I witnessed an interesting story this morning that I wanted to share with you. . . Perhaps you have found yourself in a similar moment.
Midway though the morning I heard a commotion outside of my door and went to investigate it. Two of the teachers were gathered in the hall watching a third. They were discussing a problem that presented itself; a problems whose solution presented a challenge. One of our "little saints" locked the bathroom stall door. Then she slid under the door and ran back to class. As of now, no one knows who we have to thank for this little dilemma. But honestly, it does not matter.
In this moment two options presented themselves:
Option 1: The teachers stood in the hallway outside of my office attempting to determine who was responsible. They figured that once they knew who did it, then that child could come back down from class, crawl under the door, and unlock the door (makes sense to me). This was the option that I would have chosen. The two of them worked to frame the question in a way that when the child answered it, they would implicate themselves in the deed. This way, if no one confessed to the crime, we would know who was responsible and could resolve the issue.
While that discussion was taking place (and it was a lighthearted discussion), Option 2 happened.
Option 2: the aid for the nursery class, Jen, took a wire coat hanger, grabbed the step stool in front of the sink, and entered the adjacent stall. Then she stood on the stool and used the hanger to slide the lock open from across the stall. There was some concern that this was not going to work. But silently, Jen worked to slide the hanger across the lock until it opened. Her work took as long as it took me to position my mask on my face, walk into the hallway, and to the doorway of the girl’s bathroom where the teachers stood.
I watched as the door swung free. . . crisis averted. And everyone chuckled and went back to class while making jokes about “MacGyver-ing” the problem.
Let me also say that no one was angry or upset with the child who locked the door. In fact, I don’t think they even asked the question to the rest of the children in the school. It was a problem and Jen solved it without fanfare or stress.
This got me thinking about how we engage small problems in our day. . . Because let’s be honest, we face a lot more small problems in our days then large-scale ones. “Death by 10,00 paper cuts” is more likely to happen then a large incident that leaves us broken down.
As I watched Jen over the stall-wall, I thought, “Wow who is going to have to climb under the door to open it? . . . Maybe I can call Emma? . . . I know I can’t do it because the opening is tool small for me. What are we going to do?” I was so fixated on the problem that I did not see the opportunity that was there also. An adaptive option was present in this moment, as it is present in most of our situations and moments. . . In this case, Jen just figured it out before the rest of us.
I wonder, how will you face those same small, irritating challenges in your day? What option is present that you may overlook? Because if you take the time, if you linger and look differently, you might just see a solution that was there all the time.
Blessings
Rev. Derek
No comments:
Post a Comment