Category Archives: Religious thought

Youth Sunday School Teacher Apology Letter

Backstory: My wife and I teach Sunday School to 12-17 year-old youth at the Chattanooga Valley Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Flintstone, Georgia, twice a month. This year, our study is on the Book of Mormon. 

The first class was to be a discussion of what the Book of Mormon is, how it was written originally, how it came to be in our time, how it was translated, and how it is a second witness, along with the Bible, to the divinity of Jesus Christ. Normally, we engage students in give-and-take discussions, where we learn as much (or more) than they do. However, there was so much history to get through, and such limited time, that I basically took control of the discussion and “firehose taught” the lesson.

Afterwards, my wife told me that she’d never seen me “teach” that way before, and she didn’t like it. One of the students said “Well, he’s showing that he knows more than we do,” and another said that I was, sometimes, rude. In response, I wrote this email of apology to the parents of the students, as well as to the leaders of the congregation.  Lesson learned (I hope) —

“In today’s youth Sunday school lesson about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, I departed from my usual Socratic, discussion-oriented teaching style. In an effort to get through a lot of material very quickly, I used a very aggressive question and answer style that negated a lot of discussion and a lot of testimony. In an effort to discuss the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the history of the Book of Mormon, and a way that the youth could summarize what the Book of Mormon was, how it came about, and how it related to particular points in history, I basically steamrolled any discussion.
In an effort to express my fervent testimony and belief that the Book of Mormon is divinely inspired and that it is a second witness of the Divinity of Jesus Christ, I cut off any discussions or expressions of testimony from the youth.
As a result, the class members, your children, may feel compromised, negated, hurt, and not validated. This is certainly not my intention. I admire the youth in our class, and think they’re easily the finest and most well thought out class I’ve ever taught. But I’m certain it didn’t come across like that.
I apologize for being offensive, I apologize for any feelings that I may have hurt. Please be aware that your children and those you may be responsible for may not like what happened in class today. If this is the case, I would welcome the opportunity to speak with them and you and to offer my sincere apologies.
The Book of Mormon is the Word of God. Jesus Christ is the Savior. His Church has been restored on the Earth. But my enthusiasm for those truths should never trample the great commandment of loving my neighbor, and not offending the children.
Again, I’m deeply sorry.
David Kuhns”

I’m Responsible Memory

A half a century ago
my character yelled:
“I’m responsible!”
on stage.

I’m not certain that,
back then,
I knew what the phrase meant:
“I’m responsible!”

Now, decades past,
I understand that,
at my core,
I’m responsible.

It’s silly to blame
anyone else
for anything bad
in my life,
because it’s all good,
as long as
I think it is
and want it to be.

I’m responsilbe
for that.

Individual Responsibility Environmentalism: Free Verse

I’m called tree hugger,
greener,
environmentalist,
eco-warrior.

I call myself
those names, too.
But when I see
red-faced screamers
demanding that
governments and nations
make accords,
do something,
force compliance,
I back away.

Giving government
more power
is not where I’ll waste
my waste-fighting
eco-warrior
energies.

Haven’t we learned
from Muir,
Thoreau,
Leopold,
and others?

They DID,
and they wrote
about what they DID.
Movements started
with the power of
DOING,
with the power
of words.

They introduced others
to the beauty
and wonder
and peace,
and joy
found in God’s Creations,
in Mother Nature.

They partnered
with God,
with Nature,
to help folks,
the common man and woman,
feel love for
and wonder at
all God’s creations.

Because how will I
partner with,
love,
and protect
a creation
I’ve never experienced?

This was prompted by an essay on individual responsibility in environmentalism.

I Need A New Pruning Hook: Peace Prayer Haiku

As we pray for peace,
I think to myself: “I could
use a pruning hook.”
——-
The Muse for this was a prose piece written by Kate Phillips on Facebook:

“There is no Christmas in Bethlehem this year.
The tours and pilgrimages have all been cancelled. The streets are bare, the shops empty.
The Palestinian residents are in mourning. Celebrations have been replaced with a somber peace vigil and prayer service to mourn for the tens of thousands of people—mostly Gazans, mostly women and children—lost in the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
The traditional nativity scene at the Evangelical Lutheran church depicts baby Jesus on a pile of rubble, rather than resting in a manger. Instead of gifts, the wise men carry burial shrouds.
Ask anyone in Bethlehem this year what their Christmas wish is, the answer will be the same: they pray for peace.
Whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, a follower of some other tradition (or no religion at all), may we join their prayers. 🙏
May we affirm together that we are all worthy of dignity and love…
That divinity makes it way to earth, hidden in human form…
That the Kingdom of God yearns to flourish within each of us…
And that the best gift we can ask for is the gift of peace for all.
May we practice peace within ourselves…
Within our families and communities…
And pray that, one day, we will beat swords into plowshares.”
— Kate Phillips, Christmas Day, 2023

My Christmas Gift: Give Peace Haiku

I must be always/
positive, and give peace on/
earth, good will to all.

— The backstory for this poem was my take on Longfellow’s poem “I heard the Bells”, and also a haiku inspired by a prose piece Kate Phillips wrote. You can read it here.

Longfellow Christmas Day Remake: Peace On Earth Poem and Video

I have few words
This Christmas Day.
There isn’t much
I want to say.
But I’ll pray more,
Knees on the floor,
For peace on Earth,
good will to all.
 
I thought now
That the rain has come,
To solve my gifting
Conundrum,
I’d wish you near,
Those I hold dear,
And peace on Earth,
Good will to all!
 
I miss you all!
Know in my soul,
I wish to speak
So you will know
My deepest hope
For all my folks
Is peace on earth
Good will to all.
 
And if I fail
To talk to you,
Please still believe
My heart is true!
My fervent prayer
Gives love to share
With peace on Earth
Good will to all.
 
Though I may not
Take sorrow away,
Know this: I ask God
For you every day
To bring to you
Christ’s joy that’s true,
And peace on Earth,
Good will to all!
——
With gratitude for Longfellow,
And Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our salvation.
 
 
I Have No Words: Christmas Day Poem in the style of Longfellow’s “I Heard The Bells”.