Note:  A new school year is dawning for me, my students and colleagues.  This story, previously published in the Christian Educators Journal and Exploring God’s World-Teacher’s Helper, explores the question of calling and purpose for a Christian educator.

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The dreary morning matched Harold’s mood as he headed to school, his mind as foggy as the stuff he drove through. The fog was as thick as any he remembered in his thirty-some years of teaching. Halfway through his 15 minute trip, he realized that he already arrived at the corner of Main and Walnut. Preoccupied with his own problems, he didn’t remember going through the last two intersections. He hoped he didn’t leave a wake of death and destruction behind him. He continued picking his way through the dense mist as he contemplated his career.

He realized that it would take more than the short drive to school that morning for him to sort out his thoughts about the events of the past months and the feelings that accompanied them.

While he turned left onto Walnut and proceeded on to school, he realized that a right turn would have brought him dangerously close to the interstate. He could have driven off to points unknown in an attempt to escape the question that had nagged him for the past few weeks: “What am I doing here?”  …

to be continued…