TO ENJOY THE MUSIC IN TODAY’S POST, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK ABOVE IN YOUR EMAIL, OR click here
From the Just a Thought archives we present this beautiful thought from Joe Nagy, composed in remembrance of the tragic incident at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
When my son was growing up, we lived next door to the elementary school that he attended.
In the afternoons we could hear the shouts and laughter of the children as they played during recess. When I heard their cries of glee, I would imagine Nate out there, playing ball with his classmates in the field behind the school, yelling along with the rest of them in the sheer delight of being alive.
The principal, Mr. Mac, had memorized each child’s name before the start of the school year, and would greet them individually as they entered each morning.
Parents sought to send their children to this school because of his reputation for kindness.
Nate’s 5th grade teacher, Mr. Salvestrini, would sometimes surprise his students by coming in dressed as a Civil War soldier, or the explorer Meriwether Lewis. Nate’s lifelong love of history began in that class.
Each morning for three years, from 3rd to 5th grades, I would walk Nate the one block to school. On the way we would come up with a thought for the day. Sometimes I would contribute the thought, sometimes Nate would come up with his own.
I saved a selection and printed them in a brochure one year, and sent them around as a Christmas gift. Fifteen years later, I still keep a copy in my desk drawer.
Here are a few of Nate’s contributions:
- “The first rule of a gentleman is to be kind.”
- “Never give up your dreams.”
- “Even when it rains outside, it can be sunny in your heart.”
These thoughts have washed over me all weekend, ever since I heard about the horrific slaughter of the innocents at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, just 10 miles from where we lived.
It could have been Nate’s school. It could have been he and his classmates who were murdered.
This morning, the New York Times printed the names and ages of the 20 slain children, and their principal, school psychologist, and teachers. As I read down the list, I saw the faces of Nate’s classmates and teachers.
When I read that the principal, Dawn Hochsprung, 47, and school psychologist, Mary Sherlach, 54, died trying to tackle the gunman, I knew that Mr. Mac would have done the same.
When I read that first-year teacher Victoria Soto, 27, was killed when she put herself between the gunman and her first-graders, I knew Mr. Salvestrini would have done the same.
There are thousands of teachers in thousands of schools who would have done the same, who would have without hesitation sacrificed their lives for their students.
And that is the lesson that I want to remember from this tragedy. We only have something worth living for if we also have something worth dying for.
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat reminds us that “the Christmas story isn’t just the manger and the shepherds and the baby Jesus, meek and mild. The rage of Herod is there as well, and the slaughtered innocents of Bethlehem.” He reminds us that “the cross looms behind the stable.”
When this season Christians gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, and reaffirm their belief that the creator of all the universe elected to become one of us, they should remember that the God of Love did not come to wash away our tears and remove evil and injustice and pain and suffering from our lives.
Jesus merely experienced it with us.
And among his last words was the cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
He also asked for forgiveness for his killers.
Forgive, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace. ~ Author unknown
Just a thought…
Joe Nagy
TO ENJOY THE MUSIC IN TODAY’S POST, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK ABOVE IN YOUR EMAIL, OR click here
Today’s music for the ages is the jazz classic, “So What,” by Miles Davis, with John Coltrane on tenor sax, Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, Bill Evans on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums.
The selection is truly one for the ages and one I know my dear friend Sam Hanson would appreciate it.