During your commute to and from your dream job.

While traveling to and from your palatial home in the suburbs.

While transporting kids to soccer practice

In your state-of-the-art hybrid SUV

Have you noticed this billboard? Have you seen this sign?

"IF YOU CAN READ THIS, THANK A TEACHER!"

Have you considered? Have you contemplated the significance of the question and statement?

Teaching is the first and foremost occupation, the noblest pursuit and profession of all. Anytime anyone has uttered the phrase, "Here, let me show you how it is done," he or she is assuming the mantle of a teacher. Nothing has been accomplished anywhere or anytime without someone showing another how to do it.

Indeed the very action implied in the column header had to be demonstrated by one person to another. Nobody was born with all the wisdom and knowledge of the world. Everything you know was taught to you by someone else. Do you remember tugging on the apron strings of a patient mother immersed in flour? Do you recall pestering the sweaty, grease-covered tolerant father with endless childish enquiries?

It is no coincidence that Jesus was called Rabbi, meaning teacher or master. His primary purpose, even above the cross, was to open his mouth and teach them. If he did not instruct them, how would they ever grasp the purpose and significance of such a gruesome death? Even so, some of his disciples still did not comprehend his mission and vision because they were not teachable. This brings us to a very important point. You must be teachable because you have not been this way before. Every day and in every way there is something new to learn. Humble yourself, receive instruction and advice in whatever form or fashion they come.

Nevertheless, in this world there is good and there is evil. Since God has given you a sense of discernment, use it or lose it. Keep the good and discard the bad. Then, and only then, can you chart your own course.

You can do greater things than your master. You can blaze your own trail. However, because you are not omniscient throughout your life you must maintain a teachable attitude. Do not forsake all the old landmarks. Foster and cultivate a heart and mind that are willing to learn.

We are now in the midst of an election season. The NEA and various teachers' organizations will be caught in the crosshairs of the candidates' guns. They have become fodder for the campaigns' cannons. They are one of the primary reasons for the ills in our society. Never mind the reason you are able to offer an argument or present an opinion was that a member of that despicable group showed you the way. In effect you are biting the hand that fed you. While there may be persons deserving of criticism, one must be careful while maligning individuals or associations that you uphold, revere and respect the office.

There are millions of selfless people worldwide who struggle under difficult conditions to impart some measure of knowledge and information to others. Humanitarians, whose sole reward is the satisfaction they feel when they see the light in a student's eyes. The light that turns on when he or she finally gets it.

They are not all pederasts, pedophiles and prostitutes.

To demean and ignore their efforts you will declaring the lives of:

Jesus

Jaime Escalante

Moses

Martin Luther

Martin Luther King

Billy Graham

Albert Einstein

Nelson Mandela

Desmond Tutu

Fulton Sheen

Anne Sullivan

Mother Teresa etc. were meaningless and worthless.

Everyone one of us who is a success, including the "know it all" complaining politician can remember a Mr. Brown, a Mr. Chips, a Mrs. Carson, a Mrs Gardner who made an impact on our lives.

They were the one and only person who saw something in us that we did not see or recognize in ourselves. That man or woman who pulled something out of us that we did not know existed.

So the nameless, unheralded third grade teacher.

The one slaving under deplorable conditions, hot or cold, wet or dry without even basic necessities.

The loyal soul who oftentimes uses his or her meager salary to underwrite the cost of an education.

That man or woman who may be asking or thinking,"Is it worth it?,does what I am doing make any difference?"

To that teacher who taught you or me to turn on the light, your sacrifice and labor of love is not in vain.

Yes! You are making a difference. Your life means something. No matter how small and insignificant it may feel or appear, your work matters.

God Speed

God Bless you.

May you and your kindness increase.

You have my eternal gratitude as I and thousands of my kind say, THANK YOU.

V. Knowles is a husband and father with an interest in penning issues that serve to uplift mankind. He melds his love for Classic literature, The Bible and pop culture - as sordid as it may be - into highly relatable columns of truth, faith and justice. Hence the name: Just Thinking. If he's not buried in a book or penning his next column, you may find him pinned to his sectional watching a good old Country and Western flick.

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