What was in Jeremy's Egg?

Jeremy was born with a twisted body, a slow mind and a chronic,
terminal illness that had been slowly killing him all his young life.
Still, his parents had tried to give him as normal a life as possible
andhad sent him to St Theresa's Elementary School.

At the age of 12, Jeremy was only in second grade, seemingly
unable to learn. His teacher, Doris Miller, often became exasperated
withhim. He would squirm in his seat, drool and make grunting noises.

At other times, he spoke clearly and distinctly, as if a spot
oflight had penetrated the darkness of his brain. Most of the time,
however, Jeremy irritated his teacher. One day, she called his parents and asked
them to come to St. Theresa's for a consultation.

As the Forresters sat quietly in the empty classroom, Doris
saidto them,"Jeremy really belongs in a special school. It isn't fair to
him to be with younger children who don't have learning problems. Why, there
is a five-year gap between his age and that of the other students!"

Mrs Forrester cried softly into a tissue while her husband
spoke, "Miss Miller," he said, "there is no school of that kind nearby. It
would be a terrible shock for Jeremy if we had to take him out of this
school. We know he really likes it here."

Doris sat for a long time after they left, staring at the snow
outside the window. Its coldness seemed to seep into her soul. She
wanted to sympathize with the Forresters. After all, their only child had a
terminal illness. But it wasn't fair to keep him in her class. She had
18 other youngsters to teach, and Jeremy was a distraction. Furthermore, he
would never learn to read and write. Why waste any more time trying?

As she pondered the situation, guilt washed over her. "Oh God,"
she said aloud,"here I am complaining, when my problems are nothing
compared to that poor family! Please help me be more patient with
Jeremy."

From that day on, she tried hard to ignore Jeremy's noises and
his blank stares. Then one day he limped to her desk, dragging his bad
leg behind him.

"I love you, Miss Miller," he exclaimed, loud enough for the
whole class to hear. The other students snickered, and Doris's face
turned red. She stammered, "Wh-why, that's very nice Jeremy. Now please take
your seat."

Spring came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming
of Easter. Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the
idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large
plastic egg. "Now," she said to them,"I want you to take this home and
bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you
understand?"

"Yes, Miss Miller!" the children responded enthusiastically -
all except for Jeremy. He just listened intently; his eyes never left her
face. He did not even make his usual noises.

Had he understood what she had said about Jesus's death and
resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? Perhaps she should call
his parents and explain the project to them.

That evening, Doris's kitchen sink stopped up. She called the
landlord and waited an hour for him to come by and unclog it. After
that, she still had to shop for groceries, iron a blouse and prepare a
vocabulary test for the next day. She completely forgot about phoning Jeremy's
parents.

The next day, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking
as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Miller's desk.
After they had completed their math lesson, it was time to open the
eggs.

In the first egg, Doris found a flower."Oh yes, a flower is
certainly a sign of new life," she said."When plants peek through the
ground, we know that spring is here." A small girl in the first row
waved her arm. "That's my egg, Miss Miller," she called out.

The next egg contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very
real. Doris held it up. "We all know that a caterpillar changes and
grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that is new life, too." Little Judy
smiled proudly and said,"Miss Miller, that one is mine!"

Next, Doris found a rock with moss on it. She explained that
moss too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom. "My
daddy helped me!" he beamed.

Them Doris opened the fourth egg. She gasped. The egg was
empty! Surely it must be Jeremy's, she thought, and, she had forgotten to phone
his parents. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set
the egg aside and reached for another.

Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up. "Miss Miller, aren't you going to
talk about my egg?"

Flustered, Doris replied," But Jeremy - your egg is empty!" He
looked into her eyes and said softly,"Yes, but Jesus's tomb was empty,
too!"

Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him,"Do
you know why the tomb was empty?"

"Oh yes!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Jesus was killed and put in there.
Then his Father raised him up!"

The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to
the school yard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away.

Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects
at the mortuary were surprised to see 19 eggs on top of his casket, all of
them empty.