Dear Sleeping Teacher,
It is late, really, late…too late for any teacher to still be awake. In fact, I might be the only teacher on the planet still burning the midnight oil, at least I hope I am. In the stillness of this late-night hour, I am envisioning teachers across the country whose brains are resting like an unplugged pinball machine.
What do teachers sleep in? I don’t even know. This one is wearing her husband’s old David Bowen t-shirt as a nightgown. I have a hunch a few might still be in work clothes.
What do teachers dream about? Is it that dream where they are trapped in a never-ending school year? Wait. No, that’s reality.
A teacher resting is a beautiful thought to me. It means she is at peace with the world or passed out from exhaustion, one of the two. Either way, she’s getting what her body needs.
Tomorrow, she’ll rise and start anew. She won’t have time to read a blog or even check her lipstick, and that’s okay. Any good teacher knows not everything written has to be seen or heard.
Sometimes, it is enough for it to be felt.
Like a faithful sunrise that warms the whole world but is rarely noticed, I hope love greets her at the school house door with a smile, a handshake, or a good morning blog.
I hope she also wakes with the understanding that while she was sleeping someone who loves teachers and words, gathered up a few and shaped them into a unique prayer just for her.
“Dear Lord, Will you give her the strength to hang on a little longer? Will you help her keep investing even when she feels depleted? Will you honor this feeble prayer and grant her grace in the valley."
"One final request, when she fires up that pinball machine for the day, will you increase her stamina and give her peace?"
-CDB