“What color was the towel?”
“How big was the towel?”
“How was it wrapped around you?”
“What color were the walls?”
“Was the bath made of marble?”
“Were the walls taupe?”
“How large was the bath?”
I knew what they were doing.
Sometimes students love to get their teachers off track and launch into tangents. It works even better if the teacher enjoys talking about particular topics. I recall a specific teacher in middle school who would tell the same stories over and over again. And we loved to let him because it meant that we wouldn’t move on with other work. As a teacher, I now understand a little more how one could repeat the same story to the same class and not remember. If I, a “veteran” teacher of five years, struggle to remember if I told this story this year or to this class period, then a teacher of 30-40 years should definitely have a greater struggle.
We were talking about private revelation. It is difficult for me to remember how much I knew at their age, but I was surprised at what they did not know. I mentioned Lourdes, Fatima, scapulars, and Miraculous medals, receiving blank stares for many of them. So I started to talk a bit more in-depth about Lourdes. Once they found out that I had actually been there and been in the baths (“Can just anyone go?”), they had many questions. Some were deeper (“Did you go to receive healing of body, mind, or spirit?”) and others were more surface level (“Do they reuse towels?”). And when genuine interest (even if merely for the sake of not doing more classwork) is shown in the area of faith, I find it hard to not answer questions. Continue reading “Our Lady of Lourdes”
