Davy was the biggest, slowest boy in his class. He was born with a slow mind and a crippled body, and he struggled to learn. Sometimes his behaviour disrupted his classmates, because he would twist and squirm and grunt and drool. At other times he spoke clearly and his thoughts were coherent. Miss Scott, his teacher, struggled to keep her class focused on their studies.
So Miss Scott phoned Davy’s parents to arrange a teacher-parent discussion. When they met, she told them that Davy should be attending a special school, as it wasn’t fair to his classmates who learned much faster and were not disabled. “After all, Davy’s four years older than the children in his class,” she explained, as Davy’s mother wiped tears from her eyes. His s dad pleaded for their son.
‘Miss Scott”, he said, “Davy loves coming to school here; it’s the highlight of his life, and he is learning some things. Please don’t take away Davy’s future. He respects you, and tries so hard to please you. There is no better place that we could send him.”
After Davy’s parents left, Miss Scott pondered their difficult challenges, and her responsibility to persevere with Davy, who may never learn to read or write or understand numbers. A wave of guilt washed over her, as she considered the daily pain and effort of Davy’s parents. He wasn’t expected to live a long life, and every day was precious for his family. Her heart melted as she asked God for strength and wisdom to handle her class better, and she prepared her class to not snicker when Davy did odd things, or made strange noises. “ Let ‘s all give this family a special gift of accepting and caring for their disabled son,” she shared with her class, one day when Davy was attending a hospital appointment. Her class were basically good children, and could learn compassion and patience by encouraging and helping Davy.
Easter was coming close, and the class were looking forward to celebrating that exciting time. Miss Scott repeated the wonderful story of Jesus and His sacrifice for us all, and the children all drew pictures of the Crucifixion. All except Davy – he sat crumpled in his wheelchair, and didn’t seem to react. Miss Scott talked about the idea of new life springing forth, like a chick emerging from its egg, and she gave each child a large plastic egg to take home. “I want you to bring your egg back after the Easter holiday, with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand? “
“Yes, Miss Scott,” they chanted excitedly. Davy sat silently, staring at the big egg he was clutching on his lap. Miss Scott wondered if he had understood the wonderful story of Jesus’ suffering and death, and his resurrection three days later. She decided to ring Davy’s parents and explain the symbolism of the egg, and what she wanted the children to do. But she was so busy over Easter that she forgot to phone them.
When the children returned to school, they were all excited and chattering as they placed their eggs in a box on Miss Scott’s desk. After their reading and spelling lessons, Miss Scott opened the first egg. In it she found a sweet smelling rose. “Yes, that’s a good symbol of life, and brings pleasure to the world. Whose egg is this?” she asked. Jane put up her hand, and Miss Scott handed her back her egg. She picked up another egg and opened it and pulled out a plastic butterfly. “That’s my egg,” said Stephen, bouncing around excitedly. “Grandma says that the caterpillar goes into a coffin-crysalis and later hatches into a new life as a butterfly.” “Well done, Stephen!” beamed Miss Scott, handing Stephen back his egg.
Danyel had seeds and beans in her egg. “They look dead,” she explained, and when they are planted and watered they grow into beautiful new plants. “
How true, Danyel, such a good choice of new life,” said Miss Scott. The next egg she opened was Terry’s, and it held a little soft toy lamb”. “It’s my baby sister’s toy,” he said. Miss Scott affirmed each student as they explained their different ‘new-life-out-of-emptiness’ assignment. She pulled up another egg – and it was empty!
Miss Scott decided it must be Davy’s egg, and she suddenly remember that she had forgotten to ring his parents. Poor boy, he probably didn’t understand her instructions. Not wanting to embarrass him, she quietly put the egg to one side. But before she could pick up another egg, a voice called out “Miss Scott, aren’t you going to talk about my egg?”
Flustered, Miss Scott replied “But Davy, your egg is empty.”
He looked at her and said slowly, “But Jesus’ grave was empty too.” The class fell silent. Amazed, Miss Scott asked Davy if her knew why the grave was empty.
“Yes Miss”, said Davy. “Jesus was killed and put in a grave, but then His father woke him up from death.” All the class clapped and cheered, and they voted that Davy’s egg was the best of all.
Before that year ended, Davy’s frail body failed him and he died. Miss Scott took her class to the funeral. Every one of Davy’s classmates brought their Easter eggs, and placed them on his coffin. They all remembered him as the boy who showed them the victory of Easter and the empty grave.
Rosemary Francis.
Easter Day 2020
So Miss Scott phoned Davy’s parents to arrange a teacher-parent discussion. When they met, she told them that Davy should be attending a special school, as it wasn’t fair to his classmates who learned much faster and were not disabled. “After all, Davy’s four years older than the children in his class,” she explained, as Davy’s mother wiped tears from her eyes. His s dad pleaded for their son.
‘Miss Scott”, he said, “Davy loves coming to school here; it’s the highlight of his life, and he is learning some things. Please don’t take away Davy’s future. He respects you, and tries so hard to please you. There is no better place that we could send him.”
After Davy’s parents left, Miss Scott pondered their difficult challenges, and her responsibility to persevere with Davy, who may never learn to read or write or understand numbers. A wave of guilt washed over her, as she considered the daily pain and effort of Davy’s parents. He wasn’t expected to live a long life, and every day was precious for his family. Her heart melted as she asked God for strength and wisdom to handle her class better, and she prepared her class to not snicker when Davy did odd things, or made strange noises. “ Let ‘s all give this family a special gift of accepting and caring for their disabled son,” she shared with her class, one day when Davy was attending a hospital appointment. Her class were basically good children, and could learn compassion and patience by encouraging and helping Davy.
Easter was coming close, and the class were looking forward to celebrating that exciting time. Miss Scott repeated the wonderful story of Jesus and His sacrifice for us all, and the children all drew pictures of the Crucifixion. All except Davy – he sat crumpled in his wheelchair, and didn’t seem to react. Miss Scott talked about the idea of new life springing forth, like a chick emerging from its egg, and she gave each child a large plastic egg to take home. “I want you to bring your egg back after the Easter holiday, with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand? “
“Yes, Miss Scott,” they chanted excitedly. Davy sat silently, staring at the big egg he was clutching on his lap. Miss Scott wondered if he had understood the wonderful story of Jesus’ suffering and death, and his resurrection three days later. She decided to ring Davy’s parents and explain the symbolism of the egg, and what she wanted the children to do. But she was so busy over Easter that she forgot to phone them.
When the children returned to school, they were all excited and chattering as they placed their eggs in a box on Miss Scott’s desk. After their reading and spelling lessons, Miss Scott opened the first egg. In it she found a sweet smelling rose. “Yes, that’s a good symbol of life, and brings pleasure to the world. Whose egg is this?” she asked. Jane put up her hand, and Miss Scott handed her back her egg. She picked up another egg and opened it and pulled out a plastic butterfly. “That’s my egg,” said Stephen, bouncing around excitedly. “Grandma says that the caterpillar goes into a coffin-crysalis and later hatches into a new life as a butterfly.” “Well done, Stephen!” beamed Miss Scott, handing Stephen back his egg.
Danyel had seeds and beans in her egg. “They look dead,” she explained, and when they are planted and watered they grow into beautiful new plants. “
How true, Danyel, such a good choice of new life,” said Miss Scott. The next egg she opened was Terry’s, and it held a little soft toy lamb”. “It’s my baby sister’s toy,” he said. Miss Scott affirmed each student as they explained their different ‘new-life-out-of-emptiness’ assignment. She pulled up another egg – and it was empty!
Miss Scott decided it must be Davy’s egg, and she suddenly remember that she had forgotten to ring his parents. Poor boy, he probably didn’t understand her instructions. Not wanting to embarrass him, she quietly put the egg to one side. But before she could pick up another egg, a voice called out “Miss Scott, aren’t you going to talk about my egg?”
Flustered, Miss Scott replied “But Davy, your egg is empty.”
He looked at her and said slowly, “But Jesus’ grave was empty too.” The class fell silent. Amazed, Miss Scott asked Davy if her knew why the grave was empty.
“Yes Miss”, said Davy. “Jesus was killed and put in a grave, but then His father woke him up from death.” All the class clapped and cheered, and they voted that Davy’s egg was the best of all.
Before that year ended, Davy’s frail body failed him and he died. Miss Scott took her class to the funeral. Every one of Davy’s classmates brought their Easter eggs, and placed them on his coffin. They all remembered him as the boy who showed them the victory of Easter and the empty grave.
Rosemary Francis.
Easter Day 2020
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