Pastor's Corner

Her name was Mrs. Thompson.

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Gal. 6:2-5

"As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath, and Teddy could be unpleasant.

It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote: "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around."

His second grade teacher wrote: "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote: "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father does not show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps are not taken, soon."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote: "Teddy is withdrawn and does not show much interest in school. He does not have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself.

She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag.

Mrs.Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents.

Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume.

But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say: "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded.

By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets." Teddy went on in school doing real well and then to another school.

A couple of years later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he had stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and then another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer, the letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. That his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the Mother of the Groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did, and guess what? ..She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. She made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear: Thank You, Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I did not know how to teach until I met you."

(Source unknown).

When I read this little story I said to myself whoa! This is what Christianity is about. Remember that wherever we go, whatever we do, we will have the opportunity to touch and or change a person's outlook, in a positive way. Today is the tomorrow we were worried about yesterday. Was it worth it?

Friends are Angels, I believe, who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly. As we enter into a new phase of ministry at St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church, with your own pastor it is my earnest prayer is that our ministering to one another will draw us closer to God. Take care and God richly bless you.

Your friend and pastor,
Pastor Samuel King-Kabu
Pastor@st-ansgars-montreal.ca

LONG-DISTANCE BIKE TOUR - part 2

Each summer, I try to get in at least one long-distance bike trip. My wife and I have worked out a wonderful arrange-ment. She lets me go out for a few days on my own, bicycle camping, and then she joins me and we stay in B&B's. Each day she sends me off in the morning and meets up with me at dinnertime, and sometimes for lunch.

My ride this summer, from Montreal to Cambellton, NB, combined three different rides I had been longing to make. I rode and camped between Montreal and Quebec City, a bike ride I had not taken since 1990. My wife met me in Quebec and we drove on to Riviere-du-Loup, whence I began the ride to Sainte-Flavie, at the gateway to the Gaspe. This stretch represented the last bit of the St. Lawrence shoreline, from Kingston to the tip of the Gaspe penin-sula, that I had not yet done by bike. Finally, I climbed over the pass via Mont Joli and descended the spectacular Matapedia Valley, to end at Campbellton. Several times I had driven over this route in the past, and each time I longed to experience it by bicycle. I spent eight days in actual cycling, plus we took a couple of days off at different locations.

It was raining the Saturday I left, as I rode diagonally across the South Shore, to reach the Richelieu River at Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu. Near there, the major thunderstorm of the day struck. I could see it coming and waited under-neath a wooden gazebo by the river as the blackness approached. For a period of ten minutes, the river only twenty feet away was totally invisible in the spray, as I braced myself tightly against the wind. Then the skies cleared up. It was wet camping outside Sorel, however.

I crossed the river at Sorel and pro-ceeded along Route 138, which makes a wide arc through the farming communi-ties north of Lac St. Pierre. It was a delight to get back to the River at Trois-Rivieres. Eastward, the highway climbs up onto the highlands and offers grand views of the St. Lawrence Gorge. I camped just east of Trois Rivieres, and then again at Neuville. From Neuville, I could already see the Quebec Bridge in the distance, and the tides along the River were quite apparent.

The approach to Quebec City, espec-ially around Pont Rouge, was the most mountainous. The road would descend to the shoreline, only to climb immediately back up to the heights. The massive scale of the old Quebec Bridge is most evident when one crosses it on foot. My wife and I met at a B&B right by the ferry at Levis.

The two days from Riviere-du-Loup took me past Cacouna, Trois-Pistoles and the spectacular Parc du Bic. I took the morning to cycle through the park, which at that point was the only way to get down to the water. I enjoyed the new shoreline bike trail in Rimouski so much that I rode back and forth along it twice.

From the lighthouse at Pointe-au-Pere, I followed the shoreline all the way to Sainte-Luce, where there is a spectacular beach.

Setting out from Sainte-Flavie, I climbed ever higher and higher, leaving the St. Lawrence behind me. From Sainte-Flavie, one is on Route 138 east regardless of whether one goes along the shoreline or over the pass. I made it to Amqui at the end of the first day out from Sainte-Flavie.

The real canyon of the Matapedia did not begin until I reached Causapsal. Here the canyon walls close in as the highway twists and turns its way along, just above the roaring waters of the river below. Salmon fishermen are stretched out all along the river, at marked intervals of a quarter mile or so. There are several old wooden bridges. The railway line shares the canyon with the roadway, and so frequent trains pass along on the far side of the river. There are several stretches where bicycles are invited to leave the main highway and proceed along the old roadbed, in intimate contact with the river itself.

All too soon, I reached the town of Matapedia, which is the end of the canyon and the beginning of the Baie des Chaleurs. I crossed over to the New Brunswick side at Matapedia and rode on into Cambellton, where my wife was waiting for me at the appointed B&B. It was time to retire the bicycle and continue our vacation by car, with dreams of next year's trek racing through my mind.

You can read about some of my earlier bike rides at:
http://rogerkenner.ca/Bike/Bike.html

Roger Kenner

Web Page prepared by:
Roger Kenner & Jette Blair.
Content-New Topics Last Updated: 2005/02/01
St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church - Montreal