piece of cake

yesterday when i started to toil over what to do about the situation in my class i heard in my heart "prepare, but don't worry. everything will be fine. it's a piece of cake." wow. it's a piece of cake. "don't ruin your day by being nervous about it. just relax."

i succeeded in not complaining about it too much. ken cooked me some dinner and pampered me. that really helped. i read from my favorite devotionals. that relaxed me. then had a nice chat with my brother about it. he had a calming effect on me.

despite some occasional melodramatics, i have to say i managed pretty well. even up to the point just before class when i met with my boss and explained to her what was going on. i felt like i needed to plant a seed just in case... in case what? well who knows. i won't speculate.

so i got to class a few minutes early and put on some calm music. when class started, i joked about the chilly weather. it's the first day we've felt it. it's been suspiciously warm around here for october. anyway, i told them how shuggie was chilly last night so she climbed into bed and wrapped herself around my neck, practically strangling me. when i told her to move over she said in the sweetest little voice "i love you." of course then i let her keep strangling me for a few more minutes. even in the middle of the night that little voice melts my heart.

when i finished that story they all said "awww!" i knew it softened the ground a bit. then i handed out a slightly aged but credible article from the united nations website on the problem in ghana. i told them they were responsible for reading it, and that i would be putting a question on the exam about it. then i addressed the giggling.

i felt a bit of a whirlwind inside, but i somehow managed to cover lots of ground, succinctly and coherently. (white privilege... prejudice... ignorance... ) it all just flowed right out. none of them had taken a diversity class before. but they came up with a half dozen reasons why people laugh at other people's suffering. (to be cool. because they're afraid. immature. irresponsible. ignorant.) i added sadistic to their list. (some people just are, sadly).

then i shifted gears and covered jean piaget. it was a vibrant and colorful lecture, with props and everything. a little more than halfway through class we got sidetracked somehow on exotic pets. actually i let us get sidetracked. i wanted us to have a little fun. so we swapped stories of pet raccoons and chinchillas and flying squirrels and baby deer. i told my hermit crab story.* i imitated a mad goose. we all laughed.

then i wrangled us back in and finished up the notes. after class the gal who was mad a me on tuesday came up with her friend and thanked me. "we really appreciate what you did. you didn't have to do that."

"yes i did," i replied. " when i see an opportunity like that i have to take it. i feel a moral obligation."

it's true. i do. and i did. and now i'm ready to play.

thank you Lord.

*(i had a hermit crab named hamlet. he ran away. i found him shell-less on the downstairs bathroom floor 5 years later. it was incredible that he survived. i grabbed him and put him up in a makeshift home, but he died the next day. i should have just let him be i guess. maybe captivity was more than he could bear).

picture of the 100 layer cake borrowed from: http://www.afamilyfare.com/bridal.htm