The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his091/jeremy.lzh/JEREMY.TXT

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INS:What was in Jeremy's Egg?  by Ida Mae Kempel

   Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At the age of
12 he was still in second grade, seemingly unable to learn. His
teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated with him. He would
squirm in his seat, drool and make grunting noises.

   At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot of
light had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time,
however, Jeremy irritated his teacher. One day she called his parents
and asked them to come to St. Theresa's for a consultation.

   As the Forresters sat quietly in the empty classroom, Doris said to
them, "Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to him
to be with younger children who don't have learning problems. Why,
there is a five-year gap between his age and that of the other
students!"

   Mrs. Forrester cried softly into a tissue, while her husband spoke.
"Miss Miller" he said, "there is no school of that kind nearby. It
would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this
school. We knnow he really likes it here."

   Doris sat for a long time after they left, staring at the snow
outside the window. Its coldness seemd to seep into her soul. She
wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child
had a terminial illness. But it wasn't fair to keep him in her class.
She had 18 other youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction.
Furthermore, he would never learn to read and write. Why waste any more
time trying?

   As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. "Oh God," she
said alond, here I am complaining when my problems are nothing compared
to that poor family! Please help me to be more patient with Jeremy!"

   From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy's noises and his
blank stares. Then one day, he limped to her desk, dragging his bad leg
behind him.

   "I love you, Miss Miller," he exclaimed, loud enough for the whole
class to hear. The other students snickered, and Doris' face turned
red. She stammered, "Wh-why that's very nice Jeremy, N-now please take
your seat."

   Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of
Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the
idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large
plastic egg. "Now," she said to them, "I want you to take this home and
bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do
you understand?"

   "Yes, Miss Miller!" the children responded enthusiastically--all
except for Jeremy. He just listened intently, his eyes never left her
face. He did not even make his usual noises.

   Has he understood whay she had said about Jesus' death and
resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call
his parents and explain the project to them.

   That evening, Doris' kitchen sink stopped up. She called the
landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it. After
that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse, and prepare a
vocabulary test. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy's parents.

   The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking
as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's
disk. After the math lesson, it was time to open the eggs.

   In the first egg, Doris found a flower. "Oh yes, a flower is
certainly a sign of new life," she said. "When plants peek through the
ground we know that spring is here." A small girl in the first row
waved her arm, "That's my egg, Miss Miller."

   The next egg contianed a platic butterfly, which looked very real.
Doris held it up. "We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows
into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that is new life, too." Little Judy
smiled proudly and said, "Mill Miller, that one is mine!"

   Next Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that moss,
too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom, "My
Daddy helped me!" he beamed.

   The Doris opened the fourth egg. She gasped. The egg was empty!
Surely it must be Jeremy's, she thought, and of course, he did not
understand her instructions. It only she had not forgotten to phone his
parents! Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the
egg aside and reached for another.

   Suddenly Jeremy spoke up. "Miss Miller, aren't you going to talk
about my egg?"

   Flustered, Doris replied, "But Jeremy--your egg is empty!" He looked
into here eyes and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty, too!"

   "Oh, yes! Jeremy said, "Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His
Father raised Him up!"

   The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the
school yard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away.

   Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects at
the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket, all of
them empty.

   Reprinted from Focus on the Family, April, 1988