You are a Terrible Teacher

Greetings Dear Reader,

I began my summer school adventure this week with a room full of five and six-year-old children.  They are all amazing, unique, and curious.  They express what they are thinking with few filters and little restraint. 

I have been asked why my beard is both so long and so short by the same child.  One child will not speak to me at all because she does not like boys.  She tells her friend the answers loud enough for me to hear when I ask her a question.  I am, however, gaining ground.  She accidentally answered me twice on Friday.

On my second day I was told by a very sweet child that I was “a terrible teacher.”  When I asked why the child said, “There are two green pencils in this pencil box.  There is supposed to be only one.”  I have been teaching in one form or another since I was sixteen.  This is the first time a student has ever said this to me.  I am sure it is not the first time a student has thought that but hearing it came as a shock.

The child was right.  There were two green pencils in one box and upon investigation, there were two black pencils in another box.  I showed the child the mistake and fixed it.  I was informed that I should have checked this before class.  I laughed.  I was not laughing at the child.  Rather, I was laughing at how much I had just learned.

The opinion of the child was not based in any justifiable measurement of my ability as a teacher.  It did remind me of just how much we let small things form our judgment of others.  We create arbitrary standards that we use to codify and classify each other.  We let those things determine what we think about another living soul.  That is at best unwise and can be very evil.

The other side of that coin is that we allow those arbitrary things to enable others to harm us.  We believe conclusions that are just not true.  We let the lies and illogical conclusions limit our success.  We let them limit our willingness to try.

At the root of the problem is that we collect the negative things and pin them to our souls.  We let the good things slide off and leave them behind.  We need to find that honest balance between striving to be our best and believing the lies both positive and negative that are put out there.

I must always strive to be good, better, and my best.  I must also avoid pride.  The words of others do not apply if they are illogical or untrue.  I am so much more than those words.  I have gifts and skills that I can use to enrich the lives of those around me.  This new part of my journey requires me to remember that I am defined by who the Father has created me to be and what I do with that.  Everything else is an opportunity to remember this and live it.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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