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SCAPEGOAT TO SKIPPER
Stillspeaking Devotional by Molly Baskette
[Jesus said to them,] “So the last will be first and the first will be last.”
Matthew 20:16 (NRSV)
This is a true story, told to me by one of the saints of my church, about what Jesus might have meant when he said, “The last shall be first and the first shall be last.”
Cameron was always a little bit different. When his preschool teacher Cathie invited the children to play a game where they ran across the room to tag a ball on the other side, Cameron didn’t run—he galloped.
All of the other children burst out laughing at him. Laughter that suggested surprise, tilting into scorn. Different was not good. Cameron hung his head.
His teacher knew just what to do. Rather than reprimand the children, which only would have turned them against him further, she turned to the 4-year-old. “Cameron, what do you call that, what you just did?”
Cameron said, “Skipping!” Cathie didn’t bat an eyelash. “Would you show me how to skip like that?” Cameron was happy to oblige, and together they galloped across the room.
Witnessing approval from the highest authority in the land, the children erupted with offers to teach Cathie other ways of moving.
“You’ll all have a chance to teach me something new, but right now let’s move like Cameron is moving,” she told them. They took turns skip-galloping. The laughter, now delighted, echoed off the walls. It echoes still, forty years later.
Prayer
Divine Preschool Teacher, first in our hearts: may we follow your lead, whether skipping, galloping, running, or in stillness, with respect for all your children.