Written by Eric R
"Stand at ease, attention - quick march, left right left, about-turn, yes, fall on a straight line, let's start the exercise, 1 2 3 4 and 4 3 2 1," said Ms. Alphonse.
Ms. Alphonse was the Physical Education Teacher in The Little Flower Primary School. She had been an energetic, sporty, and dynamic athlete. So she chose a profession that gets along with her passion.
Often she scintillates with her quick jests and keeps her surroundings bright.
Since being an athlete and physically stronger, she was always referred to by other teachers when they faced a crisis with naughty students.
Some teachers used to send the most naughty students to her for better treatment. Ms. Alphonse treats them left and right, top to bottom. Canes used to break at times.
Drill classes used to be there every Tuesday and Thursday at 3.30 pm.
After the standing exercises, PT miss made the whole school, about 500 students sit for doing sitting exercises.
A loud command use to come from her - 1 2 3 4 and 4 3 2 1.
1 - Hands on the head
2 - Bend forward
3 - Get back
4 - Hands down
Ms. Alphonse was standing on the table in the middle of the ground and teaching exercises.
Big boys from the right side started a weird humming sound during commands 3 and 4.
While bending, they said HHHHMM, and while returning HHHHHMM.
She became furious, came down, stood near where the humming sound came, picked up some mischievous students, beat them, but the humming sound didn't stop.
This sound kept increasing, and the entire school started reverberating the same.
The teacher went all around and tried threatening; she brought all the other teachers and made them stand in each row. But, the humming sound kept increasing rather than suppressing.
The exciting part was that students didn't show any facial expressions; everyone showed a grip and fearful countenance, but they could make the humming sound louder. This continued for the whole PT period.
The behavior of the students annoyed the teacher. Her effort to control them failed desperately, and she became emotionally shaken; she felt ashamed before all the students and parents who came to pick up their children.
She was almost in tears. She gave up punishing students. She called up for the final part of the exercise without warning or shouting at those students.
"Let's start the exercise, 1 2 3 4 and 4 3 2 1." It was the last exercise before dispersal.
Ms. Alphonse, teachers, and parents expected the same HHHHMM and HHHHHMM, but they experienced pin drop silence.
Students decided not to play with the teacher's emotions, and they didn't want to hurt her. They were unable to look at the desperation of their teacher. They didn't want their teacher to give up on them. They were unable to tolerate the shame she bore on behalf of them.
There is a Sunday school song that says,
He is still working on me
To make me what I wanted to be
It took Him just a weak to make
The moon and the stars
He is still working on me - God hasn't given up on us yet.
Ms. Alphonse's story isn't the exact parallel, but the students' reaction is the perfect example of a believer who gets a deep conviction when he encounters the love of God.
The law of the land, disciplining parents, moral instruction, or strict preaching can never transform a person. Still, the Love of God will make a sinner most uncomfortable. They don't want to hurt the heart of the most loving God. They realize the sacrifice and propitiation done on the cross of Calvary.
Many had experienced transformation, deliverance from what they loved, and their bondage, not by the fear of getting caught, not by the fear of facing people's judgment but by meditating on the Love of God.
They want to please God with their deeds. They don't want to hurt God with their actions. They know that God is gracious and loving, and He wouldn't punish right then. But, they know that their actions would hurt His heart.
During the season of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, shall we spend more time meditating on the Love of Jesus? If we want to understand the entire content of the Bible in one word, it is 'Love.'
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
