Teachers

[Bandit]

Teachers



I am a bit tired of the controversial topics so, I am going to try this again here and hopefully someone will pick up on it and, maybe not. Not every discussion here has to be about the same old controversy that has been debated for eons. I will be very disappointed to think we are in a generation that has no recollection of personal relationships with teachers who left them with wisdom and experience to guide them through there entire lives.


Did everyone see the movie Karate Kid?
Wax on, Wax off.
That is the kind of teacher I am talking of. This type of teacher did not get paid for there time & extra service. The elder & the boy had a relationship that no one else in the movie understood. The teacher taught him more than Karate & left the boy with more wisdom, discipline, obedience, respect & understanding than all the other wrestlers combined. He was ahead of everyone because he listened to a good teacher & was willing. Though he had his rebellious moments & times he did not understand, he persevered & was ahead of his generation, by a whole generation. The boy gave the teacher more joy & happiness for being able to finally reach him and see him through as a winner and not just a winner in Karate. The teacher had his stubborn moments but never gave up & gave the student years of wisdom that would have taken the boys whole life to attain on his own.
We do not obtain this through books & basic knowledge.



Some of mine were Sunday school teachers. They also include one math teacher, one English teacher in particular & one elder from the platform who was retired. I miss these folks & they have almost all gone on to be with the Lord. I miss them because I want to see them again. I want to tell them how much they meant to me & how thankful I am for them being in my life. Like a magnet of sorrow & joy at the same time I cannot tell them because they are gone. These are the men, women & saints who sacrificed their lives (30 years of Sundays) to reach just one person to know they had done there best & not for a paycheck & not through just the basic academics.



While it may have not made sense then, a day came when all they were teaching finally sunk in & began to work in your life.

I would like to hear it from others, the teachers that moved you & helped make you who you are today. Do you have any special teachers in your life that made a real difference? Certainly I am not the only one.

 

[Bandit]

Here are some of mine. I know everyone has read them already in monotheism & I am more interested in hearing about the awesome teachers in other peoples lives.

One teacher was named Sister Powell. She was the strictest of them all. She taught from her small podium like a little preacher. Every Sunday you knew she was going to preach about something we should or should not do to help prepare us for life & how to obtain eternal life through Jesus. I remember she had the lessons on the bride of Christ. That was her main theme & how we want to present ourselves spotless & without wrinkle to the Lord.
Her biggest thing (because she was also the janitor) was no running in the house of the Lord & no chewing gum. She would not hesitate to stop us from running & give a lecture or stick her finger in our mouth & yank out the gum & nark to our parents. That was also the year (3rd grade) Sister Powell led us upstairs to the baptismal pool & we got to touch the water, to let us know it was there when we were ready. She lived in the church & made the families cookies & every week someone got cookies to take home. I can still hear her keys jingle on the side of her dress, because she had the key to every lock in the church. Her massive set of keys revealed responsibility and trust. She was someone you could not go wrong with.

Then there was Sister Wiseman. She was a wonderful lady with a big bun on her head. She taught on the book of James & the shorter books in the NT. She was always serious. So serious, that we got into this routine of playing jokes on her. One Sunday we would start humming every time she would try to talk. Another week it would be throwing wads of paper at her. Then one time, we would stand up & clap our hands applauding her as soon as she would start speaking. She would hold up this little sign that said,
"if Jesus came back right now would you go to heaven?"
That usually worked


Finally, Sis. Wiseman got smart. This time we turned all of our desks around with our backs facing her when she started speaking. Well, in comes the assistant pastor (who must have been watching from the window) & oh boy did we get a HOT lecture on obedience! & so did all of our parents hear about it. All of our fun stopped. But I remember how sincere she was about the Word in her teaching & that has never left me. I was learning discipline & respect to the elders & for those who have the rule & authority.

Then we had Sister Crowfoot. Her thing was prayer. Every Sunday she would ask for a volunteer to say the prayer. If we did not know what to say, she would say it & we would just repeat after her. She would put her arm around us & hold us real close because she wanted us to know that prayer was real communication. She made sure that every child did a prayer at least once that year. Sister Crowfoot rewarded us with a shiny 50 cent piece for volunteering. We were learning how to pray.


There was also Mr. Cecil who taught Algebra. I am not very good with math. This man offered his time every night after school for anyone who needed assistance, offering them extra credit to keep the grade up. He would go over it & over it, until we finally got it down. I passed with a B when I really should have received a D. He was not only looking for the right answers, he insisted on neatness, perfectly aligned columns of numbers & graded us on neatness & and honest attempt & not just the right answer. When I look back I realize we were learning organization & discipline & not just another math. He was not just looking for the brightest student, he had a real interest & love for those who would come to him that wanted to learn & try. I certainly did not get this with all of the teachers & especially not in college. I was learning not to give up on people who try & keep trying, through Mr. Cecil.

 

[truthseeker]

There was one teacher.

Beautiful lady - she still is. She was my sixth grade teacher. I was a weird child; always understood a bit more than I should have. Was always weighed down in my mind and heart about situations that children should have no business thinking about.

This was a woman who treated me like a child but didn't talk to me like one. She knew that I wouldn't respect her any other way and she cared about her students respecting her.
I was thinking about her so much that I looked her up and found her. She is a dean at a junior high school. I went to see her. She looked in my face and knew who I was after twenty years. We hugged and talked and it was wonderful. Now she and I are involved in the same sorority. She is still my mentor. Yes, beautiful lady she is. I hope to be like her 'when I grow up.'

 

[Bandit]

Thank You for responding Truthseeker. It means a lot to me. I have always felt alone on this.
Glad to see you are doing well. So you dont like being treated like a child?

I think good teachers are hard to find today & it makes me a little sad. The ones who are teaching more than just the text book & the correct academic answer. Making that extra connection like you mentioned in 6th grade.
Could take decades for us to look back & see the connections of the daily wisdom they gave to us.

or it could be students are not paying attention to anything more than the text book. not sure there.

I think we can find the attribute I am looking for in the gymnist, sports & coaches too.

stay sweet as pie Truthseeker

 

[lunamoth]

Hi Bandit, I think this is a good thread. I'm not sure what to write because I don't really have any formal spiritual teachers and I thought that was what you were referring to. I've been in public schools from Kindergarten all the way to grad schools and what I remember from Sunday school classes did not leave much of an impression upon me. In some ways I always thought I was lucky because many of my Roman Catholic friends still carry baggage from their days in Catholic schools, although I know that things are different now for the most part.

I have had some wonderful academic teachers, a few especially who made a major impact on my career and life. I always wondered what it was that they saw in me to make them give me their attention. Now I know that this is just a hallmark of a truely great teacher. But, whatever made them do it, I am very grateful to all of them.

As for spiritual teachers, I've a few, but they were more like peers and friends than someone I looked to as authority. Sorry to not be too specific here; the details only seem like they would be interesting to myself and I don't really want to bore you! However, I'm starting a new kind of relationship, one with a spirtual director, to help me deepen my prayer life and practice. I'm not sure how it will go but I've for a long time wanted someone to be kind of a sounding board for my spirtual experiences, someone to just listen and help me talk out my growing relationship with God.

So, that's it!
lunamoth

 

[Bandit]

Hey Luna

Thank You for responding. I appreciate it. I just wanted to know that the connection through teachers i found is working in others. I know i have a totally different up bringing than the norm of religious organizations as far as 'church'.
I think it is very difficult today for people to find a trusting spiritual leader, such as pastor or like that. because there has to be that special connection.

But yes I do mean any & all teachers. (not just church)
They made an impact & they may have not even realized it. Including a successful career.
I think I am just reaching out, because it is something I have never talked about with anyone b4. I also think of the chiefs & leaders of the american indians & how the peaceful tribes were so close.

i just wish i could go back & tell them how important they were to me, but I can't because they are gone.
so that is why I am talking about now. like finding a message in the bottle.
i could spend a whole evening around a camp fire talking to someone about this & each connection that was made.
(if i could find someone local to make the connection with) -LOL-

Thanks Luna.