The Brat

[lazariuk]

Joseph was the worst student in my class. If brat was a glove he would fit it. Oh what I would have given to have had Ritalin to give him in those days. And so when we heard that the Bishop was coming for a visit the principal and I met and discussed if it would be better not to have Joseph in the class that day. The arrangement with the Bishop was that he was to visit every class and ask each student one question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and he asked us to not tell the children ahead of time because he wanted them to be spontaneous.

We decided to let him be in the class but we came up with a plan. The plan was that I would give Joseph a lot of hints of what to say ahead of time. He was actually quite good with his hands and so we decided that he should be a carpenter. We believed that we had God on our side for that one. When I saw him making something in class I complimented him on it and said that he was very good at making things like a carpenter would be. In religion class I told the story of Joseph the father of Jesus who was a carpenter and that that was a very noble profession. I even complimented him in front of the whole class that our Joseph was also good with his hands like the father of Jesus. I thought I did a very good job of giving him a hint. I even arranged the seating order so that he would be last to speak to the Bishop so that he could also get hints from the other students on how to behave and answer the bishop. It was all in vain.

The Bishop came early in the morning when all the kids were awake and bright which I took for a good sign. He asked his question "What do you want to be when you grow up? - Marie - Steve - Mark - Jean And they all answered like little angels " Nurse, fireman, doctor, dancer" and so I walked with him through the class and to each child he would give his beautiful warm smile. About a third of the way through I began paying less attention to the Bishop and the children and started noticing Joseph and how he was squirming in his seat. I began regretting placing him last because I now knew that I would not be able to relax until it was all over. There should have been no need for me to be so nervous, it was a simple question and he had been coached over and over again and all the other children were doing so well.

And so we finally got to him and the Bishop read from his seating chart and said "Joseph, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Joseph was still squirming around in his seat and I could even smell him and he smelled of shame that he so rightfully deserved because in his little shameful voice he spit out "sublime".

No smile from the Bishop came and the one word he spoke was "ridiculous" and he gave me a harsh look and I passed it on to Joseph and let my look carry the message of the punishment that was to come. Where had he even heard the word sublime at his age?

That brat spoiled the whole visit and he was punished for it.

That happened many years ago but sometimes late at night it is him that I so often think of. I am troubled by him. Maybe we had beat him too much and broke his spirit so badly that the devil had taken hold of him. I start feeling very sad and I find tears filling my eyes. I pray for him and I ask any who read this to pray with me to Jesus and Mary, that he be given a helping hand and that he finally become like his namesake and probably his namesakes father: a carpenter, and that he be given a spirit of calmness that whatever he builds he will build slow and carefully.

If you ever meet him along the way please tell him that I forgive him and that in his own small way he did a lot to soften my heart and that it goes out to him.

[seadove]

The question is, will he ever forgive you?

It seems to me that these kids have been used as a "show" to a passing by Bishop. Quite often in life it's the brattest kids in school who grow up to be people who are worthy to look up to.

I am glad that you did not induce the use of Ritalin on Joseph. I think it's worth while to investigate on him, to see what he's done with his life.

[lazariuk]

The question is, will he ever forgive you?

It seems to me that these kids have been used as a "show" to a passing by Bishop. Quite often in life it's the brattest kids in school who grow up to be people who are worthy to look up to.

I am glad that you did not induce the use of Ritalin on Joseph. I think it's worth while to investigate on him, to see what he's done with his life.

Hi Seadove
Thanks for responding. I am trying to learn how to write in different ways. I read somewhere that Leonard said that the usual way is for the writer to be the subject and the work to be the object and that he was not going that way. So what I was trying was to see if I could write from a point of view where I am not the subject. I assumed that everyone writing this would know that I was not that teacher. It was probably a foolish assumption.
What your reply showed me was that by doing it this way I might be called upon to stand behind a particular point of view and while I think that every point of view can be stood behind I see that one person can't really open himself to every conceivable point of view.
I would certainly discuss the story with you but wonder if i can do so without having to be one of those people. Do you think i would need to rewrite it for that to happen? Any suggestions on how to do that.
The situation is one that I think is worth looking at but i am unsure of the best way to present it.
It is a dilemma in much the same way that the line is so fine between the ridiculous and the sublime. I am curious to know if the story could be seen that it was the Bishop who was being sublime and the student that was being ridiculous. Can we trade places freely and joyfully?
Like instead of right and wrong we be ridiculous and sublime.

[seadove]

Well then let me mention that your writing was so convincing that you had me thinking you were the teacher. Lol.

But in some point of my reading I was thinking about the Bishop who repeatedly asked the same question of "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I should have guessed that something was wrong here.

Good writing. A very good grasp of the english language.

[ritamarie]

Hi Lazariuk,
It strikes me how the most worthwhile answers are not at all considered, when spoken by a 'troublemaker'.
We'd all do well to remember that if we really listen to what is said, independently of a speaker's history,
that dialogue becomes a lot more interesting.
Cheers,
Ritamarie.

[lazariuk]

Hi Lazariuk,
It strikes me how the most worthwhile answers are not at all considered, when spoken by a 'troublemaker'.
We'd all do well to remember that if we really listen to what is said, independently of a speaker's history,
that dialogue becomes a lot more interesting.
Cheers,
Ritamarie.

Hi Ritamarie
I thought that that was part of something that I might have discovered as a golden principle of communication and I gave it the name "Jack's Principal" in honour of my third grade principal. It is:
"Everything being said to you is true, try to imagine what it is true of"
Do you think that is something worthwhile?

[ritamarie]

Hi Jack,
Truth lays in everything said to you...sometimes you just have to dig very deeply to find it, and sometimes c'est comme le nez au milieu de la figure.
Pure truth is universal.
Cheers,
Ritamarie.

[lazariuk]

Hi Jack,
Truth lays in everything said to you...sometimes you just have to dig very deeply to find it, and sometimes c'est comme le nez au milieu de la figure.
Pure truth is universal.
Cheers,
Ritamarie.

Hi ritamarie
Well I liked that personal touch but still I would like it if you answered my question. It's very impersonal and so I certainly don't mind being impersonal. I hope you don't mind.
You can tell me that you would need some time to think about it and then take as long as you like but if it is not asking too much can you acknowledge it?
regards
Jack

[ritamarie]

"Everything being said to you is true, try to imagine what it is true of"

Hi Jack,

I thought that I had implicitly conveyed to you that your saying is worthwhile.
Do you imagine or feel what it is true of? The effects would be very different.
As a third grader, imagination would probably be rampant. As an adult, there is deliberate choice here.
Jack, do you ever allow something said to you to just soak into every cell of you body, and feel how your body responds
to it? I don't mean experiencing emotions such as anger, joy, etc., but rather understanding independent of ego.
It seems to me that our bodies possess an intelligence of their own, independent of mind, that lead us to deep truths.
Imagining how someone's comment speaks 'truth' sounds like a fun exercise in itself, both constructive and entertaining.
You've got a lot to play with here.
Cheers,
Ritamarie.

[lazariuk]

Jack, do you ever allow something said to you to just soak into every cell of you body, and feel how your body responds to it?

Not often. Mostly I have left my body out of the picture but I am working on it. I experience a considerable amount of pain and I have been experimenting with moaning into it and letting my body be it's own sound and I thought that was a good idea. It never occurred to me to do the same with what is being said to me but I am willing to give it a try.
Until i get it right I will probably keep asking questions. I have an aversion to things being spoken as if they are being said to a crowd with secret alliances implied and a lack of directness. So if you are ever interested in speaking directly with someone with the body sensation awareness of a child then "I'm your man"

You've got a lot to play with here.

You've got a lot to play with here

[ritamarie]

I have an aversion to things being spoken as if they are being said to a crowd with secret alliances implied and a lack of directness. So if you are ever interested in speaking directly with someone with the body sensation awareness of a child then "I'm your man"

Hey Jack,
You missed a good part about what I wrote.
I personally am careful to not condemn something that I don't understand, but I see that it is not your case.
You are being judgemental instead of asking questions that would help you to understand.
I am and have been direct. What are you talking about re: 'secret alliances'?
Is your body pain showing through in your inconsiderate replies?
Ritamarie.

[lazariuk]

Thank you for replying to me Ritamarie.
First let me say that i have nothing but respect for you. I have never seen you write anything that had the lease trace of anything that I have an aversion to and i am certainly not judging you. I am only trying to speak of my hunger for directness.
It is a certain atmosphere that I have an aversion to. You even helped me name it in my mind. When you spoke of a nose in the center of a figure I looked over at a nose in a picture and what i saw was the bottom of a mushroom. Mushrooms grow in rot. there seems to me to be a lot of rot in this particular atmosphere that is getting between people understanding what each other are saying. I probably know what you are trying to say with using that reference but could everyone else? and can I really be sure considering how out of touch i am with my senses?
I like speaking with people here but I also want to try to do my part to clear away much of what is getting between people and so maybe to this end my lack of being able to detect emotional clues can be useful. To speak with me here in public you will need to be clear enough that someone of my limited awareness can understand. Being new here you may not appreciate how dark and confused this place can get and I don't want to add any more to the confusion.
And if your words led my body to look at that mushroom and think of the rot in this place should i not trust it?
respectfully jack

Also I've given more thought to what you wrote about letting words resound in my body. I might be wrong but I think i would need to hear them and not read them.

[Geoffrey]

ritamarie wrote:
>Truth lays in everything said to you...sometimes you just have to dig very deeply to find it, and sometimes c'est comme le nez au milieu de la figure. Pure truth is universal.


What is the truth? Some people confuse 'truth' with 'facts'. Truth is a commodity that survives for centuries, it belongs to an ethereal realm, a place only reached by faith. In the Bible, for example, there may not be a single undisputed fact, but which man of spiritual integrity would dare say that every word is not God's truth? Truth is what a person believes, it is a holy gift that inspires a person to create something new. J S Bach signed all of his work 'SDG' ('Soli Deo Gloria') - meaning that he rightly gave all credit to God. Talent is merely a learnable mediocrity, but a genius is a conduit for God - and that is the truth.