On Teaching: "Forty-two Lights of the World"

"Ye are the light of the world." --Matthew 5:15
Reading this quote in the Bible this morning reminded me of how fortunate I am to be a teacher, for my students are truly "lights of the world". This earth that my students and I live on is seemingly brimming with the opposite of light -- the darkness of ignorance, confusion, and fear. We often seem surrounded by a mental gloom that makes it difficult, sometimes, even to put one foot in front of another. Hemmed in by one apparent threat after another, life sometimes seems as dark as the deepest cave. What I love to remember, and what this quote reminded me of, is that there is one powerful light that can always dispel any darkness -- and that is the light of thought. Jesus was simply reassuring his friends that they were part of this grand light of thought, or awareness -- a light that is infinitely bright and thus actually renders any supposed darkness an impossibility. What I need to do is reassure myself that my students are part of the same light, and that their portion of the light is shining dazzlingly at all times. My students are not the handiwork of matter, but of thought. They are created brand new every moment, not by physicality, but by the measureless awareness, or consciousness, that rules all of reality. This vast power of thought (to which some people give the name "God") shines in my classroom moment by moment, day by day, whether I'm aware of it or not. On a dark day, you could probably see my classroom for miles, as lit up as it is with ideas. How lucky I am to be the English teacher of forty-two lights of the world!