Homines dum docent discunt.
Even while they teach, men learn.

Seneca (‘the Younger’) c. 4 bc–ad 65
Epistulae Morales no. 7, sect. 8

. . I spent the first week of my holidays working as a casual teacher in a Christian school and while I hope the students learnt something about decimals, or geometry, the performance of a dramatic text, how to make a parachute, or at least how to play soccet, somehow, I think I ended up learning as much from the students as they did from me.
. . Here are some of the things I learnt from the fantastic children I had the privilege of teaching throughout that week. Here is the first:

. . It was the last week of term and a production to upstage all productions was finally being performed after months of preparation. The children from K-12, and some teachers, were involved in the performances. Kindy to Year 5 performed songs from “Meet the King” and the older years, 6-12, staged the musical “Dreamer,” the story of Joseph.
. . A little boy in a Year 4 performance caught my eye. The class was singing about how Jesus healed the leper and proved that he has the power to forgive sin also. All of the children were dressed in white skivvies and each child had three red crepe paper rectangles stuck onto their tops: one on their chest and one on each sleeve. As the children sung about Jesus washing our sins away they tore off the red paper and screwed it up showing that we are left white – like a clean skivvy – and pure when Jesus takes our sins away and forgives us.
. . Yet as the children were symbolically emphasising this profound truth I saw a tall boy in the back row who was sticking the red paper back on to his shirt just as it was at the beginning of the performance. My brother, who noticed this little boy in the same moment that I did, leant over and whispered in my ear, “That’s what we do.” I smiled realising that the little boy who was sticking his ‘sin’ back on actually demonstrated a profound theological truth as well: we, despite Christ’s forgiveness, return to our own ways (sin) and mess up our nice white skivvies continually, even moments after we’ve been forgiven. Yet all is not lost! For as this little boy’s teacher reminded him later, once Jesus wipes our sin away it’s gone forever…it doesn’t come back. The little man must have learnt this truth because in the next performance the red paper stayed off after Jesus’ forgiveness was sung about.

. . Although I only had them for a week, I grew quite attached to the Year 7 class I had. They were sweet as. One little boy took a liking to me, probably because I bought chocolate from him every day: he was raising money for his sister or sister’s friends to go on a mission to Thailand…it was for a good cause, and from him I also learnt a profound truth. On Friday, after buying two bars of caramel centred chocolate, seven Caramello Koalas, two white Freddo Frogs, and a twin strawberry frog over a period of five days, I finally said,

“You know, ________, I can’t keep buying chocolate from you EVERY day because even though I love chocolate and the money is going towards a good cause, if I keep eating this much chocolate I’ll end up the size of a small house.”

He looked up and replied,

“Awe, Miss, that’s ok, you’ll still be pretty,”

and my heart melted like a Caramello Koala in the palm of a child.

. . Young ________ demonstrated a truth that is so missing from society today: people are lovely, pretty, attractive regardless of how well they fit socially endorsed views of beauty, how much they weigh, and how much chocolate they consume. Admittedly, ________, is a shrewd little business man and was probably interested in making a sale; however, his comment did illustrate how consumed we can be with chocolate, I mean, appearance and how very little it actually affects who we are…unless we let it take over. His comment reminded me that it is more important to establish a good character and build beauty from the inside rather than focusing on external qualities. So, with this in mind I bought another chocolate.

....... . As well as buying copious amounts of chocolate on Friday, I also attended the school sport carnival. The weather was inclement! The rain was icy cold and the sun refused to shine. The wind blew straight through the seventeen layers I was wearing and froze the very marrow of my bones. We ran to stay warm but with icicles for bones, no one was particularly agile. Despite the freezing conditions, I was reminded of another spiritual truth.

. . Time keeping for the track events was quite an exciting job. Standing close to the finish line, counting the runners as they crossed, making sure the times recorded were accurate. There was a sense of anticipation at the beginning of each race and an increasing excitement as the race drew to a close. There were some very good finishes. Some children raced with all their might. The determination was etched into their face. At the end they threw themselves over the line relieved that the race was over and satisfied that they had run their best. Some students lost shoes but kept on without so much of a glance backwards. Some fell and were helped up by others. Some entered races we thought they’d never finish. Once a teacher entered a race – this is a teacher whom I have heard say, “I don’t know why anyone would EVER RUN! It’s sooo unnatural. Running should be reserved only for matters of survival” - just to encourage a student who though running her best was feeling the pain and struggling towards the finish line. It looked uncertain that she would finish. So, this teacher, possibly sensing it was important for the student’s survival that she finish the race, joined in and ran alongside the last student encouraging her all the way. They crossed the line accompanied by the applause and cheers of teachers and students. Some of us broke into a little happy dance (ok, ‘some of us’ means me).

. . It was great to see so many children finish well. However, a lot didn’t. Many children would run their little hearts out right up until the last moment in which they would look down at the finish line, come to a comfortable pace and jog casually over the white line marking the end of their race. They’d finished the race and some of them in first position, yet the finish was disappointing. It was a great anticlimax to be waiting for an energetic finish that matched the rest of the race and to be faced instead with mediocrity. You know what I learnt, right? There is not much need to say it but I write it here to remind myself: It’s so important to finish well.

. .