Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 5:59 pm
When you think of it as a job, it's just like any other. Some people are competant, some people aren't. To disgrace those that bust their ass in a screwed up system because of the few examples with a selfish or corrupted agenda is disrespectful to the majority of teachers I have known.
I think of it as a truly selfless and amazingly challenging profession, especially in this country. Aside from that it seems to be as close to anything I can see in modern times as a higher calling. Philanthropists...
I think of it as a truly selfless and amazingly challenging profession, especially in this country. Aside from that it seems to be as close to anything I can see in modern times as a higher calling. Philanthropists...
Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet wrote:Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving."
And he answered:
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?
There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.
Though the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.
It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;
And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving.
And is there aught you would withhold?
