After thirty six years

i had those stickers about years made, since i do it each year, but really, i don’t think about them. i hardly ever really look at them. this year, i did look at "36 years," and i thought about what thirty-six years meant.

i look at someone, she is 30 years old. she is a Mother. she kind of thinks she knows about everything already. i have been teaching classes since six years before she was born... she is a good cook, a pretty skillful cook, but she sure doesn't know about everything...

and neither do i.

now and again i find things from thirty-six years ago in classroom materials, i am amazed at how good they seem and how we are still working with forgiving, loving and learning to be contributed to...

thirty years is a long time and thirty years is nothing in the realm of "timeless truths."

no wonder it takes lifetimes to know what we are required to understand... a tiny fraction is thirty-six years...