The Starfish Thrower
In these troubled times, where our cherished institutions are under duress, we say to ourselves, What can I do? How can one person make a difference? What can I possibly do?
We live in a global world. Each one of us potentially like the butterfly flapping her wings in China to bring rain to New York. We can write postcards for candidates, call our congressmen, post on social media, write letters to the editor, and have conversations with our neighbors. We can protest. We can donate money to causes. We can, as I do, help Ukrainians learn English. We are not alone in the world.
Perhaps you have had moments, like the starfish thrower, when you believe that you may have made “a difference to this one.” That takes action. Authors write books hoping to make differences to readers––even to one. Musicians, playwrights, artists, poets, ministers, neighbors, et al, can be difference makers. Paraphrasing the words of Gandhi, whatever you do for others may not be enough, but, like the starfish rescuer, it matters enormously that you do it.
Teachers are like the old man on the beach. Every day, each child is like a starfish to be cared for. They need to know that teachers are on the beach to care for them.
Teaching during one cold winter in Worcester, Massachusetts, I asked my eighth graders if anyone had a winter parka I could give to a newspaper girl, who stood with her father in her thin fall jacket in the cold every Sunday. The next day Katy came in with the perfect coat. Many years later, she wrote to tell me on that day she decided to become a nurse.
Given that “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forward” (Kierkegaard), I write to bring ideas and methods from my life as a teacher in the latter half of the 20th century to help teachers and the public to “live forward” in this century. My latest book, “Teacher in the Rye: Doing It My Way” is available on Amazon. And I welcome comments here on my Blog or by email at frankthoms3@gmail.com.
