As I read the story of high school teacher, Martha Cothren, I kept thinking …
‘I’m gonna ‘snopes’ this, because it’s too good to be true’
So, when I finished, I did snopes it, and I truthorfiction’ed it and, guess what? It is REAL!
Although some accounts get the details not quite right (that is what happens when real stories are told, over and over), the core of the story is solid, true and such a great illustrative lesson. Rather than copy and paste the stories told by others, I’ll just give you my re-telling of the various accounts that I have read.
Martha Cothren is the daughter of a man who was a WW2 prisoner of war.
She taught high school History, in Little Rock, Arkansas at Robinson High School (she still teaches History there, according to the school website). On the first day of school, he students arrived to a classroom empty of desks.
As someone who works in a school, that could be a first day of school nightmare!
Ah, but Ms. Cothren had a lesson plan in mind … one that, I bet, that her students will not forget.
According to legend, Ms. Cothren told her students that they would need to guess what they could do to earn their desks.
The students offered responses such as:
– good grades
– good behavior
They did not find the answer to unlocking the key to earning their desks.
At some point, later in the day, presumably as the students were doing their school work on the floor of the classroom, their classroom door opened.
In came their desks, each carried by a veteran.
Then, with a classroom full of desks, high school students and veterans, Ms. Cothren told her class that they did not have to earn their desks, but that they were earned for them, by men and women such as those who carried them into their classroom.
Though this is not a Canadian story, it’s truth is as applicable here as the country from which it came.
What a great lesson! What a thoughtful teacher to make the sacrifice of others real for those who benefit from that sacrifice.
It is the story of John 15:13 :
It’s the story of true sacrifice, of true bravery, of true love. Giving so that others might have what you, yourself might not ever benefit from. It is what Christ did for all, and our acceptance of the sacrifice is not necessary for us to receive the benefits earned for us.
We cannot earn what we have, it has been bought with a greater price than anything we could ever do in this life.
Martha, as you read this today, on my Remembrance Day, and your Veterans Day, please know how very thankful I was to receive your email response. We will not forget!
itsawonderfilledlife 