9/10/12 Jim, about 25
I am grateful to be
a Chicago public school teacher. I was
especially touched this morning by the tremendous community support I
experienced as I walked the picket lines on the first morning of our strike. I'm not especially adamant about the issue -
I have always been very happy with my salary and I believe we teachers should
be held accountable for our performance - but in the past few years teachers
have often been scapegoats for all the
problems of our students. I have dealt
with it by finding my strength and approval in the Lord and having very low
expectations for any appreciation from people, so the appreciation I
experienced this morning from passersby was completely unexpected and very
emotional for me. We also had a huge
rally in downtown Chicago, and afterward I stopped at the IIT campus on my way
home to initiate a Gospel conversation, but my thoughts were still on the days'
events. I talked with a young man named Jim who had stopped for a break from
his frisbee golf game. He told me about
his beliefs in a sort of energy-field reincarnation after he dies and about his
purpose to serve other people in life. I'm
afraid I got a little carried away in talking about how teaching, for me, is a
wonderful way to serve God and express my appreciation for all He has done in
my life, but I failed to share exactly what it is that God has done in my life. I talked too much about me and not enough
about the Lord. It would be easy for Jim
to conclude that I was just a good person who loves to serve others, rather
than to understand that I am really a sinner who has been forgiven through
Christ. He could easily give glory and
honor to me rather than to Christ who truly deserves it. If this strike continues, it won't be long
before public opinion turns against us teachers, and I will go back to finding
my strength only in the Lord. Maybe
that's for the better.
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