Jeremy was born with a twisted =
body and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was still in second grade, =
seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became =
exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool and make =
grunting noises. At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if =
a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the =
time, however, Jeremy just irritated his =
teacher.
One day, she called his parents =
and asked them to come in for a consultation. As the Foresters entered =
the empty classroom, Doris said to them, "Jeremy really belongs in =
a special school. It isn’t fair to him to be with younger children who =
don’t have learning problems. Why, there is a five-year gap between his =
age and that of the other students."
Mrs. Forrester cried softly =
into a tissue, while her husband spoke. "Miss Miller," he =
said, "there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a =
terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We =
know he really likes it here."
Doris sat for a long time after =
they had left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness =
seemed to seep into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the =
Foresters. After all, their only child had a terminal illness. But it =
wasn’t fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to =
teach, and Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he would never learn =
to read and write. Why waste any more time =
trying?
As she pondered the situation, =
guilt washed over her. ‘Here I am complaining when my problems are =
nothing compared to that poor family,’ she thought. ‘Lord, please help =
me to be more patient with Jeremy. From that day on, she tried hard to =
ignore Jeremy’s noises and his blank stares.
Then one day, he limped to her =
desk, dragging his bad leg behind him. "I love you, Miss =
Miller," he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole class to hear. The =
other students snickered, and Doris’ face turned =
red.
She stammered, "Wh-why =
that’s very nice, Jeremy. N-now please take your =
seat."
Spring came, and the children =
talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the story =
of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, =
she gave each of the children a large plastic empty Easter egg. =
"Now," she said to them, "I want you to take this home =
and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do =
you understand?"
"Yes, Miss Miller," =
the children responded enthusiastically — all except for Jeremy. He =
listened intently; his eyes never left her face. He did not even make =
his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus’ death =
and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should =
call his parents and explain the project to =
them.
That evening, Doris’ kitchen =
sink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to =
come by and unclog it. After that, she still had to shop for groceries, =
iron a blouse, and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day. She =
completely forgot about phoning Jeremy’s =
parents.
The next morning, 19 children =
came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their Easter eggs in =
the large wicker basket on Miss Miller’s desk. After they completed =
their math lesson, it was time to open the now filled empty eggs. In the =
first egg, Doris found a flower. "Oh yes, a flower is certainly a =
sign of new life, "she said. "When plants peek through the =
ground, we know that spring is here." A small girl in the first row =
waved her arm. "That’s my egg, Miss Miller," she called =
out.
The next empty egg shell =
contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. =
"We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful =
butterfly. "Yes, that’s new life, too." Little Judy smiled =
proudly and said, "Miss Miller, that one is =
mine."
Next, Doris found a rock with =
moss on it. She explained that moss, too, showed life. Billy spoke up =
from the back of the classroom, "My daddy helped me," he =
beamed.
Then Doris opened the fourth =
egg. She gasped. The Easter egg was empty. Surely it must be Jeremy’s, =
she thought, and of course, he did not understand her instructions. If =
only she had not forgotten to phone his parents.
Because she did not want to =
embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. =
Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up. "Miss Miller, aren’t you going to talk =
about my Easter egg?"
Flustered, Doris replied, =
"But Jeremy, your Easter egg is empty." He looked into her =
eyes and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus’ tomb was empty, =
too."
Time stopped.
When she could speak again, =
Doris asked him, "Do you know why the tomb was =
empty?
"Oh, yes," Jeremy =
said, "Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised =
Him up. And that’s how Easter started!"
The recess bell rang. While the =
children excitedly ran out to the schoolyard, Doris cried. The cold =
inside her melted completely away.
Three months later, Jeremy =
died. Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to =
see 19 plastic Easter eggs on top of his casket, all of them =
empty.
~~
Dr Bob =
Griffin
[email protected] www.grif.net =
"Jesus Knows Me, This I =
Love!"