On the street of a small British town a couple hours from Londo=
n, an old man met a younger fellow who asked him, “Do you remember me=
?”
The older replied, “Sorry. No”. So, the young man reminded h=
im that he was a former student at the Boys Preparatory Academy 25 years ea=
rlier.
Intrigued, the teacher then asked, “What are you doing now in life?=
”
The young man answered with a smile, “Well, I became a teacher.R=
21;
&#=
8220;Ah, how good. Did you want to be like me?” asks the old man.
“We=
ll, yes. In fact, I became a teacher because you inspired me to be like you=
=2E”
The old man, curious, asked the young man just when he decided to beco=
me a teacher. To that, the young man told this story:
“One day, a classmat=
e of mine came in with a nice new watch, and since I came from a much poore=
r family, I decided I wanted it. So, when he laid it on his desk and was bu=
sy with other work, I slipped it into my pocket. Shortly afterward, my frie=
nd noticed that his watch was missing and immediately complained to our tea=
cher, who was you. Then you addressed the class saying, ‘This student=
’s watch was stolen during classes today. Whoever stole it, please re=
turn it.’
=
No one responded. I didn’t give it back because I was afrai=
d I would be expelled from the Academy. You closed the door and told us all=
to stand up and form a circle. You were going to search our pockets one by=
one until the watch was found. However, you told us to close our eyes, bec=
ause you would only look for his watch if we all had our eyes closed. We di=
d as instructed.
You went from pocket to pocket, and when you went through my poc=
ket, you found the watch and took it. You kept searching everyone’s p=
ockets, and when you were done you said ‘Open your eyes. We have the =
watch.’
You didn’t tell on me, and you never mentioned the episode. Y=
ou never said who stole the watch either. That day you saved my dignity for=
ever. It was the most shameful day of my life.
But this is also the day I decide=
d not to become a thief. You never said anything, nor did you even scold me=
or take me aside to give me a moral lesson. I received your message clearl=
y. Thanks to you, I understood what a real educator needs to do.=
Do you remember =
this episode, professor?”
The old professor answered, “Yes, I remembe=
r the situation with the stolen watch, which I was looking for in everyone&=
#8217;s pocket. I didn’t remember you because I also closed my eyes w=
hile looking.”
This is the essence of teaching: If to correct you must hum=
iliate, you don’t know how to teach.
~~
Dr. Bob Griffin
“Abhoring a=
ll my sin, adoring only Him”
[email protected] www.grif.net
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