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The
Empty Easter Egg
Jeremy
was born with a twisted body
and a slow mind. At the age
of 12 he was still in second
grade, seemingly unable to
learn. His teacher, Doris
Miller, often became
exasperated with him. He
would squirm in his seat,
drool, and make grunting
noises. At other times, he
spoke clearly and
distinctly, as if a spot of
light had penetrated the
darkness of his brain. Most
of the time, however, Jeremy
just irritated his teacher.
One day she called his
parents and asked them to
come in for a consultation.
As the Forresters entered
the empty classroom, Doris
said to them, "Jeremy
really belongs in a special
school. It isn't fair
to him to be with younger
children who don't have
learning problems. Why,
there is a five year gap
between his age and that of
the other students."
Mrs. Forrester cried softly
into a tissue, while her
husband spoke. "Miss
Miller," he said,
"there is no school of
that kind nearby. It
would be a terrible shock
for Jeremy if we had to take
him out of this school. We
know he really likes it
here."
Doris sat for a long time
after they had left, staring
at the snow outside the
window. Its coldness seemed
to seep into her soul. She
wanted to sympathize with
the Forresters. After all,
their only child had a
terminal illness. But it
wasn't fair to keep him in
her class. She had 18 other
youngsters to teach, and
Jeremy was a distraction.
Furthermore, he would never
learn to read and write. Why
waste any more time trying?
As she pondered the
situation, guilt washed over
her. Here I am she thought.
Lord, please help me to be
more patient with Jeremy.
From that day on, she tried
hard to ignore Jeremy's
noises and his blank stares.
Then one day, he limped to
her desk, dragging his bad
leg behind him. "I love
you, Miss Miller," he
exclaimed, loud enough for
the whole class to hear. The
other students snickered,
and Doris' face turned red.
She stammered, "Wh--why
that's very nice, Jeremy.
N--now please take your
seat."
Spring came, and the
children talked excitedly
about the coming of Easter.
Doris told them the story of
Jesus, and then to emphasize
the idea of new life
springing forth, she gave
each of the children a large
plastic egg.
"Now," she said to
them, "I want you to
take this home and bring it
back tomorrow with something
inside that shows new life.
Do you understand?"
"Yes, Miss
Miller," the children
responded enthusiastically
--all except for Jeremy. He
listened intently; his eyes
never left her face. He did
not even make his usual
noises. Had he understood
what she had said about
Jesus' death and
resurrection? Did he
understand the assignment?
Perhaps she should call his
parents and explain the
project to them. That
evening, Doris' kitchen sink
stopped up. She called the
landlord and waited an hour
for him to come by and
unclog it. After that, she
still had to shop for
groceries, iron a blouse,
and prepare a vocabulary
test for the next day. She
completely forgot about
phoning Jeremy's parents.
The next morning, 19
children came to school,
laughing and talking as they
placed their eggs in the
large wicker basket on Miss
Miller's desk. After they
completed their math lesson,
it was time to open the
eggs.
In the first egg, Doris
found a flower. "Oh
yes, a flower is certainly a
sign of new life," she
said. "When plants peek
through the ground, we know
that spring is here."
A small girl in the first
row waved her arm.
"That's my egg, Miss
Miller," she called
out. The next egg contained
a plastic butterfly, which
looked very real. Doris held
it up. "We all know
that a caterpillar changes
and grows into a beautiful
butterfly. Yes, that's new
life, too."
Little Judy smiled proudly
and said, "Miss Miller,
that one is mine."
Next, Doris found a rock
with moss on it. She
explained that moss, too,
showed life. Billy spoke up
from the back of the
classroom, "My daddy
helped me," he beamed.
Then Doris opened the fourth
egg. She gasped. The egg was
empty. Surely it must be
Jeremy's she thought, and of
course, he did not
understand her instructions.
If only she had not
forgotten to phone his
parents. Because she did not
want to embarrass him, she
quietly set the egg aside
and reached for another.
Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up.
"Miss Miller, aren't
you going to talk about my
egg?"
Flustered, Doris replied,
"But Jeremy, your egg
is empty." He looked
into her eyes and said
softly, "Yes, but
Jesus' tomb was empty,
too."
Time stopped. When she could
speak again, Doris asked
him, "Do you know why
the tomb was empty?"
"Oh, yes," Jeremy
said, "Jesus was killed
and put in there. Then His
Father raised Him up."
The
recess bell rang. While the
children excitedly ran out
to the schoolyard, Doris
cried. The cold inside her
melted completely away.
Three months later, Jeremy
died. Those who paid their
respects at the mortuary
were surprised to see 19
eggs on top of his casket,
all of them empty.
~Author Unknown~
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