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The Empty Egg
~ This is a
bit long but well worth it! ~
Jeremy
was born with a twisted body and a slow mind.
At the age of 12 he was still in second grade, seemingly unable to
learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often
became exasperated with him. He would squirm in his seat, drool
and
make grunting noises. At other times, he
spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of light had penetrated the
darkness of his brain. Most of the time,
however, Jeremy just irritated his teacher.
One day, she called his parents and asked them to come in for a
consultation. As the Forrester's entered the empty
classroom, Doris said to them, "Jeremy really belongs in a special
school. It isn't fair to him to be with
younger children who don't have learning problems. Why, there is
a five-year gap between his age and that of the other students."
Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue, while her husband
spoke.
"Miss Miller," he said, "there is no school of that kind nearby.
It would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of
this school. We know he really likes it here."
Doris sat for a long time after they had left, staring at the snow
outside
the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She
wanted to sympathize
with the Forrester's. After all, their only child had a terminal
illness. But
it wasn't fair to keep him in her class. She had 18 other
youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a
distraction. Furthermore, he would never learn to read and
write. Why waste any more time
trying?
As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. 'Here I am
complaining when my problems are nothing compared to
that poor family,' she thought. 'Lord,
please help me to be more patient with Jeremy.'
From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy's noises and his
blank
stares. Then one day, he limped to her
desk, dragging his bad leg behind him.
"I love you, Miss Miller," he exclaimed, loud enough for the
whole class to hear. The other students
snickered, and Doris' face turned red.
She stammered, "Wh-why that's very nice, Jeremy. N-now please
take your seat."
Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of
Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then
to emphasize the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the
children a large plastic egg.
"Now," she said to them, "I want you to take this home and bring it
back
tomorrow with something inside that shows new life.
Do you understand?"
"Yes, Miss Miller," the children responded enthusiastically all except
for
Jeremy. He listened intently; his eyes
never left her face. He did not even
make his usual noises. Had he
understood what she had said about Jesus' death and resurrection?
Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call his
parents
and explain the project to them.
That evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up.
She called the landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and
unclog it. After that, she still had to shop
for groceries, iron a blouse, and prepare a vocabulary test for the
next day. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy's parents.
The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as
they
placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's
desk.
After they completed their math lesson, it was time to open the eggs.
In the first egg, Doris found a flower. "Oh yes, a flower is certainly
a
sign of new life," she said. "When
plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here."
A small girl in the first row waved her arm. "That's my egg, Miss
Miller," she called out.
The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very
real.
Doris held it up. "We all know that a caterpillar changes and
grows
into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that's new
life, too." Little Judy smiled proudly and said, "Miss Miller, that
one is mine."
Next, Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that
moss, too, showed life. Billy
spoke up from the back of the classroom, "My daddy helped me," he
beamed.
Then Doris opened the fourth egg. She
gasped. The egg was empty. Surely it must be Jeremy's, she
thought, and of course, he did not understand her instructions.
If only she
had not forgotten to phone his parents. Because she did not want
to
embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another.
Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up. "Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk
about my egg?"
Flustered, Doris replied, "But Jeremy, your egg is empty." He
looked into her
eyes and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty, too."
Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him, "Do
you know why the tomb was empty?"
"Oh, yes," Jeremy said, "Jesus was killed and put in there. Then
His Father raised Him up."
The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the
school yard, Doris cried. The cold
inside her melted completely away.
Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at
the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on
top of his casket, all of them empty.
Defining
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Copyright
© 2006, Jace Carlton. All International Rights Reserved.
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