What Did You Learn Today?
Who hasn’t come home from school and have one of your parents ask, “What did you learn today?” Those words could make your mind go completely blank, even though you’d had an interesting day at school. And they probably didn’t want to hear that you learned sticking your gum under your desk wasn’t a good idea.
Fortunately, learning continues throughout our lives and much of it takes place outside the traditional classroom. Over time, we appreciate the value of the lessons we learned from our parents, grandparents, extended family, neighbors, friends and classmates, and others in our lives. As youngsters, we likely don’t realize that we’re learning life lessons, but just let those observations and examples percolate around for fifteen or twenty years, and that’s how adults with values are made.
And here’s some interesting news — we’re not only students, but teachers, as well! Ready or not, prepared or unprepared, here we are, all mixed up together, and students become teachers, even while still learning. That’s what makes all this teaching-learning thing so interesting and exciting.
Throughout the Old Testament, the People of Israel are told to learn God’s commandments and live accordingly, and then to teach them to their children. They aren’t told to hire a tutor or send them off to school, but to teach within the community. Reading of Jesus’ ministry on earth, take note of how often the disciples and other followers address Jesus as “Teacher.” They were fully engaged in listening and learning from him, questioning and discussing the ideas and lessons he was teaching.
Throughout the Gospel accounts of his ministry, Jesus finds various ways to illustrate, explain, and re-tell the same lesson, as his followers don’t quite comprehend it, or get something mixed up, or have different opinions on the meaning of what he’s saying. Talk about patient! Jesus is a creative teacher, realizing that his listeners have varying abilities, come from different backgrounds, and each one hears what is being said from his or her unique perspective.
The Gospel of Matthew tells us of how Jesus taught the huge crowds that came to listen to him. In Chapter 13, we learn that Jesus taught the crowd by telling parables, including the story of seed that was sowed and landed on rocky ground, among thorns, along a path, but also on good soil. He also related the parable of a man’s enemies who planted weeds in his wheat field, and described the kingdom of heaven as a pearl of great value, a treasure hidden in a field, and a net filled with fish. His listeners came from a tradition of oral history, and descriptive stories, so he used a familiar, effective means of sharing his message. Again, with great patience, when the disciples asked him to explain the parable of the weeds in the field, he took them step by step through the story, fully explaining the meaning.
As we continue this journey of Easter, how blessed we are to learn, teach, share and understand together these lessons from our Lord!
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers