…that's right, death!
Last week our students took midterms so this week we got to work on a clean slate of what to build for the remainder of their freshman oral English class. We've been doing some work on "story", how to tell their story, elements of their story, crucial moments and key factors and themes, all accumulating to one massive story project at the end (but shhhhh, they don't know that yet). Unfortunately, for so many people one key life-changer can be the losing a loved one. You can't deny it. People play important roles in people's lives, and when one is lost, people are thus changed.
Death is a taboo topic in China. Too bad Laura and I didn't know that when we planned it. [These are freshman; this semester has been all about rocking their world views and I can guarantee you that it's working. Might as well continue with the theme.] It could have gone badly, but I'm so thankful because the lesson today went super well. It was well received by the students, and we even had a little fun in the process. But that's not the point of this blog post…
The lesson closed with a CLOZE activity (get the pun??) where I distributed the lyrics of Nichole Nordeman's song "Legacy". Within the lyrics were blanks that they had to listen for and fill in the missing word that they heard. 'Legacy' and 'death' go pretty well together and it will be a great lead into tomorrows lesson.
Now please, I was a music major. No one knows better than me that music can do ridiculously powerful things and can speak to people in ways that no scientist can ever understand. As I walked around the classroom, up to the podium, down from the podium I found myself choking back tears not once, not twice, but four times (I played the song four times, twice per class).
I really hate it when He finally makes something 'click' for me when I'm actually in front of the class. (That's happened on several occasions now and I'm starting to catch a theme.) As we were planning the lesson and getting ready, it's easy to view this song about death. Of course you want to leave a good legacy after you die, but lets just be real here for two seconds: I've never really been one to care about what other people think about me. But as this song played and I glanced at their faces I found this song being the prayer of my heart as I prepare to leave them and, as I said before, I got a little choked up.
"I want to leave a legacy,
how will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to You enough to make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering.
A child of mercy and grace
who blessed Your name apologetically
and leave that kind of legacy."
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