On the sixth day, God created man. On the seventh day He rested, not so much to recuperate from the previous six days of work, but rather to prepared Himself for the work He was going to do on the next day. For it was on that day–the eight day that God created the First teacher. The Teacher, though taken from among men and women, had several significant modifications. In general, God made the Teacher more durable than others. The Teacher was made to rise at 5:30 a.m. and go to bed no earlier than 11:30 p.m. with no rest in between. The Teacher had to be fit to correct 102 term papers over Easter vacation.
Yes, God made the Teacher tough, but gentle, too. The Teacher was equipped with soft hands to dry the tears of the second grader who pet goldfish drowned the night before or those of the 16 year old girl who was not asked to the prom.
And into the Teacher, God poured a generous amount of patience. Patience, when a student asks for a repeat of the directions the Teacher had just repeated for someone else. Patience, when the kids forget their book money for the fourth day in a row. Patience, when one-third of the class fails the test. Patience, when the textbooks haven’t come today and the classes start tomorrow.
And God gave the Teacher a heart slightly bigger than the average human heart. For the Teacher’s heart had to be big enough to love the kid who screams, “I hate this class, it’s boring!”…to the kid who wets his pants in the middle of the phonics lesson while the supervisor is in the room…to love the kid who gets arrested for drunk driving on the day after he got an ‘A’ on his essay entitled, “The Evils of Alcohol”…to the kid who runs out of the classroom at the end of the school year without so much as a ‘goodbye,’ let alone a ‘thank you.’
And lastly, God gave the Teacher an abundant supply of Hope. For God knew that the Teacher would always be Hoping. Hoping that the kids would someday learn how to spell…hoping that just for one day no one’s zipper would get stuck…hoping not to have lunch room superivision…hoping that Friday would come…hoping for a free day…and always hoping for more pay.
When God finished creating the Teacher, He stepped back and admired the work of His hands. And God saw that the Teacher was good. Very good. And God smiled, for when He looked at the Teacher, He saw into the future. God saw that His Only Begotten Son would someday come to earth and live among men. And He would be called Teacher, too.
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances dictate.
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