Reflections on a Class Reunion

I am one of those people who goes to high school class reunions.  I am not sure why.  I did not go to the first few but after the 15^th I was hooked on the idea and have served on the reunion committee ever since.  It is a source of fascination to see how everyone has turned out and who has grand-children, etc.  Last Saturday was my 40^th class reunion and out of a class of 430 graduates only 50 of them showed up but that was actually better than the planning committee expected. Those who want to be there come every time.  In our earlier years there was a great deal of loud music, dancing and people going back and forth to the bar.  As we have gotten older the music is quieter, the bartender had few customers and no one was on the dance floor.  We are getting older, maybe wiser.  Here’s the God-part:

Into the class reunion came Mr. Redd, our civics teacher who taught at the high school for 40 years.  He was well-known to everyone.  Some of his earlier students had children and grandchildren in his classes at the high school.  Mr. Redd came in with a CD player and a microphone and proceeded to sing Elvis Presley songs to us.  At the age of 77 his tenor voice was still truly beautiful and the room was hushed.  He said to the reunion attendees that teaching was his greatest joy on earth because he got to work with students whom he loved and he had a chance to shape the future.  When he was finished he got a standing ovation.

Truly Mr. Redd shaped the future with his teaching.  All of the students at Lansdowne High School in Baltimore learned from him and also we experienced his warmth and concern.  Teaching is a very important profession.  Teachers don’t have an easy time, if they ever did, in the classrooms of today’s schools.  Pray for our teachers.  May they continue to love their students, shape the future and make a difference in this world.  Why not adopt a school near your church and find ways to show appreciation for the teachers there?  Church and school go hand-in-hand in many ways to set the tone for the character of our young people.  Be a part of making the world a better place through education.