I read a story in one of Dr. Suzuki’s book, that is something like this:
A man wanted the absolute best for his young son. He decided that his 4 year old was going become a trader in precious stones. And he asked one of the greatest jade merchants in Japan to mentor his son.
Every day, he dropped his son off at the merchant’s shop. Every day, his son came home with the same story. “Dad, all we did is we went for a walk.”
This went on for months – and finally the father was unable to restrain himself. He went to the merchant and asked when the lessons would begin. The merchant simply opened up his case of jade stones, asked the boy to pick out the best one. Then they waited. The boy picked each stone up, rubbed it and eventually settled on one. Yes, the merchant said, that is it.
The father was flabbergasted – and the merchant explained. Each day he had given the boy a precious stone in his hand and then they set out on a walk. As they were walking, the boy played with the stone in his hand. Eventually his hands became sensitive to the jade – and without realizing it, he learned to identify the qualities of excellence.
This story captures the essence of what we do in Catholic schools.
Each day, the children come and all they seem to do is eat, read, write, have fun or nap. Yet, over time, we can see that they leave our community blessed with a deep understanding of the finer things in life – the kinds of things that can only be learned through guided life experiences provided by wise, faith-filled teachers.
Today’s goal: Thank God for our teachers and the support staff in our schools!
