A Matter of Faith...

By Carol Round


HAS YOUR FIRE GONE OUT?

“There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”
1 Corinthians 12:6 (NIV)

Has your fire gone out? Has your passion for life been dimmed by disillusionment with the way things should be and the way they really are?

When I started teaching school at age 21, I was burning with a desire to make a difference in the lives of the teens that were entrusted to my care. I was young. I had lofty goals. I was an idealist in a real world.

Although I had grown up in a family that was far from perfect, my life seemed like a fairy tale come true compared to the lives of some of my students. Some came from broken homes; others lived in poverty or with parents who depended on drugs or alcohol to make it through life. I wanted to be the one to change their world. I wanted to create in them the passion I felt for learning and helping others.

In the beginning, I saw their failures as mine. I felt I wasn’t doing enough. I felt the administration and school board weren’t doing enough to ensure that the students’ best interests were taken into consideration when decisions were made.

I saw the problem as a power struggle between people whose goals were different from mine, not only between teacher and student but administration and teacher. Then, I began to realize that no matter how much I cared about making changes, I could not do it by myself.

Over time, however, my passion waned from a blazing inferno to smoldering cinders. I suffered from burn-out, a common affliction of those who give so much that they have nothing left over but ashes. That’s because I forgot to feed the fire.

Feeding the fire requires time alone with the Lord as well as fellowship with others who have common goals. It also comes in the form of an unlikely encounter with someone whom God has placed in our path. He always knows what we need at just the right time if we open our eyes and ears to His guidance.

Albert Schweitzer, a German Alsatian theologian, philosopher and physician, said, “In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.”

I am thankful for those people whom God has placed in my path—people who have encouraged me when I wanted to give up and people who have helped me to see beyond my own selfish desires to the plan that God has for me.

When I realized that if another’s enthusiasm did not match my level of passion for something, I was not to slow down or let it deter me. That’s why God made us all different. Even though our fires may be ignited by the same source, some will blaze while others will merely flicker.

Has your fire gone out? Ask God to rekindle the embers.

Carol Round is a retired Jay High School teacher who currently resides in Claremore, OK. She can be reached at carolaround@yahoo.com.