FROM AN ILLINOIS TEACHER TO A WISCONSIN GOVERNOR

As any cosmologist will tell you, the only real sign of life in the universe is growth. When you think about it -- here too.

Growth, however, happens in spurts. Watching spring now spurting to life helps make the point. Our own little everyday spurts do too. The trajectory of growth in our lives is never exactly predictable or consistent. Significant growth spurts occur when and how we least expect them.

Small example. Ever notice when you find a new word you never heard of before? Suddenly it seems that word is now all around you. Newspapers, magazine, blogsites. Actually it always was, only you never noticed it before.

Or take the classic political examples. A conservative is suddenly a liberal who just got mugged; a liberal is a conservative who just got arrested. Little growth spurts in how we see our world.

A sudden illness, an unexpected death, a surprise revolution. Each of these will trigger a spurt in our thinking and feeling. One we should have, but probably never did prepare for. It's in the nature of humanity to find a comfortable rut -- usually called a groove -- and kinda stay there.

One of the more astonishing growth spurts occurs when we read an obituary or attend a eulogy service. Suddenly so many things we never knew about this person -- good and giving things -- are laid out in front of our surprised eyes. I never knew that about him...! She never shared that...! If only I had known...!

Any teacher will tell you -- at least this one will -- good teachers hope for such spurts in their classroom. Such eureka moments when clouds lift and sun shines in. The glow of recognition on the face of your students is what you're there for. What you work for. And what's interesting about these spurts is how they come in the form of a gift. Yours to them!

Unlike most professions, a teacher (as the clergy) is giving away what they know without a fee. Most professionals charge for what they know. Not the teacher. Oh...but about that rich fat pension plan we're told teachers have by sucking the economic blood out of the American economy? Well, here's a followup question for the mis-directed rage of the deficit hawks. How many retired teachers do you know hobnobbing on the French Riviera with those retired professionals who charged big-time for every minute of their knowledge? Every case, every client, every patient, every consumer?

Not pointing. Just asking....