"The tassel's worth the hassle! -Author UnknownOkay, so they don't dispense tassles for graduates of our Seminary program. But they do get a diploma! Which comes in handy if you are called to serve a church mission in a country that requires some Biblical training in exchange for a visa!
Last night there were 3 students from Los Gatos High in the Saratoga Stake Graduation (I'd call it a ceremony but that would be a stretch. Think low key - no pomp or circumstance to speak of).
All 3 students couldn't be more different - brought together mainly by church membership. Yet, all three outstanding youth - stellar kids! Jenae never missed a single day in 4 years (quite remarkable) while Rose missed the whole freshman year but diligently came the other 3 & spent last summer earnestly working on home study to get credit for her late start. Michael is just an all-around-all-American-kid, impressive in every way.
I admire these kids for pitching up early before school every day! Seriously, how many adults would do that? There is sometimes a big hubbub over tardiness and while it's frustrating as a teacher, I really am happy to see them at any point. Hey, if I didn't cut people slack for being late I could never have stayed happily married to someone who is punctually challenged!
Clear back in 1938, J. Reuben Clark (serving in the First Presidency), gave a classic speech to Seminary instructors. Below is one quote from that talk, titled, The Chartered Course of the Church in Education:
"There is scarcely a youth that comes through your Seminary door who has not been the conscious beneficiary of spiritual blessings, or who has not seen the efficacy of prayer, or who has not witnessed the power of faith to heal the sick, or who has not beheld spiritual outpourings of which the world at large is today ignorant. You do not have to sneak up behind this spiritually experienced youth and whisper religion in his ears; you can come right out, face to face, and talk with him. You do not need to disguise religious truths with a cloak of worldly things; you can bring these truths to him openly, in their natural guise." -J. Reuben Clark
One way I probably failed as a religion teacher these past 4 years is forgetting the truth President Clark notes. These kids don't need the gospel diluted! They were probably ready for "meat" at times when I gave them "milk." I didn't exactly underestimate them but in my attempts to keep it fun, I may have made shortchanged them.
But it is often said that the Holy Ghost is the one who teaches. So, I hope the youth felt the Spirit in the classroom even if/when I didn't do justice to the lessons or their intellects!
I'm grateful to have taught all 3 graduates. They are spiritually tuned-in youth and if they stay the course they will probably all end up teaching Seminary classes themselves one day!
