So, I'm turning 33 this year. Yay... Well, it's not particularly a milestone year by any means. Nothing really exciting comes from turning 33. Not expecting any major firsts or a sense that life is now changed like the way turning 18, or 21, 25 or even 30 feels. But as I think about it a little more, something or rather someone does come to mind.
When I was a senior in high school, I took Honors English with Mrs. Rosenberg. She was a very eccentric and interesting old bird. Us kids loved to get under her skin by crumpling paper and making other noises like that. There was actually a rule against paper crumpling in her class. And what can I say, rules like that were meant to be broken. I think it all started when on the first day of class she told us the traumatic story of how long ago, on a plane, an engine went out, and the sound of crumpling paper and the like reminds her of that noise. And honors students or not, we were teenagers, and ones smart enough to know the offense was more of an irritation than one that triggered her PTSD.
Anyhoo, Mrs. Rosenberg gave us an assignment one day to write a paper about "Our Hero." I wrote my paper on Jesus Christ. I didn't do it to make any kind of statement, or as a proclamation of my faith per se. Honestly, I couldn't think of one other person besides my dad I guess that I admired so much. The life of Jesus Christ truly inspired me. When you think about a real hero, they should evoke a sense of awe, and strength and power and have qualities and characteristics that you would like to emulate and be imbued with. Though I understand my choice may have been a little controversial, it was quite shocking to me when my teacher rejected my paper entirely, telling me that I was not allowed to choose Jesus Christ as my hero because he wasn't real. Did I mention that Mrs. Rosenberg was Jewish? Trying not to be judgemental here, but whatever her personal beliefs may be, I didn't think she had any right to dictate who I chose as my hero, especially since her reasoning was plain daft. Jesus Christ happens to be a real historical person and whether or not one believes he is the Son of God, he did in fact live, breath and walk on this earth. Not to mention do some amazing things to help, inspire and literally save others.
Something told me that Mrs. Rosenberg would have been less perturbed about me writing that my hero was let's say Superman, than Jesus Christ. So when she told me to rewrite my paper, I just flat out refused. I really wish I could remember what I said to her specifically. But I do know I stood my ground. I honestly didn't care if she wanted to give me an "F" or not. I was NOT the kind of gal who gave in very easily especially if I thought I was in the right. And I definitely did, think I was right. Stubborn, I think it's called.
For some odd reason I can't remember, though I wish I could, the exact outcome of this situation. Somehow at the time, it wasn't so profound that it stuck with me. When I look back, I do feel proud of myself for taking that stand. What I remember is that despite our differences on the matter, however I handled it left an impression on Mrs. Rosenberg. And apparently it was a good one. One other thing I forgot to mention about Mrs. Rosenberg was that I had her as a teacher for 2 years. For those 2 years she could never quite get my name right. I don't have a weird or difficult name to pronounce. Nothing foreign, or ethnic sounding or even long. Anyway, she ended up just calling me honey or sweetie or something else equally saccharine.
So around the time we were applying to colleges, we needed some letters of reference from teachers and such. I have no idea why I would have thought to ask Mrs. Rosenberg to write me one, but I did. And guess what she decided to write about? Yes. The Jesus Christ paper. Actually, she may not have mentioned it specifically but she did speak of my character, and how she admired my convictions, my very strong sense of self, determination, and willingness to take a stand on something I felt was important. I was pleasantly surprised and thankful for her comments and observations.
Okay, so going back to turning 33 this year...this is the age that my hero did the most amazing, unthinkable thing a person could possibly do. He gave up his life voluntarily in order to save others. Again, whether one chooses to believe he is the Messiah or God, the Son, his acts in life are remarkable and definitely heroic, better than any superhero out there. So as I am turning 33, I think about how I can live my life better this coming year, in such a way to be as cliche as it sounds, to be more like Christ.
Hope that you all out there find inspiration today to do better, be better and maybe even try something heroic.
Love.
Think.
Feel.
Be free.
Hannah Bee
