Yesterday a beloved rocking chair in the classroom was defaced by someone. It was an egregious offense, which of course no one could confess to immediately. But integrity stepped forward late in the day when a tiny, tearful voice whispered, "Ms. Colleen, the truth will set me free, right?"
Truth--such an easy, little word for such an big and elusive concept. It's not only about the honest behavior we aspire to, it's also the nugget we long to uncover in every subject we study.
When I was in Hawaii this summer, Clay, my son-in-law, reminded me often that the truth sets us free. He inherited the mantra from his grandma who raised him. She made sure he heard it often. And because I heard it often from him, it was still rattling around in my head when I arrived out here. "The truth will set you free" became the obvious choice when I needed to come up with a classroom slogan.
Angels are said to be creatures who transcend time and space to deliver significant messages. Is this true? Fourth-grade philosophers must now grapple with that question. Did Matilda Leimomi Ma'alea Waikiki, who died many years ago in a place far, far away, deliver a liberating message to a fourth-grade student in Lumberton yesterday?
4 comments:
Hello old neighbor. Penni here... When Marcy found out that I had a blog it jogged her memory and she said she'd send me a link to yours. I am so excited to see where you are.
I used to live in Farmington and at Navajo Lake Dam. All my kids used to live there at one time and I have a son that still lives outside of Aztec.
I will enjoy following your blog, seeing and hearing how the winter goes for you. Also love the stories about the school and the kids. I have some good memories of the Native People from that area. Not such good memories of two years of boarding school at Holy Names Academy, both in Seattle and in Spokane.
I loved the comments you made about the first day, lining up etc.
Hey, Penni! How cool to hear from you. So are you telling me you actually know where Lumberton is?!!
Yes I do. I traveled all over that northern part when we were up there.
I was so blown away when Marcy told
me where you were.
I added a little comment on the girls blog too.
Colleen, beautifully written. I hope your young student does indeed feel set free from the burden of that secret. And I hope he/she gets extra points for the bravery it took to come clean. Ellen
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