This month is poetry month, and I thought a great way to start would be through what I like to call, “flipping the script”. Flipping the script means changing something you know into something bigger than what it is. What better way to do so than with poetry. Poetry allows you to compare and contrast, to use the abstract to discuss something simple. The best part about poetry is that there is no right or wrong. It is your opinion and your voice. Your interpretation is what matters most. Below is my poem of my experience of being a Lasallian Volunteer. I hope that you can reflect and see the bigger picture in it.
What I find most influential is that Lasallian Volunteers dedicate a year to give to others, and to reflect on what we have learned. My experience has been learning to accept. I have to allow myself to see things through my students’ eyes instead of my own. Think for a second. Isn’t that how God treats us as well? He accepts us as we are. I hope that through my poem you see how we are called to be teachers just as God teaches us.
An English Teacher’s Gospel
I prepped, planned,Now what happens when we become the students? And God our teacher? If you are open to it, replace the words “I” with “God” or “Him” and the words “you” with “I” or “me”. Instead of an English paper, replace the metaphors with words like prayer, kind words, and actions. See what moves you. I hope that my poem will help you to see how important it is to flip the script. Maybe your poem will become more like this…
An English Teacher’s Gospel
God prepped, planned, and knew me by name before I entered His presence. I ignored Him, barely said hello to Him, afraid to ask for His assistance And yet, He left the door open for me. Slowly, God taught grading by effort not by my efficiency, turning in crumpled offerings, missing His test days, and God waited patiently because He saw the good in me. God remembers the first day I asked for Him. What joy it gave Him. I started with short prayers that grew to complete prayers to conversations I shared with Him, and He saw the potential in me. God was ready for the days when I didn’t get my way; no work and all play, disrupting my learning process unaware and impatient about the path God paved, and God saw the weakness in me. And sometimes God pushed. God tested me. Placed me on higher levels and I threw my path away thinking that I was unwilling and unable and God saw the fear in me. Although God was frustrated, angry, when I didn’t understand, God forgave me when I did wrong; ready to start over, correcting my ways, erasing faults, as long as I listened and followed along because God saw the heart in me. The year’s lesson is almost over. The beginning has just begun, but more prayers need to be written and God watches from a distance, helping when needed. God sees my smile, esteem, and confidence. God sees the growth in me. God had prepped, God had planned knowing that my dreams and success is happiness shared by God and me. As I add pathways and experiences without fear or doubt of my spiritual story, God knows that just as I see Him, He sees God in me too.
Shanae Farrell, 12-14, John XXIII Educational Center, Racine, WI