With the exception of my eldest grandmunchkin's Bas Mitzvah in
mid-February, I've been feeling off-balance for the last two months. My
brother-in-law, Stan, died immediately after that last Random Thought on
gratitude. He was one of the good guys; as my son, Robby, said, "There should
be more like him in the world." Everyone thought he was over the proverbial
hump when we gathered for Thanksgiving in Nashville to be feted by Robby, the
chef. Little did any of us know it would be the last time I would see him. He
returned to the hospital days later. He never came out. He was my oldest and
dearest friend. Before he met and married my sister, we were room mates at UNC
in the early '60s. I had said on Facebook at the time of his death, "I will
not mourn his loss. Instead, I will celebrate the gain I have from having had
him in my life these past 51 years." And, I have lived up to those words.
Nevertheless, since his death, and though he had been serious sick, having
undergone several major surgeries, for the past three years, I've felt a subtle
void. All that changed about ten days ago when, thanks to Venus (not her real
name), I felt a rejuvenating "its time."
I am putting together a selected collection of my Random Thoughts for
E-publication that were part of a series that I sprinkled over years called
"Words In My Dictionary of Good Teaching." But, I wasn't satisfied with the
working book title by that name: "A Dictionary of Good Teaching." It didn't
have a zing, a "hook." It really didn't capture the essence of all those
particular reflections. Then, about ten days ago, I found the title I wanted:
"Faith, Hope, Love." I might give it a subtitle of "The 'Little, Big Words' of
Teaching." Let me tell you how I inadvertently and unexpectedly found it.
I was late to walking the streets. I approached a young lady and
offered her a "good morning." She stopped in front of me, blocking my way, and
exclaimed, "Dr Schmier!" I must have had with a curious "who are you" look in
my face. "I was in class with you the last semester before your retirement
(Fall semester, 2012). I'm Venus." She told me a tale of being "not sure I
belonged in college," our encouraging conversations, of being "big time sick,"
of dropping out of school the following semester, of "settling" (her word) for
a "good paying" job as a waitress. Then, she hit me square between the eyes
and said something like, "But deep down I wasn't happy. One day after my shift
I dug out my date book for that semester with you. I began reading all those
'Words for the Day' you wrote on the board and we talked about. I copied every
one of them. I read one entry that said these words weren't just words but
ways to look at ourselves and ways to live. Then, I read two that said, 'Your
greatest enemy is your own fear,' and 'faith means not worrying.' I heard
them speaking to me. They suddenly opened my eyes to myself. 'Settling' meant
running away, being stopped by my fear and worrying I couldn't do what I wanted
and not having the faith to give myself a chance. From that time one to today,
every time I wanted to stop, every time I wanted to settle for something, every
time I worried what others would say or that I couldn't do something, I heard
you say from one of our conversations, 'you're better than this and you can be
better, if you're willing to do whatever it takes to become better.' You were
living faith, hope, and love to me. So, because of you I slowly stopped
settling for things I didn't want. I soon stopped being afraid. I stopped
worrying about whether I could do what I wanted to do or not. And, I decided,
as you once told me, to put all of me on the field. I took off my apron, went
back to college, first at near-by ABAC, and now here. I'm surprising myself
that I am doing whatever it takes to become what I really want to become, and
it's working!"
"And what is it you want to become?" I calmly asked.
She hit me square between the eyes for a second time. "To be the good
clinical psychologist I can be. I want to help people have faith in
themselves, have hope for themselves, and love themselves. I want to learn to
listen to people so I can help them learn to hear the truth about themselves
and their abilities. Just like you so did for me," she answered. After a few
seconds, she added "And, I want to be the good person I can be. I want to be
for others what you were to me: walking faith, hope, and love."
We talked some more. As we parted with a hug and I continued on my
walk, I began thinking of what she said: "you were living faith, hope, and
love to me," "I want to be for others what you were to me: walking faith,
hope, and love."
Those two sentences are still ringing in my ears and swirling around in
my soul. They, those three words--faith, hope, love--make up the story of
teaching. Over the past twenty-two years to the month, I've often said how
these three words infiltrated my spirit, how those three words have been
profoundly transforming on my self-perception, my perception of others, my
sense of the value of teaching, my understanding of my craft's mission, and my
actions. They helped me put aside so-called "human nature" and focus on an
individual's "unique potential,' that humans can change. They were sledge
hammers that I swung to shatter the dehumanizing scaffolding of classification,
labeling, ranking, disconnecting, tagging, pigeonholing, separating, dividing,
stereotyping, and generalizing. They helped me concentrate on teaching as an
unending series of exciting milestones, not as objectives or as finish lines or
as end points.
For me, education is a love story. It means to dream dreams while
you're awake. Education is an act of faith. Faith is a "you can do it" word.
It's faith in the fact that human beings have the capacity to grow and that as
humans, we can become better. Education is an act of hope. Hope is a "could
be" word. It's a "this isn't it" word. It's a "keep going" word. It is hope
in possibility, in the fact that there is more to come, that this is not all
there is. Above all, education is an act of love. Love is the first
principle of teaching. It is a "you're somebody" word, a "you're worth it"
word, an "I care" word, an "I see you" word, an "I'm here for you" word. It's
love in the fact that each person is too valuable, too unique, too noble to
lose without a fight. These words never take a holiday; they are never
selective; they are never conditional. They are mind opening, heart unlocking,
eye opening, spirit raising, firing up--driving. They're "never give up,"
"don't walk away," "don't despair" empathies, compassions, commitments,
dedications, and perseverances.
To talk of faith, hope, and love in the same breath with teaching is to
make the classroom into an inviting oasis that welcomes all to come to nourish
their souls, spirits, and minds. They are the cause of more miracles than are
information, assessments, grades, test scores, reputations, publications,
grants, resumes. If you embrace them, they will teach you. They will teach
you, as Dale Carnegie rightly said, "When dealing with people, remember you are
not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion." Living those
three words create a habit of the heart; a wellspring of respect for, valuing
of, caring about, concern for each student; and, a practice of unconditional
inclusion rather than exclusion. It's unconditional faith, hope and love in
each student that makes teaching worth doing. They mean we don't define a
person by a GPA, an academic recognition, any more than we do by how she or he
dresses, the color of skin, religion, ethnicity, special needs. Faith?
Hope? Love? Little words? Little things? Little moments? There's nothing
little about them.
Make it a good day
-Louis-
Louis Schmier
http://www.therandomthoughts.edublogs.org
203 E. Brookwood Pl http://www.therandomthoughts.com
Valdosta, Ga 31602
(C) 229-630-0821 /\ /\ /\ /\
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//\/\/ /\ \__/__/_/\_\/
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/\"If you want to climb mountains
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_ / \ don't practice on mole
hills" - / \_
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