It's National Teacher Appreciation Week! Have you thanked a teacher today?
I have actually done a lot of reflecting on the influential power of teachers for the last few weeks as I have grieved the closing of my college alma mater, Lambuth University.
My freshman year at Lambuth, I signed up for a religious course taught by a man my family had come to admire and love, Dr. Joe Thornton. The class was a class typically for upper classmen, but I signed up anyway, knowing that it might be my only opportunity to take a class from Dr. Joe. The first meeting of the class, I was intimidated to enter this classroom full of people I didn't know who were SO much older and wiser than myself, and Dr. Joe did not disappoint. He called on me almost immediately and began badgering (that's right, badgering) me with questions that challenged me to really think. We talked about heaven - how we got to heaven, who got to go to heaven, etc. - and I very confidently gave some answers that were appropriately naive for an almost 18 year old. I remember leaving that class angry at the wild ideas about salvation that he had just discussed, yet incredibly intrigued and, surprisingly, liking Dr. Joe even more. The class went on through the semester much in the same form, and I grew to appreciate (though not accept) Dr. Joe's "wild" ideas about theology. That class has affected me more than any other class I have ever taken at any level of my education. I have continually reflected back on his class since that time, and as my own theology has evolved, have come to think that Dr. Joe's ideas might not be so crazy after all. Roughly 10 years later, Dr. Joe presided over our marriage ceremony.
We soon started attending (and fell in love with) the church that he has served for decades. He baptized James and our son on the same day. We joined the church, and Dr. Joe and James grew closer, beginning weekly theology throw-down meetings where they discussed and debated for hours. Not surprisingly, Dr. Joe was instrumental in praying with and counseling James (and me) through a decision to answer a call to ministry. We love him (and his wife Becky) like family. He is by far one of the most influential people in our lives. A true teacher.
There were other teachers in my college days who had a profound positive impact on my life. There was Dr. Charles Mayo, who scared the pants off of almost every student he teached, yet we learned more from him and respected him more than any other. Susan Hudacek, the most influential female member of Lambuth's faculty who taught through a voice of love and compassion for her students. There was Gary Boutwell, who in one simple Juvenile Delinquency class, stirred me to change my major (mid-way through my junior year! yikes!) and redirect my career path. There were the grandfather figure religion professors that I grew to love, Brady Whitehead and Ken Wilkerson. And these were just a few of the influential folks contained within one small university.....
My reflection has not stopped at just my college experience. Each and every teacher in my life affected me in one way or the other. Teachers have such a profound presence in our lives, and a good teacher can change the entire direction of one person's life - sometimes even in just one hour's time. Teachers lead us, they counsel us, they encourage us, and they push us, often in ways no one else can. We don't do enough to thank our teachers. They truly mold the future.
My mother is one who molds the future. She is one of those teachers that people remember years after high school. She is one of the ones about whom people say, "She changed me." Her success with her choral programs is unmatched in our area. A few years ago, she organized a reunion concert of her previous choirs. Countless people jumped at the chance to once again sing for Ms. Redding.
She has a sign in her classroom that she painted and hung on the wall. It is one that every student who has sung in her choir remembers. She only let me be in her class for the final semester of my senior year, but it was a fantastic experience. I remember reading that sign almost every day, and in my adult life, I have come to appreciate it's meaning more than ever.
"Come to the edge."
"But we might fall!"
"Come to the edge."
"But it's too high!"
"Come to the edge."
So they came.
And she pushed.
And they flew.
I encourage us all to take time this week to appreciate the ones who brought us to the edge, and pushed us off of it.
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