What Was In
Jeremy's Egg?
Jeremy was born with a twisted body, a
slow mind and a chronic, terminal illness that had been slowly
killing him all his young life. Still, his parents had tried to give
him as normal a life as possible and had sent him to St. Theresa's
Elementary School.
At the age of 12, Jeremy was only 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
irritated his teacher.
One day, she called his parents and asked
them to come to St. Teresa's for a consultation. As the Forresters
sat quietly in 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
left, staring at the snow outside the window. Its coldness seemed to
seep into her soul. She wanted to sympathize with the Forresters.
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
or write. Why waste any more time trying? As she pondered the
situation, guilt washed over her. "Oh God," she said aloud, "here I
am complaining when my problems are nothing compared with that
poor
family! 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, loudly enough for the whole class to hear. The
other children snickered, and Doris'face turned red. She stammered,
"Wh-Why, that's very nice, Jeremy. 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 just 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 arms.
"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 is 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 the 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 exclaimed. "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.
But they that wait
upon the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be
weary; and they shall
walk, and not faint." - Isaiah 40:31
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