Three Teen Boys, Francis Schaeffer, and Why I Teach

I've taught high school for almost forty years. Most days I relish the opportunity to be involved with young men and women at this crucial stage in their lives, when they are working through the most important questions they'll ever have to answer. There are days when I think maybe this is a young man's game, and I should get out. But not most days. Most days this is good work, a good reason to get up in the morning and come to work.

Then there are days like the ones I had last week, when I realize how incredibly lucky I am to be a teacher. One of my most flighty, distracted students (let's call him Fred) came blowing into class the other day asking if I'd ever heard of Francis Schaeffer. (Have I heard of Francis Schaeffer? Reading his complete works is on my bucket list. I'm about half done.) But Fred asking about Schaeffer? This was completely new.

Another teacher had said something about space and time and Francis Schaeffer, and Fred wanted to know more about him. I took him straight to the my bookshelf, where I found the book I thought would answer his questions (Genesis in Space and Time). He checked it out from my library and ignored me for the rest of the period. And I didn't mind. Fred was reading Francis Schaeffer.

Before the end of the period, Noah, a friend of his, brought the book up to my desk to show me a passage and ask me a question. Bonus! Fred was not just interacting with Schaeffer, he was evangelizing, spreading the good news about what the old man had to say. Noah showed me the passage and asked me whether I thought Adam went to hell.

Don't know about Adam and hell, but I do know that I thought it was beyond wonderful that two of my boys were wrestling with Francis Schaeffer.


A couple of days later, Brendon, another student, was standing at his locker down the hall from my classroom. He wanted to show me a cool quote from a book. (Ironically, it was the same book by Schaeffer.)  He too had checked out a copy from my classroom library. He showed me the paragraph, and he was right: it was cool. It was even cooler that he thought so and wanted to share his discovery with me.

I've had Schaeffer on my classroom shelves for years, mostly ignored by my students (who have to select a book to read every quarter). I know, Schaeffer's syntax can be a little Yoda-like, and his sentences can be very long. Still, if anyone was willing to struggle with it, there's so much good thought there.

And now three of my high school seniors. Three teenage boys reading Schaeffer and actually enjoying it! That may be one of the best things I've ever done for those boys, introducing them to Francis Schaeffer.

And I actually get paid to do this! Amazing!

How Neck Pain Taught Me to Pray

No, it's not what you think. It's not just that the pain got so bad I had to learn to pray earnestly and fervently. That would be a good story, but this story is stranger than that. And far more wonderful.

Years ago I learned an ancient prayer used by Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Jesus Prayer is the essence of simplicity. The version I learned, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me," is a prayer that can be recited or sung repetitively, a way of "praying without ceasing." I learned a tune to sing the prayer from an old film on the life of John Hus. As he was burned at the stake for his Reformation views, he died singing, perhaps (at least in the movie version) singing this ancient prayer. So the movie version of John Hus taught me to sing the Jesus Prayer.

A couple of years ago my neck started hurting. I went to physical therapy. My therapist not only manipulated my back and neck but also taught me exercises that would help stretch the muscles which were causing my neck pain. Ten seconds in the position, thirty in that. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I recently discussed my neck/back pain with a doctor friend who was on a mission trip with me. He told me that I would probably have to live with the discomfort, that I needed to think of this disorder in terms of pain management. He suggested that the best remedies short of surgery are the stretches and analgesics I am already using.

Lately, I've begun incorporating the Jesus Prayer into my stretches. Instead of counting seconds, I sing the Jesus Prayer; three times for one stretching exercise, more for some of the others. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Miracle cure? No. Neck and back still hurt from time to time. But this discomfort now has a different meaning in my life. The pain prompts me to pray, and that's good in a way that I never expected.