Island of Laughter and Refreshment

Attended a teacher's conference yesterday. Usually the keynote speakers at this conference can be rather dry, shall we say, but yesterday a fresh breath of air blew through the auditorium at Trinity High School in Harrisburg.

A nun. Yes --a nun. She had the room full of rather sleepy teachers laughing in almost hysterics. Her message was uplifting and marvelous--just what we all needed.
I wish I had taped her talk there was so much she said that rang true for all of us and for once she said things about our daily "yippy skippy lives" in the classroom in a REAL way and yet made us see how blessed we are to be where we are. No beatitudes--those false notions that are often bestowed upon us in the trenches by those who have moved on into their ivory towers of unreality and forgetfulness of what it is really like to be with kids day in and day out. But she made us see how much we are loved by those kids on levels that are more important than we ever imagined. And she made us laugh until tears came and bellies ached.

But the best part was her re-enactment of how she plays musical chairs with her graduate students. No tape nor CD did she play-- she sang for us-- Amazing Grace as she moved around those chairs. Except it wasn't the tune so familiar.

She sang it to the tune of Gilligan's Island.

Praise Be for wonderful souls like hers. It was a refreshing session to say the least.