Pearls & Perfection Pending

The parable of the Good Samaritan is a familiar one to most.  It encourages the fairly basic idea of serving our fellow man and helps us to think about who our "neighbors" are.  Since I was young, I have always read this story relating myself to the figure of the Samaritan.  I need to be the person to take the time to help those around me and to " ...be faithful" and "...succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees."   It is important to pray and look for opportunities to serve, especially those who can't help themselves.  This week however, I thought of this parable in a different way than I ever have in the past.  The parable of the good Samaritan can be found in Luke 10:25-37 .  A certain lawyer tries to tempt Christ by asking what he needs to do to inherit eternal life.  Christ, always turning back to the scriptures asks this man what the scriptures tell him.  He replies that the law tells him to l...

I did it again.  An angry, irresponsible Mom called me this morning at 7:55 informing me of every reason under the sun that I am a horrible teacher.  I dealt with this last year and read a lot about how to come off conqueror this year.  I told myself all about how angry people need validation.  They are angry for a reason and I need to show empathy.  I need to remember that they, like myself, have this poor kid in mind when they turn on the spigot of ignorant and unkind nonsense that pours freely out of their mouths  speak.  Yet, when I picked up the phone and listened to insult after insult, my defenses kicked in and that kind, validating woman I'd hoped to be hightailed it out of there.  The sassy, "oh no you didn't" version of myself came out and I couldn't stop myself from thinking horrible things about this woman whom I have never met. I tried to make it through the conversation calmly, especially since my entire class was listening...