16.Casting Pearls...

In a fortnight my U3A course on Art of the Bible comes to its involuntary end. And I'm not giving a [different] course next year.
Judith hates her inability to talk to me, whenever I concentrate on the preparations - which takes many hours every fortnight. I can't interrupt my thread of thoughts easily, or sorting the slides, and she can't save things to remember later, however trivial they might be. That's Old Age...

Although the 'students' are attentive and appreciative, they prefer a totally passive role. Not one of them took notes, or read up my recommended passages. I suspect that not all of them even have a Bible with a modern translation at home.

I set them a task of making a list of recurring elements in the story of Joseph - with a book prize for the best entry. Not one of them bothered - they knew that in the end I would give them the answer: dreams, clothes, recognition, the goat, etc. That's my meaning of 'casting pearls'.

Attendance was erratic. These are elderly people. Visits to doctors and hospitals, booked holidays, other occasional clashing U3A activities, and having to attend unexpected funerals, all took their toll. One or two kept getting muddled about the dates - fortnightly seemed to confuse them.

I did not keep a register of attendance - they came when they could. But if you are a member, it's free: so probably 'it can't be worth much'...
It was a mistake to hold it at the synagogue. Compared to doing it at home, it added almost two hours for travel and setting up / dismantling each fortnight. And a concentrated course over a single weekend would have ensured much better continuity. Maybe in 2010...

A lot of the material this time was freshly prepared. My greatest satisfaction was the search for new images, and the discovery of new facts - Pat Horne was a rich source of weird and valuable knowledge. I suspect that I shall not wish to stop this work - whether or not it ever gets transmitted. And my commitment saved me from having to attend one funeral. A silver lining?

I was going to teach about Herod next. But with Ehud Netzer's work progressing at Herodion, and two recent books, waiting another year may be a good thing.
Meanwhile, Tax Return time is looming...