This week we’ve considered some of the unsung heroes of American history—the lesser-known, the unknown, and even the seemingly unheroic. But I imagine that at times all these characters seem quite removed from your own life. You probably don’t go home with Henry Knox on your mind.
So, we will end the week—Teacher Appreciation Week, as Providence would have it—with the unsung heroes standing in your midst.
Aristotle said, “Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.” In other words, having children is all fine and good, but teaching children well is greater still.
Now, that may seem a bit obtuse going into Mother’s Day weekend. That is, until we also recognize what Henry Ward Beecher knew, and that is, that “The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.”
You may not recognize it yet, but you are among the most blessed of children, because you spend your days surrounded by “those who educate children well”—first, your mothers (and yes, fathers, too), and then the remarkable people standing right next to you now.
It is not likely that a monument will ever be erected in honor of your mother or your teacher. But if you learn from these unsung heroes the art of living well, your life will be monument enough.
And now, for the Friday Funnies:
A boy was inspired one day when he read the verse in the gospel of Matthew about forgiving someone 70 times 7 times. One day, when he was in Math class, he refused to work on the next problem. The teacher was frustrated and asked why. The boy said, “I’ve been counting. This makes the 491st math problem of the semester; and Jesus said I only need to forgive you 490 times.
Have a wonderful day.
