isn’t limited to an office setting. Since it is so pervasive today, we need to discern between good and bad mentoring.
This cartoon shows what happens when it turns into a bad excuse for a gopher role.
