I don’t normally insert excerpts from sermons on my blog. I don’t view this forum as a place to do a dry run on a sermon idea, nor is it a place for instant replay from the previous Sunday! But I had an experience last night that caused me to make one notable exception today. Here is a brief selection from a sermon I delivered in Granbury on May 3rd of last year.

Do you remember growing up and being in school? When you had a question, you would go up to the teacher’s desk, and tell her, excuse me, but I am confused…I have always been a terrible mathematician…But I did have one school year, where there was a flash of temporary brilliance. In the 9th grade, I had Ms. Jackson for algebra. Ms. Jackson was a first year teacher, if I am not mistaken. She was young and very pretty. My best friend and I found ourselves confused on a pretty regular basis, so we could approach Ms. Jackson’s desk, and get the help we needed. I am sure Ms. Jackson knew both of us needed help all right. He and I overcame our math anxiety that year and made straight A’s in Algebra.

Wouldn’t it be nice if life itself was conducted in a classroom, where a smiling teacher is waiting behind a desk to guide us through all of the confusion and disorder that life brings? It does not happen that way, at all… There are often times when I just want to raise my hand and say: Excuse Me, but I am Confused!

I had Ms. Jackson as a teacher during the 1976-1977 school years at Evans Junior High School in Lubbock, Texas. She taught an entire group of us, who were experiencing adolescent confusion at the time. I seriously doubt that she realized the significance of her investment in each of our lives. Teachers are trying to get their students to excel in their class. They are probably not thinking too much about the long term future.

Their love for kids, their capacity to instill confidence, and their ability to be exceptional role models are all things that students carry with them for the rest of their life. Unfortunately there have not been any teacher’s desks to approach for a long time now. But I find that the confusion that life brings is easier to cope with because of those took the time give me a solid foundation. Ms. Jackson of course is among that group.

I often wondered what happened to Ms. Jackson. I thought about her when I had math teachers in high school who were not so young and not so pretty either. And I thought about her again when I had to present a photo id to take a math test in a huge class at Texas Tech. The professor never knew any of our names. I took the GRE exam before entering a doctoral program about ten years ago. I made an attempt to work through math concepts that I had not seen for nearly 20 years. Visions of Ms. Jackson sitting behind her desk with a pleasant smile must have carried me through that portion of the exam.

I never dreamed that I would actually communicate with her again. Modern technology and social networking websites really is a good thing. Ms. Jackson and her husband of 35 years don’t live too far away from here. She has successfully raised three children. No doubt she has more wisdom than ever to share. I think all of the alums of her Algebra class should pitch in and purchase a traditional Oak teachers’ desk, because I suspect most of us still find ourselves to be confused on a pretty regular basis! Thank you Ms. Jackson. Your influence lives on in each of our lives.