Heaven on Earth

"Maisy, will you love me when I am very, very old?  When I'm as wrinkled as your feet after the bath?"

My five-year-old Maisy girl loves to snuggle in her bed for a bit before she goes to sleep. It gives her one-on-one time and a sense of security.  Truth be told, it gives me all of that, too. On those nights when I am just counting down to bedtime so I can move into mommy time, I balk and even complain.   Shame on me. I really love lying close to her in the dark, smelling her strawberry shampoo hair or that hot smell kids get outside in the summer. (There is something primal about smelling your own child, isn't there?)

When I let her coax me away from the world and into that flowery butterfly bed, I stop time from passing. I am a sorceress freezing the planet in its spin.  She tells me about her day, what she will name her children someday.

So I don't know why it was so startling when she answered my question tonight.

"Of course, Mommy. I will always love you."

And then she said,

"And when I go to heaven, I will look for you."

My eyes teared almost before I processed what she had just said.

Since our golden retriever, Clare, died a few years ago, Maisy is full of questions about heaven and Clare living with God. She has told me that when she goes to heaven, she will ask God if Clare can be her dog in heaven. She could do worse. 

"Well, that won't be for a very long time, honey."

"Will you know who I am, Mommy?"

"Yes, honey. I am sure God will always help me know who you are."

"What will God say?"

"When, Maisy?"

"When He comes and picks you up.  He will pick you up and take you to heaven someday.  What will He say?"

I am not one who is often speechless. This did it.

"Well," I forced out, "I think he will say..."

My mind, all of a sudden, went perfectly still. A master's degree in theology doesn't mean squat in the face of a preschooler's theological questions - ask any pastor.

And then, all of a sudden, I knew.

"I think God will say, 'Hi.  I'm glad to see you.'"

God, in my life - my wifeing, parenting, teaching, daughtering, loving, being - help me always deserve to hear those words from You.

Colleagues

Colleague is a bit of a shopworn word these days.  It originated in Middle French and meant, literally, “partner in office.”  Its Latin roots trace to “with” and “to choose.”  People with whom we choose to work.  It’s the choosing that matters most, I think.  We can work in the same place and never work WITH one another.  We can, in fact, work against one another, a fact to which many in the business world will attest. 

Teachers have generally been the epitome of colleagues.  We even serve as mentors to apprentices through student teaching.  Any college student who wants to become a teacher must work with teachers in the classroom in order to best learn how to be teachers themselves.  Most veteran teachers who have had student teachers will tell you that a positive student teaching experience benefits both members of the teaching team; our student teacher leaves with a toolbox of ideas for the beginning of his/her new career, and we of the old guard are left with an infusion of new ideas and energy.  We share with one another from the start of our career, and the tradition continues throughout our years. 

Still not sure we work WITH one another?  Simply Google “lesson plans,” and you will be met with countless websites where teachers have offered up ideas that worked for them.  Think about the extra step that takes:  teachers not only prepare plans for their own students, they then take the time to offer up those ideas to help others.  In most cases, this is done for no pay or recognition.  Why on earth would anyone waste their time, then, posting lesson plans online?

It’s in a teacher’s nature, I believe, to teach.  I have written before about teaching being a calling, and this need to explain to and help other people runs through the very core of this calling.  Most of us would say that we have been teaching other people for as long as we can remember; even if it is sometimes cleverly disguised as bossiness.  J 

Sadly, we have reached a new time in teaching.  I say “sadly” because I fear it will challenge this giving part of our collective nature.  If it is, indeed, natural for teachers to teach, explain, share, then surely competitive evaluations are a potential stumbling block.  Most people drawn to teaching are share-ers by nature, and if they aren't, they quickly learn that sharing is the norm in a healthy school environment.  If the only goal that really matters is helping the kids succeed, it stands to reason that we should share the best ways to do this.

Political leaders should have the same philosophy.  If the only goal that really matters is helping people in the community, shouldn't they all be working together to achieve this?  I can’t imagine any politician having the nerve to say “no” out loud to this question.  Instead of working with one another, however, they seem determined to tear the rest of us apart.  Busting up unions; publishing work evaluations; giving cash prizes to highly effective teachers.  Each of these can serve to drive us away from our colleagues.  After all, why should I share with you when it looks better if I came up with the idea all by myself?  Even our motivations can become tainted.  “I came up with this great plan because of how it looks for me, not necessarily how it best serves the kids.”

Will we let the new challenges in teaching be a stumbling block?  Or will we lift one another up and over this stone?