The Empty Egg

Pastor Dave Broome is a friend to some that are near and dear to me and he penned the following and I love it.  I am sure you will also.

“Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was still in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool, and make grunting noises. At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time, however, Jeremy just irritated his teacher.

One day she called his parents and asked them to come in for a consultation. As the Forresters entered the empty classroom, Doris said to them, “Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn’t fair to him to be with younger children who don’t have learning problems. Why, there is a five year gap between his age and that of the other students.”

Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue, while her husband spoke. “Miss Miller,” he said, “there is no school of that kind nearby. It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this school. We know he really likes it here.” Doris sat for a long time after they had left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child had a terminal illness. But it wasn’t fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he would never learn to read and write. Why waste any more time trying?

As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. Here I am complaining when my problems are nothing compared to that poor family, she thought. Lord, please help me to be more patient with Jeremy. From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy’s noises and his blank stares. Then one day, he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg behind him.

“I love you, Miss Miller,” he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole class to hear. The other students snickered, and Doris’ face burned red. She stammered, “Wh-why that’s very nice, Jeremy. N-now please take your seat.”

Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic egg. “Now,” she said to them, “I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Miss Miller,” the children responded enthusiastically-all except for Jeremy. He listened intently. His eyes never left her face. He did not even make his usual noises. Had he understood what she had said about Jesus’ death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his parents and explain the project to them.

That evening, Doris’ kitchen sink stopped up. She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it. After that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse, and prepare a vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy’s parents.

The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller’s desk. After they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs. In the first egg, Doris found a flower. “Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life,” she said. “When plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here.” A small girl in the first row waved her arm. “That’s my egg, Miss Miller,” she called out. The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. “We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that’s new life, too.” Little Judy smiled proudly and said, “Miss Miller, that one is mine.” Next, Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that moss, too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom, “My daddy helped me,” he beamed.

Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She gasped. The egg was empty. Surely it must be Jeremy’s she thought, and of course, he did not understand her instructions. If only she had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up. “Miss Miller, aren’t you going to talk about my egg?” Flustered, Doris replied, “But Jeremy, your egg is empty.” He looked into her eyes and said softly, “Yes, but Jesus’ tomb was empty, too.”

Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him, “Do you know why the tomb was empty?” “Oh, yes,” Jeremy said, “Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up.”

The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the schoolyard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away.

Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket……. all of them empty.”

Jude 22, “And of some have compassion, making a difference::”

So, how are you doing?

Disability Or Just Different

A story has circulated the internet for some time of a man addressing a school fundraiser where his special needs son is a student.  The story goes that Shay and his father were walking past a park where some boys are playing baseball.  The father approaches on of the boys and asks if his son could join the game.  The boy said that they were loosing miserable so he guesses he could be on their team.  Shay takes his place on the bench wearing a team shirt.  It comes down to the ninth inning and the loosing team is now within one point of their rivals and it is Shay’s turn to bat, if they let him.  They do.  The pitcher on the opposing team sees that Shay cannot hold the bat correctly and he discerns the boy’s special needs.  He moves in a little and makes his first pitch.  Shay misses.  The pitcher moves up more.  Somehow Shay makes contact with the ball and dribbles it right back to the pitcher.  He throws it over the first baseman’s head.  He in turn throws it past the second baseman and then the ball is thrown again out of the reach of the last player.  Shay makes the winning hit and brings in himself and two other runners already on base.  He is an instant hero.

I know that this is a long story and may not really be true; but, the moral of the story is loud and clear.  If you were “Shay”, how would you want to be treated?  We all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect no matter if you have a disability or not.  Some people forfeit these things; but, people still deserve it.

How do you treat people that are different than you?  I see people all the time move away from people in wheelchairs or who appear to be “different” and to be honest it angers me.  They are human beings who communicate differently, look differently, act differently and even sound differently; but they are still God’s creations and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

I think Jesus in a parable gave a good example of one man ignoring the difference of someone else in deep need.  Look at Luke 10:33, “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,”  Will you demonstrate the compassion of Christ to others no matter their disability?  I hope you will.

So, how are you doing?