Saying Merry Christmas

Saying Merry Christmas

Saying “Merry Christmas” 100 times per year

For 60 years yields nearly 6000 smiles of cheer.

Must we? And, you don’t have to have it white,

In order for Christmas to feel right.

Nor do we have to have three wise men standing

In awe beside a manger, each one handing

Over costly gifts: frankincense, myrrh, and gold.

Angels are nice, especially when they sing two-fold

Amens and Halleluiahs, announcing the birth

Of the Child, the Messiah, a King on Earth.

But we’ve had Christmases before sans seraph,

And no one reported the loss to the sheriff.

From Kyoto to Berlin, to Oslo or Cape Cod,

Whether Mele Kalikimaka or Feliz Navidad,

 In upscale penthouses or nomadic tents

People observe Kwanzaa, Yule or Holy Innocents.

How do worship ideas become

Organized by the rules of thumb

In families, in communities?

By using theological opportunities.

30 April 2013

Susan, The Giver

      Susan, the Giver

The pictures of our past

Capture the vast

Panorama of my family life

They sum up both the strifes

And joys between frames.

But the future remains crap games,

Each roll of the dice a random

Toss. There’s no memorandum

Or preview giving a hint of woulda

Shoulda, or what might have coulda.

 Our family biography of what was,

Has been recorded; it’s set

With the exception of a coronet

Or tiara for someone to wear when

They were cast  as wise men

Or some king or queen of this or that.

What has happened to us in that past

We look at is the only time

We actually know. Tomorrow’s prime

Or ordinary times are Ready, Set

But no Go with the family bio; Not yet,

Those chapters have lost a major

Member, one of the stars, who, I’ll wager,

Would be, true to history, Susan the Nurterer,

The Builder, the Girder; Susan, the Giver.

UN-L Teaching and Administrative Appointments

• Professor Emeritus (Ret.) February 19, 2008.
• Interim Chair, Department ofCurriculum & Instruction, 2000 to 2002
• Visiting Fellow, University of London Institute of Education, Spring 1990. Department of Linguistics and Department of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
• Professor of English and Professor of  Curriculum & Instruction, 1986 to 2008
• Assistant Executive Vice President and Provost, University of Nebraska System, 1983 to 1986.
• Assistant to the Chancellor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1980-83.
• Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1977-82.
• Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1976-1977.
• Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1974-1976.
• Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, 1969-1974.
• English teacher, Iowa Public Schools, 1963-66.