Past, present, future

Every so often the past and the future collide in the present. This is the stuff that goosebumps are made of.

As a kid I had a teacher. On Saturday I unexpectedly got to watch my daughter (who’s about the same age I was back then) get coached by this same teacher. They say when the student is ready the teacher will appear. He had her “feet to the fire” in the best possible meaning of that expression.

Thankful. Thankful for my roots, thankful for the winds that still blow to disperse these new seeds to where they’re destined to go. Thankful for teachers that have faith their students can handle it. Thankful for students who have faith in their teachers. Thankful that there are still students with high melting points. It gave me hope that this art, which has ever diminishing practical purpose in modern society, will persist into the future.

Teachers and students. Questions are good, but at times following instruction without questioning is also beneficial. Heck, sometimes things happen so fast there’s no time for questions. Sometimes in the doing the question may answer itself. I know, doing what we’re told, not at all a fashionable perspective, but I call ’em like I see ’em.

Changed perspective. I’ve had a number of teachers since then. I’ve always been struck by the differences in methods, approach and philosophy. There are differences, and the differences are interesting, but it occurred to me on Saturday that there are also similarities. Success, in various forms, may be surrounded by different words, it may be packaged in different ways, but words and packaging don’t produce results. Got me wondering if these folks aren’t pulling some water from the same well. I’ve got my eye on the common ground; seems to me that’s where the light is.

And light always shines on truth, because that’s just what light does.