A Kind, Wise Friend

Today's Sunday School topic was friendship, based on the story of David and Jonathan. We're working our way through the Old Testment in a 4-year cycle that highlights each one of the four standard works each year. David and Jonathan were true friends.

The criteria for true friendship we discussed were these:

1. Your friend helps you be a better person.
   
2. Your friend keeps you from doing something that is contrary
   to your stated beliefs and values.
   
3. Your friend supports your relationship with God.
   
4. On the worst day of your life, and when you are at your worst,
   your friend stands by you and loves you anyway.
   
5. Your friend is truly joyful when you succeed, knowing that your
   success in no way diminishes theirs.

Teachers should be kind, wise friends. And you don't have to be older
to be wiser. Sometimes youth have a great deal of wisdom to share.

As a teacher, not only at Seneca but in other aspects of my life, I like
to teach others whatever it is that they might be able to learn from me. It is said that the smart person learns from experience, the truly wise person learns from the experience of others.

Experience doesn't give you wisdom. Experience makes you pay attention. You keep getting experiences until you DO pay attention. Learning from experience gives you wisdom. Therefore, I'm fairly wise. And I have paid a lot of attention. I hope my students, and others, learn from my experiences.

I like to think I am a good teacher. I try to be like the best teacher. The example is clear; I have a perfect model to learn from.