Then Jesus took his disciples up on the mountain and
gathered them around Him. And He taught them saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
And Simon
Peter said, "Do we have to write
this stuff down?" And Phillip
said, "Will this be on the
test?" And John
said, "I'm sorry. Would you mind
repeating that?" And Andrew
said, "John the Baptist's disciples
don't have to learn this stuff!"
And Matthew said, "Huh?" And Judas said, "What does this have to do with real life?" Then one of the Pharisees, an expert in
the law, said; "I don't see any of
this in your syllabus. Do you have a lesson plan? Is there a summary? Where is the student guide? Will there be any follow-up assignments? How
will this affect the bell curve?"
And Thomas, who had missed the sermon, came to Jesus privately and said,
“Did we do anything important
yesterday?" And Jesus wept.
Only teachers
can truly appreciate the truth in this humorous illustration. I know this because my wife is completing 28
years as a public school teacher. Her
days to retirement are now down to a number that I can count on my hands and
have fingers left over. Although her
retirement is going to completely mess up my daily routine (I have been retired for a
couple of years and have become totally adjusted to seeing her off to work
before 7 am and then having the day to myself.), I welcome and celebrate her
retirement as a reward for a job well done!
She has truly put in her time and I am aware that it is harder each year
for teachers to deal with an increasing number of students who are not given
proper parental guidance and support, parents who want to blame the teacher
rather than themselves for their child’s poor behavior and low grades, increasing
administrative red tape and new hoops for teachers to jump through that often
has little to do with classroom performance but more to do with governmental bureaucracy,
and not to mention always being on the low end of most professional pay scales.
In spite of
all this there are many dedicated teachers who are truly servants who daily make
personal sacrifices and work tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of
their students. While there are times
when they may feel like ‘weeping as Jesus
did’ in the opening illustration, they continue to do what is necessary as
they do indeed make a
difference in the world. Over these
years I can share countless occasions when Cathy and I have been shopping,
eating out or just walking down the street when someone will come up and share
appreciation for being a student of ‘Mrs. Drees’.
The
difference is not always just shown in academic lessons learned but also in
life lessons that are ‘caught’ from
observing the daily behavior of the teacher.
While religion is not to be taught in public schools, students pick ‘character
lessons’ from observing the teacher in her daily life. Once a former student came back and told my
wife that their family did not go to church at all until her influence caused
the child to ask the parents to start going to church. Another faith lesson was learned in a real
life situation when the school was on ‘lock-down’ as a gun wielding person was
seen near the campus. In those
situations the teachers are drilled to lock the doors and gather the children to
a ‘safe area’. This is an area in the
classroom where the teacher and students can hide from view as the police
handle the situation to make certain the school is safe. The children knew this was not a drill and it
was a frightening time for all as they were scrunched together waiting for the ‘all
clear’ signal. One student who knew Mrs.
Drees was a Christian expressed the feelings of others saying, “I’m scared, shouldn’t we pray?” Whoever said prayer was no longer in schools
has never been in a difficult situation.
Since the student asked, Cathy said yes we can pray and she prayed for
the anxious children. When the event was
over another student told my wife, “I
never knew we could talk to God like that!
I’m glad I came to school today!” Perhaps this was not in the curriculum but
this child truly learned an important lesson.
Teachers may
never really know the impact they have on the lives they touch and communities in
which they serve so it is up to us to let them know how much they mean and have
meant to us. As a person who spent well
over 20 years receiving formal education (no I did not fail and have to repeat),
I owe a debt I can never repay to the many teachers who taught me academic and
life lessons that helped shape me to be the person I am today. From elementary, middle & high school teachers
to college, masters and doctoral professors I will always appreciate the labor
of love (they certainly don’t do it to get rich) of teachers. So if you are able to read this, THANK A
TEACHER!
