An imaginative Jesus sent the devils in a man into some pigs. The herdsmen were more angry about losing their pigs than having a sane happy man sitting talking to Jesus. (Strange this. Do I really prefer people to animals?)
All the healed man wanted was to stay with Jesus. Jesus told him directly: ” Go home and show what great things God has done for you!”
Luke 8: 26 – 39.
as seen and painted
by me
I will soon be 68, and it seems to be taking a while for me to grow up!
Here are two stories the first story has its origin in my early years of teaching the second mid way through. Both were uncomfortable, and the second tragic, however, they are worth remembering and being told.
Let me begin.
Dentists,doctors, and companies were still taking brown files down from shelves with notes. There weren’t many computers, and those using them had a vague idea of software! There were, however, enough computers for this story.
A very charming teacher, I believe he had a degree in psychology, composed a romantic letter to one of two girlfriends, and pressed send with satisfaction. Unbeknown to him, he had copied in his wife, his second girlfriend , his teaching colleagues, and the governors of the school.
My students sat there with their hands cradling their i-phones. One suddenly woke up and said:
“Was you the girlfriend?”
“No! Not me ! “
Be careful what you are doing while trying to learn the third conditional!
If I hadn’t been on my phone in class, I might not have proposed!”
The students then had questions. I let them make up the answers as to what happened to the three ladies and the gentleman. Some were reasonable others funny.
I think you know the outcome.
The second story left sadness in the classroom, and because I gave it in skeleton form, there were questions.
Five students went out one night to the Kebab van. Yes, the one parked in the industrial site.
There were five seat belts in the car, and four students didn’t drink alcohol. On the way home, four students were wearing their seat belts. The student who drank alcohol accidentally swerved into a substantial post. The student not wearing a seat belt continued moving through the windscreen. It was a fatal accident.
Some students followed what I had said others didn’t . In pairs, they then tried to make sense of what I had told them. Their stories were sometimes more interesting than mine but always sad.
Soon, cherry trees planted in a row will bear pink blossom as a reminder of the sad loss of a son, a student, a person who never became what they should have been.
Be warned my students.
First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you. (or someone else says Sandy)
F.Scott Fitzgerald The GreatGatsby
A tree (sign post) never hits an automobile except in self-defense.
Not drinking makes me a lot happier.
Woody Allen Naomi Cambell
Thank you for reading a classroom visit from such a long time ago. Remember, I didn’t marry the teacher🤣 or receive the email. I wasn’t one of those with a computer in those days.
Sandy🙂