C.J. Cain is a young teacher.
He shares with us a bit of inspiration, a poem written long ago, in a different era. It was written in 1948, when most of us then alive believed in a world of progress and possibilities. Of course, I was only 10, but I believed.
What do we believe now? Have we become cynical? Do we despair of possibility?
One thing I have learned: never give up hope. No matter how dark it is, never give up hope for better times. And work like the dickens to bring change.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Even during the darkest times (that haven’t arrived ye6t), with purges rounding up people and sending them to prisons camps to be crushed or eliminated, those of us that survive the purges and remain free, must join together and continue the fight.
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SDP-class words…
THEY ASK ME WHY I TEACH
They ask me why I teach,
And I reply,
Where could I find more splendid company?
There sits a statesman,
Strong, unbiased, wise,
Another later Webster,
Silver-tongued,
And there a doctor
Whose quick, steady hand
Can mend a bone,
Or stem the lifeblood’s flow.
A builder sits beside him-
Upward rise
The arches of a church he builds, wherein
That minister will speak the word of God,
And lead a stumbling soul to touch the Christ.
And all about
A lesser gathering
Of farmer, merchants, teachers,
Laborers, men
Who work and vote and build
And plan and pray
Into a great tomorrow
And I say,
“I may not see the church,
Or hear the word,
Or eat the food their hands will grow.”
And yet – I may.
And later I may say,
“I knew the lad,
And he was strong,
Or weak, or kind, or proud,
Or bold, or gay.
I knew him once,
But then he was a boy.”
They ask me why I teach, and I reply,
“Where could I find more splendid company?”
They Ask Me Why I Teach,” by Glennice L. Harmon, in NEA Journal 37, no. 1 (September 1948): 375
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Thanks for the poem. That’s why I taught.
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We need young people who still believe in the possibility of positive change and the will to act on their beliefs. Some days all I can see is the back stabbing and power grabbing. After awhile you do wonder what it is you are trying to save and whether it is time to leave the fight to those who are still standing.
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Your post simply caught my attention, since I feel that way sometimes. Indeed there are people who try not to feel anything and so avoid any conflict. This allows them to go from birth to grave without facing themselves, I think, Yet, at times, it seems that our existence on this planet demands that we at least try.
I remind myself that evil is victorious when good people do nothing. Joseph Campbell seems to feel that unless we act, we fail ourselves, and others, never becoming the hero we actually are, or never becoming the person, we are meant to be. Life happens quickly, and then we have to walk off the stage. What is left here will have to be taken up by the next generation which comes behind, but when and if we try, we can leave it better for them. Who knows?
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Very nice poem. Thanks for sharing.
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When this poem was published, I was 13 and coming of age in the segregated South. I wanted to believe in goodness everwhere, but I also saw and lived with the not-so-fine sentiments and lines in the sand of that era and place.
At 13, I was most impressed not by a poem like this but by a brief letter to the editor written by a minister. He implored white folks to imagine they had to obey all of those “colored only” signs–were not permitted to use all of the public facilities they took for granted as their personal property.
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It’s cliche, but true: it’s always DeVosest before the dawn.
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Like!
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“One thing I have learned: never give up hope. No matter how dark it is, never give up hope for better times. And work like the dickens to bring change.’
I won’t give up, I do hope, and I will work hard.
I know you do. YOU are the BEST!
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