Do you believe in fate/destiny?
That’s today’s WordPress prompt.
It’s beguiling, like the sword in the stone: Dare I grasp that jewel-encrusted hilt? Even if the sword should slide free of the rock (wonder of wonders!) will I have the strength to heft its ponderous weight, to actually use it? And to what purpose?
Here is what I believe: With every challenge comes opportunity; you cannot know the outcome until you seize it (ever how cold, heavy, terrifying the opportunity may be).
And so I put my hand to the hilt here with bits of a destiny story:
When I was a child, reading and writing were practically my life’s blood. Invaluable gifts for life’s journey. When the path took terrible turns through the darkest regions, strewn with loss…I could always read and write and pray my way through. Some encouraging soul, some sage, would also appear at every critical juncture to help guide me along, before I lost my way entirely.
Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be a pastor’s wife (nor, most certainly, did many of my young acquaintances and their parents). But here we are, my husband and I, thirty-eight years in the ministry, standing on the the cusp of our fortieth wedding anniversary, with two grown sons and two granddaughters who are the joy of our days.
I never expected to be a teacher. I quit college at twenty and didn’t go back to finish until after my youngest started school. The way was circuitous, full of obstacles…impossibilities…even loneliness and more than a little despair…until the sword called Opportunity appeared, glittering there in the gray stone of Challenge. I put my hand to it, finally graduating from college with a teaching degree when my oldest was taking his first semester college exams. Today I work with students in the very things I loved best as a child: reading and writing.
Do you believe in fate/destiny?
I see the hand of God at work in all of it…that doesn’t discount destiny, now does it?
In this, my seventeenth year of teaching (a latecomer, oh yes, but it doesn’t matter, the story begins anew every day), another opportunity presented itself: Setting up a program and a space for volunteers to come and read books to students. The challenge: Where? Every space in the building was in use, except for a recessed area at the top of the stairs, where black-draped tables once housed student “artifacts”… with a little time, imagination, and the generosity of our PTA, this has become our Heroes’ Hangout:
In this space, children fall in love with books and stories. They laugh. They learn. They experience. They ask questions. They observe. They imagine. They are at the beginning of their own hero-stories.
For, after all, are not the ideas of fate, destiny, and hero inextricably intertwined?
I have had the opportunity to guide students with writing in this space. Here’s a cento poem (cento meaning “patchwork”) composed of completely borrowed lines, my favorites from poems my second-grade heroes have written:
I worry about me and heights
I cry over the iPad because Mom said no
I understand my dreams tease me
I see a fairy in the forest
I say mermaids are real
I wonder why people think Ohio is strange
I dream of going to Ohio
I try to be kind
I worry about animals dying
I hope all the endangered animals survive
I wonder if Dodo birds are still alive
I see a baby goat getting milk from its mother
I hope people never litter again
I understand that palm trees are not trees
I want ice cream for life
I try to be a better sister
I pretend I am brave and smart
I think Heroes’ Hangout is the best
I pretend I am the fastest thing alive
I worry I am going to lose my gravity
I touch Dog Man’s hat and it feels like victory
I hear my future.
Do you believe in fate/destiny?
You tell me.
I can just tell you that if you are looking for heroes…you will find children.
*******
with thanks to Two Writing Teachers for the annual March Slice of Life Story Challenge. This is my ninth year participating alongside fellow teacher-writers, as a means of continually honing the craft.
Confession: For the first time in nine years, I’d decided to not take up the Challenge.
Writing every day doesn’t seem sustainable right now. And maybe it isn’t.
But this morning, without any kind of plan, I got up and did it anyway.
Opporunity is here. WordPress provided a prompt. I reached. I pulled.
Your hand is on the hilt, my friends. You can do this!
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lit bits and pieces 
Fran, children are heroes. They go through so much. Their lives are often in turmoil because they often don’t have a choice in what is happening. Mon and dad said so, that’s why. Yet, they still come out on top as adults. Glad you decided to write today.
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Thank you for your gracious and insightful words, Bob. Children amaze me. Each day they remind me of the gift it is to be human…adults on the other hand…well, I’ll just stop there, ha. I appreciate your grace!
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You are here! And whether you write every day or not… you are still a writer.
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Hi Fran, I too had thoughts of skipping the challenge this year. I have struggled to write over the course of this school year, but something about March, the challenge, the urgency, the crazy time we’re living in, made me think that I needed to try again. I love the found lines. A few in particular resonated with me, since I’m thinking about my next post that will center on my younger daughter:
I try to be a better sisterI pretend I am brave and smart…I worry I am going to lose my gravity
She is a brilliant sister. She is brave and smart. She has had to deal with so much loss, especially the loss of her big sister, and through it, she has always seemed to me to be defying gravity. She’s grown now, but she’s my hero child. Thanks for writing this entry. I hope it means you’ll be with us all month. I always look forward to your wise, well-chosen, and wondrous words*.
*Nod to Patricia Maclachlan and Katie Wood Ray on that last phrase.
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Peter, thanks so much for this incredibly thoughtful comment, and for bring such an encourager. Although I feel sustainability may be an issue this month, I decided I would feel deprived if I didn’t get out here with my writer-kinfolk to slice alongside you. I NEED to do this. Now. This hero-child of yours… I will be looking for her in your posts. Your love for her already sets the screen aglow. Here’s to strength for this writing journey – a shared strength!
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What a wonderful space! I want to come read and write there! I lvoe how you bookended this poem with two very different emotions: worry and bravery by hearing the future! Beautiful…as always!
I don’t think I realized we had similar career paths. I quit school (or ran out of money), had a family and went back later in life when my youngest went to school!
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Thank you, Leigh Anne – and isn’t this one of the great gifts of sharing our stories, discovering just how similar our journeys really are?? So fascinating. I will say that going back to school later in life meant so much more than it did the first time. So much more was at stake.
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Oh, I love the patchwork poem, that gives me such inspiration for my own students and their very very different ability levels in our poetry writing. Thank you for sharing and cheers to March!
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Fran,
”If you are looking for heroes, you will find children.” I love that. Lately, I’ve thought a lot about the direction former students take in life. Many change dramatically w/ time, their positions veering far away from those they expressed in high school when I knew them.
About not having a plan: This is the first year I’ve had a plan. It had already been disrupted by things I didn’t expect. Not having a plan for the month is a good thing. Let the spirit lead your writing. I think children tend to do that.
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Glenda, thank you for being such an incredible encourager. It means much to me – more than you know! How true about the paths students take later in life. Haunting and amazing in turn, everybody’s story being so different. I noted something about this “writing plan” you mention and now I will have to go check it out in earnest. Your words about the freedom to write as led “by the spirit” are such a balm. Again – thank you.
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Oh Fran – Such a thoughtful piece! You know that I agree with you wholeheartedly – children are heroes! I go to school every day knowing that I will be gifted with stories and laughter and maybe some tears – but those make the best stories – a little salt with the sweetness. Thank you for your writing, teaching, and positive voice, my friend.
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Ah yes, the salt with the sweetness – truth, Joanne! Thank you for the gift of YOUR words, always, my friend.
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I’m so very thankful that you arose this morning and wrote. Your writing always inspires. Children inspire us, too. The Heroes space you pictured is so encouraging. So many Littles have to start each morning with their own hands on the hilt of whatever sword of challenge presents itself that day to their lives. May we all learn from them to press on and pull with all our might.
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Children today DO deal with so much – sometimes the unthinkable. They are the most precious resource we have. Nothing compares to a little face aglow with awe at a new learning or accomplishment. Awe ia something we need to sustain us through life, I believe. Thank you for your words!
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Like you, I thought of skipping this year and wondered if I have any stories in me any more? But, the call of the word and the fear of missing out on reading my friends’ missives was stronger than my reservation and here I am reading and being inspired by you. To answer your rhetorical question, I do not believe that a kind and just God lets bad things happen, but I do think that we each find our way to a destiny that we certainly may not place in our “plans.” I could not possibly have imagined my current life even 10 years ago.
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Thank you for such uplifting words, Anita. Life takes many a strange and twisting turn… destiny is an interesting thing to ponder. I think this is the great value of telling our stories, too, so that others, especially younger generations, can see that there’s hope on around the bend, when life doesn’t go according to what we plan or expect. We cannot see what lies ahead; resilience is key.
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I’m so glad you decided to write after all today! I love how you connected these moments repeating the question of the day.
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Hi Fran from Australia, so glad you’re back, despite the decision not to do so this year! I thought ‘oh no’ then ‘oh yes!’ Your posts are always so full of meaning and relatable. I went to university in my 40s. I had no idea I could teach and now I run a small school! I love, love, love your Heroes hangout…Happy days!
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Celia, how interesting that our educational journeys were so similar! I am so glad to be writing alongside you again.
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Fran, I am in awe of your Heroes’ Hangout with its inviting primary colors and its welcoming charm. Oh, what a wonderful idea for both the volunteers and for the children. Your cento is a lovely example of all those lines they are bound to hear as they listen with rapt engagement to the stories the volunteers read to them. Such a perfect image!
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Your craft and creativity shine in this piece- “And so I put my hand to the hilt here with bits of a destiny story”
The found poem from the Heroes Hangout is the answer to your question.
Happy slicing! Like you, I am taking it day by day.
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How astute, Cindy, your seeing the answer to the question in the found poem. Indeed it is! So delighted to be slicing alongside you once again.
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”If you are looking for heroes, you will find children.” This line, wow! Your words always fill my heart- you write with such voice. Thank you for being here. I was not going to join either until I realized then my students could not. Let’s see how we go!
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Oh, Fran, I didn’t know if I was up to the challenge this year, either. Not because of the lack of things to write about, but because what’s been first and foremost in my mind has been sad and discouraging and angry. I decided to do it anyway, and without any forethought, wrote about a lizard today…which gave me my theme for the month, one that I can find joy and happiness to share without feeling inauthentic. I do hope to “see” more of you this month, but I do also understand the need to take a breather. I love your new hangout, and am grateful that opportunities like this do still exist in some schools, somewhere.
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I love how you found inspiration in that lizard, Chris! I’m with you in looking to nature for more joy and happiness.
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What a way to kick off this year’s challenge, with a slice about the challenges that have come your way! You seem to have taken them all head on and seized the opportunities. Love the heroes’ hangout you’ve created! I can see why the kids love it! Here’s to another SOL challenge together! 😉
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I was cleaning out my email inbox and found this post. I’m sorry I missed it on the day you posted it, but I love, love the cento poem from second graders. How did Ohio come to mean weird? What a fun space for kids!
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