Vanessa Refalo

Teacher of texts, VR/AR enthusiast, love the complex puzzle of education. HOD English. Follows Jesus. Find your sense of awe and wonder!

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

My prayer is that you come to this same realisation. Merry Christmas! #JesusIsTheReason

[David Perell @david_perell]

I went from thinking the Bible was the most boring book ever to seeing the magic in it.

Years ago, I realized that the Bible is the foundational book of Western civilization. If I was going to be an educated person, I needed to know what it said. Though I was motivated to learn about it, I didn't have the patience to read it or the knowledge to understand it.

Generally, I try to follow my 4th-grade English teacher's advice to read things first-hand. But the Bible seemed too hard, too boring, and too confusing to read on my own. It was a snooze fest. The stories felt outdated in a world of smartphones and fast Internet. Living in the modern world, shouldn’t I be rooting my life in modern books, modern studies, and modern authors?

At the time, I was living in New York when a friend introduced me to the work of Tim Keller. I reluctantly found time to put down the self-help and picked up two of his books instead: The Reason for God and Making Sense of God. It was around that time when I discovered Keller's Questioning Christianity lecture series.

Instead of focusing on the Bible directly, Keller focused on Christianity's relationship with culture and the modern world. He spoke to career-driven Gordon Gekkos who were driven by the glories of the material world, but sensed the emptiness at the heart of such a single-minded pursuit. Instead of referencing scripture directly, he spoke about big-picture themes like identity and purpose, morality and meaning.

This was back when I thought all Christians had the intelligence of sidewalk pigeons. I would scoff at church-goers because I didn’t understand why anyone would worship a sky fairy or follow rules from thousands of years ago. Keller was the guide I needed.

For the first few years, I looked at faith through a cultural lens instead of reading the Bible directly. I literally knew nothing about Jesus or Christianity — and I came to realize how little I knew about my own atheism too. In school, while studying the Declaration of Independence, I’d learned that it’s “self-evident” that “all men are created equal.” Turns out, this defining American ideal is only self-evident if you assume that every person has inherent worth because they’re made in the image of God. I was stumped. Where did my moral compass come from? Do people have inherent value? And if so, is it because every human is a child of God?

In addition to advocating for the life of Jesus and the truth of his message, Keller revealed the many assumptions underlying my own atheistic worldview. He taught me that every worldview requires a leap of faith. Sure, Christianity couldn’t perfectly explain everything in the universe, but then again, neither can any worldview. Astrophysicists say that much of the universe is made up of “dark matter,” which is a scientific-sounding way to talk about a leap of faith

Though I did some Bible studies, I never enjoyed them. They felt more like reading tedious academic papers than drinking directly from the fountain of God’s wisdom. Instead of reading Scripture directly, I joined a small Christian reading group where I was the only non-believer. By showing me coherent ways to interpret reality besides my science-based materialism, books like The Story of Reality and I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist loosened the screws on my atheism.

My palate was beginning to change. Like a fine wine, the same flavors that were once repulsive to me started to appeal to my intellectual taste buds. I surrounded myself with wise Christians who were orthodox about scripture and eager to answer my hardest questions about faith. I asked them to dinner and invited myself to Church with them.

This marked a new era. Once again, I found some guides: books, Internet sources, and an in-person leader to show me the way. On the Internet, I'd turn to The Bible Project to answer my big-picture thematic questions. I picked up the ESV Study Bible, which I still read every day on the white boucle couch in my living room (if you like reading on the computer, I recommend The Bible Study App by Olive Tree).

For years, I’d stiff-armed the Bible. Now, I was skipping to a 7am Bible Study led by a devout believer who'd been reading God's word every day for almost a quarter-century, and wasn’t afraid to rebuke my theology.

What surprised me most was how carefully we read. I admired the integrity of our study. We live in a culture of binge-reading where people boast about how many books they can complete in a given year. We did the opposite. We never read more than ~20 verses in a single session and dissected every word, every verse, and every story. (I once spent two hours studying John 1:1-4 — just four verses at a strip mall Schlotzsky's in the Texas Hill Country.)

Never in my life had I read so deliberately. I spent months in the books of Ephesians, Romans, John, and 2 Corinthians, and there's no way I would've known how to read the Bible so diligently on my own. I learned to look beyond English translations, and I use the BibleHub to look up the original Greek and Hebrew whenever possible.

For a translation, I recommend the English Standard Version (ESV) (no, you don’t need to read the King James Version). And If you're going to pick two books, I recommend the Gospel of John and the Book of Romans. Either find a guide to read them carefully with you or follow along with The Bible Project and The ESV Study Bible. Whatever you do, read slowly.

I used to be a serial consumer who’d brag about how many books I read every year. I’d pick up anything and everything. The more, the merry. But the more I study the Bible, the more careful I’ve become about who I read and listen to. Gone are my days as a serial consumer. Frauds, charlatans, and false teachers abound, so be skeptical and vet your sources. In all this time, I’ve had no more than ten serious teachers. Fortunately, that’s all you need.

I became a believer on March 20th of this year, four years after attending my first Tim Keller lecture, and the Bible is alive for me now like no book I've ever read.

These days, I read the Bible and basically nothing else.

Opening it up is the best part of my daily routine. The words twinkle. The stories are supernatural. It's a living, breathing document, and I wholeheartedly believe it's the Word of God, which makes every other book feel dim by comparison.

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@RAeSBellaR Merry Christmas!

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

Congratulations, Bella!

[Bella Richards @RAeSBellaR]

This week I start my new position as the Features Editor for @AeroSociety ✍🏼 already landing my first editor role at 24-years-old is a really exciting achievement! I’ve worked with RAeS for over a year now, and cannot wait to join the team full time! 🚀✈️

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

Keen to read this one!

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@RobMarchetto @greg_ashman Sadly, systemic educational change is not enough. It is parental guidance or silence misled by a paradigm of disrespect for authority and classroom hierarchy that encourages chronic misbehaviour. Teachers aren't perfect, but should be afforded dignity & respect at a minimum.

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@sdinhamunimelb “Fifteen years ago, the gap in the reading skills of eight-year-olds from poor and wealthy backgrounds was a bit over a year. Now it is over two, and with every year that gap grows bigger.” This is a tech issue, not an edu one. KIds with lower ses don't read, they watch.

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@bellaa_richards Very cool

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@bellaa_richards

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@JohnChinner @bellaa_richards @SpaceCornwall Very cool!

[Bella Richards @RAeSBellaR]

Space friends - I am writing an article about the proactive nature of bridging the space skills gap, beyond just inspiring the next gen. Is there anyone I should be talking to? #space #spaceskills #avgeek

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@Anncaro11 This is petty

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@alicekeeler Oldie, but a goodie. So many angles! https://t.co/aECHl3rKau

[Bella Richards @RAeSBellaR]

Glad to have chatted to @CassandraSteer and @Dr_M_Davis for this article. I hope the work already established can continue.

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@bellaa_richards @SydWritersFest It was such an inspirational day!

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

Just signed up. Should be fun and interesting!

[Agata Frymus @agatafrymus]

If you are interested in #filmhistory, I'll be giving a talk on my current research - #cinemagoing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in the 1970s - on 17th August, 10am UK time = 5pm Malaysian time @MonashMalaysia @bertha_c @baftss @HoMER_Network

REGISTRATION: https://t.co/Rx2JJWCgxn

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@MarkCCrowley I try to delay emails to so it auto-sends during office hours. Sometimes I forget and click send, but I try!

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@whartonag @imeldajudge Definitely the next best thing to real experience.

[IF... @ifconf2020]

REGISTER NOW for over 100 possible hours of PD. The AATE/IFTE conference is online for 6 more weeks at an unbeatable price for this much PD and special price for faculties. Go to https://t.co/hoYhF9zs19 #AATEIF #englishteacher

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@thathowardguy @BiancaH80 How do you suggest to develop personal voice? Also, what about Mod C?

[Vanessa Refalo @VanessaRefalo]

@Anncaro11 I tend to agree. The kids who are accepted as a result of intense tutoring then seem to struggle triggering anxiety related to a misguided sense of inadequacy. Maybe regulating tutors is the solution?