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~ the ramblings of a perambulent and often distracted sojourner

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Tag Archives: Teacher

A teacher’s lament

19 Monday Mar 2018

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal, Spirituality, theology

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Isaiah, lament, suffering Servant, Teacher

teacher_s_lament_grandeI have hung around enough educators to know that a teacher’s lot is not always a happy one. Today’s lament in Isaiah 50:4-9a probably resonates with a few.

The teacher here is different, however. It is a collective group – the people of Israel in exile aware of their usurped role as those chosen to teach the ways of G-d to the world. Far from adopting a superior stance, their lament is couched as part of one of the four Servant Songs of Isaiah. These songs would later be appropriated by early Christians to describe Jesus as the Suffering Servant.

Is there common ground in the lament of contemporary educators, ancient exiled Israel, and Jesus of Nazareth?  Misunderstood passion, unrealised vocation, and devalued commitment might all seem to be in the mix.

Perhaps all we are meant to do this side of Good Friday is identify and engage it.

Correcting the Teacher

14 Sunday Aug 2011

Posted by wonderingpilgrim in Personal

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Gospel of Matthew, postaday2011, Teacher

A black and white icon of a teacher in front o...

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We’ve all done it in our student days – or held our breath as others have been foolhardy enough to attempt it – correcting the teacher. We learned a lot from how the teacher responded, particularly when the student was actually right.

Adolescent joy abounded if the teacher blustered and blundered and obfuscated around his error. Power had momentarily transferred from the master to the great unwashed!

Respect and awe occurred when the teacher owned the mistake and thanked and praised the student for their astuteness. We gladly ceded deserved authority.

We see something like that happening on a deeper and broader scale in today’s lection from the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus, seemingly beholden to his identity as Jewish Messiah with restricted scope, almost dismisses the Canaanite woman seeking his help.

She is persistent and bold – a real tiger mum (John Shea). Matthew means us to keep our attention focused on her as she turns out to be the real teacher in this instance. It seems that the end result is the expansion of Jesus’ own self awareness, expressed in his awed response at the wit and singlemindedness of the woman considered by all present to be an “outsider” who has claimed her place within.

The best teachers have always been those who are open to correction.

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