While the Good Lord was creating teachers, He was into His sixth day of
'overtime' when the angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling
around with this one."
And the Lord said, "Have you read the specs on this order? She has to: stand
above all her students, yet be on their level, be able to do 180 other things
not connected with the subject she teaches, run on coffee, cokes, and leftovers,
communicate vital knowledge to thousands of students daily, and be right, have
as much, and sometimes more, time for her job as she does for herself, have a
smile that can endure everything from practical jokes to pay cuts, go on
teaching when parents question her every move and the administration doesn't
understand, and have six pairs of hands.
The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...not possible."
"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord. "It's the
three pairs of eyes that teachers have to have."
"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.
The Lord nodded. "One pair that can see a student for what he is and not what
society has labeled him. Another pair must be in the back of her head, to see
what she shouldn't, but what she has to know. Of course, the ones here in front
can look at a child when he goofs up and reflect, 'I understand and I still
believe in you." without so much as uttering a word."
"Lord," said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, "Come to bed. Tomorrow…"
"I can't," said the Lord. "I'm so close to creating something so close to
myself. Already I have one who comes to work when she is too sick ...can still
teach a class when they don't want to learn...loves thousands of children that
are not her own...and all of this in both sexes. And wait until you see my
Special Ed teacher! She is truly special; she will never take anything her
students do for granted."
The angel circled the model of the teacher very slowly. "It's too soft," she
sighed.
"But tough," said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this teacher can
do or endure."
"Can she think?"
"Not only can she think, but she can reason and compromise."
Finally the angel bent over and ran her fingers across the cheek of the teacher.
"There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were putting too much
into this model. You can't imagine the stress factor."
The Lord moved in for a closer look and gently lifted the drop of moisture to
His finger where it glistened and sparkled in the light.
"It's not a leak," He said. "It's a tear."
"A tear?" asked the angel. "What's it for?"
"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, compassion, pain, loneliness, and
pride."
"You are a genius," said the angel.
The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there."
-Author Unknown
