The
Merciful Master Teacher
In the spring of 1992, I was living with my wife and
2 children in Orem, Utah while attending my final semester at BYU. I had already been accepted into graduate
school which was scheduled to start later that summer… IF I was able to pass all
my classes during this final semester to meet the prerequisite requirements.
To complete this task, I was registered for 17
credits, while working 30 hours per week, and serving as our ward Elder’s
Quorum president. Oh, and did I mention
that I was married and had two small children at the time? On top of that, my wife came down with a
sudden onset of facial numbness, which the doctors worried might be early signs
of multiple sclerosis. (As a great
blessing it turned out to be only a transient case of trigeminal neuralgia from
which she had no lasting effects, but it was very nerve-wracking at the time).
To say I felt overwhelmed during this time would be
an understatement of monumental proportions.
As I began that final semester and considered the task of completing
those 17 credits while juggling everything else in my life, I felt exhausted
and almost defeated before my classes had even began.
The professor was an elderly gentleman, who walked
in with a warm and inviting smile. He greeted
all the students fidgeting anxiously in their seats, introduced himself, and
then spoke these words, as best as I can recall, “I have been teaching for many, many years, and this is my final
semester of instruction before I retire.
It has been wonderful to teach at this University and I am happy for my
coming retirement and I am in a very good mood about it all as my career comes
to its end. As a result, and because I
am in such a good mood, you will have to work hard at it if you want to fail
this class, because I want to end on a positive note. I wrote the text book. I think it is a good book, so we will follow
it during our lectures each day and the examinations will be based off the
material in the book and the chapter reviews.
You will gain all the information you need from the book, but if you
have questions, I will be more than happy to discuss them with you in class or
in person to make sure you have the information you need to pass the
exams. I will not take attendance role
in this class, but you will need to be present when the exams are
administered. Now, let’s learn and have
a wonderful experience together.”
His kindness and demeanor were so refreshing,
inspiring and inviting. It was a ray of sunshine and relief in what looked to be
a stormy semester ahead.
True to his word, his lectures followed directly out
of the book, and I quickly realized that if I but spent time to read the
chapters, focus on the materials bold print and chapter summaries, that I could
easily pass the tests when they were administered. What I thought would be a daunting microbiology
class, became my easiest and most uplifting class that semester, and offered
the relief necessary to fulfill my other responsibilities better and progress
to graduate school and further advanced studies.
As I reflect back on that experience, I can’t help
but draw some spiritual comparisons which are so applicable to all of us in the
current world we live in.
Let’s face it – life can be and is in fact pretty
crazy and hectic most of the time. It
seems as if there is a constant barrage of things to be done, responsibilities
to be met and things to do and keep our attention focused upon – all at the
same time! On top of that, others often place demands upon us in work, school
or other areas of life, and some of them in not such nice ways.
Amidst all of these pressures and strains of the
mortal life, our spiritual and Church responsibilities are also present, and if
we are not careful, can also be looked at as burdens rather than opportunities
for meaningful service.
So let us ask some questions of ourselves. If we put ourselves in the shoes of the “professors” of the world, which kind
of professor are we? Are we the
unrelenting kind, who is dishing out demands to our spouse or children,
coworkers, peers or fellow Church members, with an expectation that, “It’s all
up to you, and you’re going to have to work hard to earn a passing grade in my
book, and by golly the tests are going to be very difficult and require all of
your energy to live up to the task.”
Or are we more like my retiring professor, who
offers a kind, mild, gentle path of learning and growth amidst the challenges
of life? Life is already a hard journey,
as we all well know, and the Charity and kindness is needed and appreciated far
more than harshness, inflexibility and judgement. The kindness we offer may be the light others need to help them along their pathway.
Love, kindness and service lifts the burdens of
others and helps both them and us progress together to a more relaxed and
advanced state of graduate-study-level-living.
When you think about it, this is the path our Lord
and Savior, the Master Teacher
offers to us. He stands at the head of the human class, with loving invitation and
welcoming smile. Can’t you picture Him
looking at us with encouragement and saying, “I love you, and I want you to be
successful and pass this class called mortal life. I want to make it easy for you to understand
what you need to know, so I have written a textbook for you. It is called the Holy Scriptures. It is a good book and I am the author of
it. So if you are willing to follow the
textbook, it will teach you what you need to know to pass the examinations when
they come. If you don’t understand
something, I am more than happy to talk with you in person in prayer and answer
your questions and do everything possible to help you be successful so we can
all enjoy this experience together.”
He might then also add, “But there will be mandatory
tests along the way, just to see if you are really learning what is contained
in the text book and understanding how to apply it in your life. You will have to be present for these exams,
but if you have done your part, I will help you and make sure that you can pass
with as little difficulty as possible.”
He also encouragingly offers, “Because I am on your side, you
will have to work hard if you want to fail this course.”
The Savior is merciful, kind and willing to go as
far as He can to help us succeed in the classroom of mortality, but he will not
force us against our will. I believe
that ultimately, if we want to fail, it will be because of our own choice, not
because of any punishment of His. I
believe that He will go to the uttermost degree to offer us mercy, grace,
pardon and forgiving understanding – to the fullest extent we allow Him to do
so through our agency.
Now don’t misunderstand what I am trying to suggest
here. The scriptures teach that the Lord
cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. And the life we need to experience is often
full of challenges and trials designed to help us learn and grow in ways we
could not do otherwise. But amidst that,
what the Lord offers is Charity, the pure love of Christ.
“And
Charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up,
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth
not in inquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. ...Charity is the pure love of
Christ, and it endureth forever; and who so is found possessed of it at the
last day, it shall be well with him.” (Moroni
7:45-47)
Indeed, amidst all of the challenges of this 17
credit, crazy, busy life – what the Master Teacher offers if we are willing to
enroll in his class is this invitation, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
I will be forever grateful for my microbiology
teacher, who offered me a path of hope during a very difficult time. And I will be forever grateful to The Master
Teacher, Jesus Christ, who offers us a much easier way through the classroom of
life as well!
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