Life Lines
well done, good and faithful teachers
In a sense we all are teachers. We teach our children. We teach each other by
the way we live our lives. We teach what we love. Teaching can be a profession.
It is also a way of life.
Within the space of a few weeks in May, we lost four gifted teachers in the
Church:
Morna Hyatt, who personified what it meant to be a New Church and
Academy teacher throughout a remarkable 67-year career.
The Rev. Les Sheppard, a much-loved teacher and minister, with a special
talent for connecting with people, mostly in his native Australia.
Willard Dean (Bill) Thomas, who influenced the lives of hundreds of
young men in the Academy Boys School as coach and athletic director.
F. Mason Adams, beloved police chief in Bryn Athyn through a 34-year
career, who would not have considered himself a teacher – but everyone else
did.
One of my favorite books about teachers is My Losing Season by Pat
Conroy, which chronicles his basketba ll career at The Citadel. But it’s really
the story of a young man learning about himself, and the teachers and coaches
who helped him find values and truth in his life.
It is ultimately about those moments of discovery that flash between a
teacher and a student – and forever leave a mark on both.
The book is a tribute to a high school English teacher who transformed
Conroy’s life by opening his mind. “The great teachers,” he says, “fill you up
with hope and shower you with a thousand reasons to embrace all aspects of
life.”
We have all known teachers like this who left indelible marks and helped
shape our lives – often without being aware of their influence. Such moments
often have little to do with history or physics or football, but everything to do
with life – especially from a New Church perspective.
Morna Hyatt, Les Sheppard, Bill Thomas and Mace Adams were such
teachers.
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