The Resilient Educator
Resilience in teaching is sustained by a firm dedication to one's profession, fortified by faith in Christ, enabling individuals to overcome challenges and remain steadfast in their calling.
The ineffable Wendell Berry asserts, “Action can only be understood in relation to place; only by staying in place can the imagination conceive or understand action in terms of consequence, of cause and effect. The meaning of action in time is inseparable from its meaning in place” (1). There is something about committing to a place, a profession such as teaching and staying put in that place. It is an impactful, lasting, and transformative disposition. The real question is, “How does a person actually do that?” Or, “How do we remain resilient in our place?”
What Is Resilience?
The Cambridge Dictionary offers two definitions for the word resilience. Resilience is both “the ability to be happy, successful, etc. again after something difficult or bad has happened, and the ability of a substance to return to its usual shape after being bent, stretched, or pressed” (2). Both of these definitions are relevant and poignant to this discussion, particularly the second one. As an educator, it is important to be able to bounce back from a tough situation in class, a complex and contentious parent-teacher conference, or any number of things that may be difficult or may go wrong during the school year.
“There is something about committing to a place, a profession such as teaching and staying put in that place. It is an impactful, lasting, and transformative disposition.”
How Do I Get It?
The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” As Christian educators, we recognize our frailty (jars of clay), and yet we also acknowledge the treasure within. The transforming power of the Gospel, the light that has shone in our hearts by the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit, gives us the wherewithal to commit, to bounce back, to persevere, and to stay in a profession that needs us because the students need the love of Jesus.
Resilience comes with the knowledge and conviction that Christ has given us Himself and that He will never leave us or forsake us. Although we are clay jars, Christ’s strength will allow us to grow, learn, and teach. His strength is a reminder of His sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice of shedding His blood and dying on the cross for us. That reality both makes us His own and equips us to face whatever today throws at us, and the strength and desire to be ready for whatever tomorrow holds.
“Resilience comes with the knowledge and conviction that Christ has given us Himself and that He will never leave us or forsake us.”
How Do I Keep It?
Paul continues, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (3). Here, the word of God reveals to us the reality of resilience. As followers of Christ, we are resilient in what we do as teachers, administrators, counselors, and the like, because of the death of Jesus for us, and the life of Jesus that is revealed in us. We will be hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and sometimes even struck down. But, thanks be to God, we will not be crushed, in despair, abandoned, or destroyed. As possessors of real treasure in jars of clay, we can get through anything and stay, blooming where God has planted us.
Wendell Berry. Standing By Words.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/resilience
2 Corinthians 4:8-10
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