Great Teachers, Parents, and Evangelists
What they have in common.
Most teachers remember when they didn’t know themselves the subject they are now teaching.
Of course all teachers have knowledge and should be proficient to a certain reasonable level.
I say it this way because it is possible, even common, in music and sports, to teach students who perform better than the coach ever will.
In fact the best teachers want it to be this way. They see themselves as stepping stones.
The best parents are this way as well.
They want their children to have a better life than they did.
In other words they want to impart wisdom intended to help their children succeed in life.
The interesting thing about this parental and educational desire is that it shifts relative to the current culture.
After WWII, parents wanted their children to be safe and have enough to thrive beyond survival.
This ramped up materialism.
Today I think many parents hope their children break addictions to materialism and the internet; that they find contentment in themselves apart from the world’s allure to worshiping idols.
These desires are well and good, but they are not the common thread separating the best teachers and parents from the masses.
Before I tell you what I think it is, I want to add a third group that shares this common thread.
Evangelists — those who want to show lost people the way to a better life and hope.
I include professional evangelist along with everyone who has that desire to share their own faith with others in spite of the real risks of rejection.
And to us who encounter evangelists, why do we listen to some and reject others?
Here is the common thread they all share.
These best in their respective fields or life purposes remember.
That’s it.
They remember.
They recall and remind themselves often what it was like when they were ignorant.
They remember how it felt and the thoughts they thought.
They remember discouragement and hopelessness.
And they recall those who helped them learn, discover, and grow.
It was for all of this they continue to remind themselves about daily that they find the energy and persistence to teach, love well, and share.
The best teachers are present, never aloof.
They understand and use authority to move the student forward but they do it with a lot of encouragement as well.
And the reason the best become the best and cannot be taught to this level is because it only comes with the inner journey to the still point of their own existence — the fountain, the treasure, the pearl, only they can find for themselves.
