Sometimes I wonder whether or not what I’m thinking is rational. Christianity worships the Triune God. I find that to be repulsive at times. It’s more mythological than real. Do I believe in God? Absolutely! Yes! But there is only one God. God is the master of our creation, all creation. Why is it that we have to take something as important as God and bring Her (Him) down to our level of unimportance? If we believe what’s written in the Bible, and I understand that Bible was written by mankind for the purpose of mankind. It says in the Bible that God created man in his image. I am created in God’s image. Now if I think about that. I look in the mirror. Can I see an image of God? I don’t see God. I see an image of myself. A reflection. An imperfection. But not myself. Seeing myself is impossible. Because it’s not me. So, therefore. If I’m an image of God, I’m not seeing myself.
I have trained myself to see God in the faces of all whom I meet. This has changed my life. I am a happier and more sedate person, for I am not seeing evil; I am seeing contentment; I am seeing God’s perfection. Even when the person I meet is not a perfect human, I see God; I take her hand, or place my hand on his shoulder, while we are talking. We join together into each other’s sphere of friends or even families of love and understanding. We joke, se talk, we share! When we part, we part as friends; I always part with a simple blessing because we both have changed and become different people.
I grew up and matured in the life of the church. Two different denominations shaped my life, along with other factors that tried to influence how I should look at what life in the 20th century was supposed to mean; education, war, then the rush to earn money. And tucked in between all that, marriage, children, family, and the celebration of life in church. This was the life of the successful 20th century man. Life, family, and church, all incorporated by the struggles to earn money. Because . . . . . Church and money ruled our world!
My mid-life struggle began in violence after a near-fatal auto accident, a pool full of teenagers, and a love of reading history. God spoke to me and led me into the world of education, and I became a high school teacher, where I began to learn what was really important in life. Let me rephrase that; I learned really was not important I life; it has taken me many years of searching to approach the fact that I still do not truly know the answer. But I did learn during my first year of teaching that it is impossible to teach anything to young minds anxious and begging to learn. As a high school history teacher, I tried to open their minds to allow them to think for themselves and not be shy about sharing their thoughts. I was a guide, a mentor, never a teacher. And oh! How they succeeded!!!!
Over my twenty-five years of being a mentor to students of all ages, (I returned to college to get a doctorate in literate and taught in a local community college, where my oldest student was 72)and all backgrounds, and all religions, I opened my minded to all cultures and learned more from them than they could possible have learned from me. To this day, I believe that we all were blessed by being together.
I have been blessed with a variety of students who have made me a better person. From valedictorian to football star to a boy with severe cerebral palsy, or an Iran war veteran with PTSD, or an immigrant who has difficulty with the English language. All have blessed me by making me a better person and allowing me to be called aa mentor in their lives.
I am honored with the knowledge all of my students have shared with me, and at age 82, I do not know how much more time God will give me to learn more about life and what is important.
What I have learned is that we are all made in God’s image.
©Russell Kendall Carter, BA. MAT. Dlitt.
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