Teachers have summer reading, too. At least at Shannon Forest, that is. Every summer, the faculty and staff read and discuss books on topics that will help them become better and more effective teachers and leaders. In the past, these books have included Philip Yancey's What's So Amazing about Grace?, Timothy Keller's Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just, Daniel Coyle's The Talent Code, and Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself.
This summer, the two books that everyone will read deal with two topics that the leadership at Shannon Forest discuss often: thinking and influencing culture. James Davidson Hunter's To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World begins with a penetrating appraisal of the most popular models of world-changing among Christians today, highlighting the ways they are inherently flawed and therefore incapable of generating the change to which they aspire. Because change implies power, all Christians eventually embrace strategies of political engagement. Hunter offers a trenchant critique of the political theologies of the Christian Right and Left and the Neo-Anabaptists, taking on many respected leaders, from Charles W. Colson to Jim Wallis and Stanley Hauerwas. Hunter argues that all too often these political theologies worsen the very problems they are designed to solve. What is really needed is a different paradigm of Christian engagement with the world, one that Hunter calls "faithful presence"--an ideal of Christian practice that is not only individual but institutional; a model that plays out not only in all relationships but in our work and all spheres of social life. He offers real life examples, large and small, of what can be accomplished through the practice of "faithful presence." Such practices will be more fruitful, Hunter argues, more exemplary, and more deeply transfiguring than any more overtly ambitious attempts can ever be. (www.amazon.com)
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions. Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and selected byThe New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow is destined to be a classic. (www.amazon.com)
From a recent alumna. . .
Costa Rica 2013
Seniors,
Well you've made it this far. Only a few more weeks of school at Shannon and you'll be off to the big world of college. But before you go, God has given you have the opportunity to visit a place that many people don't get to. I know you have all heard the past two years' students talk about it and how amazing it was. I know some of you are nervous or scared for many different reasons; the language barrier, a new culture, living with people you don't know, and just worried about travel in general. All of these worries are valid especially if you have never experienced something like this. However, the truth is, this trip will change your life in some way. If the kindness of the Costa Ricans doesn't effect you, then the way they live their lives will. They live everyday thanking God just for the simple air they breathe, treating each other as if they are all family, and appreciating the little things in life. I can't begin to describe the things I learned while I was there and the experiences I had with the people just eating a meal with them. Those people taught me more than I could ever learn while in college.
In Costa Rica, you will see hardship, pain, and love unlike any other; you will come to the love the children in La Cuenca and your heart will burn when you have to leave them; you will come to treat your host family just has if you have been living with them your whole life and have the upmost respect for the struggles that the mothers go through to care for their children. Hugo is a clown (which he will tell you frequently), but his love and relationship for the families in La Cuenca is unexplainable. Carlos is always happy and smiling about everything and when he doesn't understand your English, he just says,"Oookk" and smiles. Nathan and Magaly make tons of jokes and work hard everyday to help and play with the kids. These are the people that make an impact in La Cuenca. They make what happens, happen. If I could get on the plane with you all tomorrow I would, my heart literally hurts everyday when I think about them and how much I miss my friends and "family" there.
I hope that this letter serves as an encouragement for all of you, that you will feel the same as we all did getting to know the people there. Like I said, God has a plan for all of you and maybe your plan will be revealed to you through this trip; mine was. God bless you guys and I wish you the best of luck in your futures. Love you all!
Yours truly,
Katherine Roach
This summer, the two books that everyone will read deal with two topics that the leadership at Shannon Forest discuss often: thinking and influencing culture. James Davidson Hunter's To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World begins with a penetrating appraisal of the most popular models of world-changing among Christians today, highlighting the ways they are inherently flawed and therefore incapable of generating the change to which they aspire. Because change implies power, all Christians eventually embrace strategies of political engagement. Hunter offers a trenchant critique of the political theologies of the Christian Right and Left and the Neo-Anabaptists, taking on many respected leaders, from Charles W. Colson to Jim Wallis and Stanley Hauerwas. Hunter argues that all too often these political theologies worsen the very problems they are designed to solve. What is really needed is a different paradigm of Christian engagement with the world, one that Hunter calls "faithful presence"--an ideal of Christian practice that is not only individual but institutional; a model that plays out not only in all relationships but in our work and all spheres of social life. He offers real life examples, large and small, of what can be accomplished through the practice of "faithful presence." Such practices will be more fruitful, Hunter argues, more exemplary, and more deeply transfiguring than any more overtly ambitious attempts can ever be. (www.amazon.com)
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions. Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and selected byThe New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow is destined to be a classic. (www.amazon.com)
