September 22, 2015

Miss Gordon: Oh How I loved You! By Alan Anderson


This blog was incredibly cathartic for me as I reflected on my calling as a writer.  Just putting such words together in a sentence fills me with humbleness that I can say such a thing.  I am a writer!  Wow!


When I think of who started the fire for my creativity and inspiration to write one person readily comes to my mind.  Her name was Miss Gordon and she was one of my teachers when I was a young boy in Scotland.  I definitely was not the scholarly type.  I was so withdrawn and introverted that even when I knew I was having trouble with my schooling I didn’t go to anyone for help. 


To make a long story short my dad, the school custodian, told me that Miss Gordon offered to help me.  I reluctantly went to her with fear and trembling expecting to be chastised for being such a poor student.  To my amazement she accepted me for who I was and to me she became a lifelong model of a person of peace and compassion.  This is what I needed at that time in my life!


When meeting with Miss Gordon I felt that I mattered and I wasn’t familiar with that feeling.  Miss Gordon didn’t just try to help me with my schooling.  She helped me to have a sense of who I am and that it was okay to be introverted and creative


From being with Miss Gordon a number of times during lunch or after school I learned I loved to write.  It was how I spoke into the world. It was how I expressed my feelings.  It was something about Miss Gordon and her care for me that unleashed my writing.


When I was ten years my parents decided to move my family to Canada.  I never saw Miss Gordon again!  My childhood had a number of emotional challenges that continued on when we settled in Canada.  My sense of inadequacy came back and I didn’t have Miss Gordon to motivate and encourage me.  I still wrote but only in school and because composition was part of the curriculum.  I didn’t write at home because I was afraid of being laughed at.  The feeling I had was no one would want to read anything I wrote.


After my emotionally encumbered childhood and teenage years I became a Christian when I was twenty-one.  I soon discovered the writing and ministry of Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer, an evangelical scholar who gained prominence in the 1970’s.  From his writings I learned how to put one’s faith into action or in other words how to live out faith in our culture and the world.  I especially loved his book and video series “How Should We Then Live?”  One of his teachings that still speaks to me today is that there is no use being against something if we are not willing to come up with an alternative.


I would say it was Dr. Schaeffer who was most prominent in my writing as a believer.  Without trying to minimize the suffering people may experience I write to bring messages of encouragement and hope to those going through challenges in their lives.  Dr. Schaeffer and later in my life, Dr. Henri Neuman, have both helped shape my life’s calling and my writing.  Both recognize the role of suffering in our lives and that we can have hope even in and through suffering.

It is Miss Gordon however who after all these many years remains a precious memory.  She was my first mentor and oh how I loved her!


Blog: scarredjoy@wordpress.com

11 comments:

  1. This is a lovely tribute. I, too, was impacted by Francis Schaefer's book HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE? it is a masterful look at art and culture and how we as Christians can and should have an impact. I think it is still relevant today, even in this cyber-age. (perhaps even more so...)

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  2. It's wonderful to hear stories from people who are able to share how someone else in their life has impacted them. Glad to hear you had that one special teacher as young boy. School can really be difficult when you're shy or an 'introvert.' I know the feeling! It too was hard for me to ask for help in school. Even as an adult we need people to encourage us along the way! Thanks for sharing those memories.

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  3. Thank you for the affirmation and encouragement Tracy and Vickie! I appreciate you both!

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  4. Thank you for your sensitive and appreciative article. How wonderful it was to know that working through this article was cathartic for you. I especially appreciated Miss Gordon was your encouragement and inspiration!

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  5. What a great post. Thanks Alan. And thanks to all the "Miss Gordons" out there who instilled our worth and our desire to write. I'm so glad your Miss Gordon was there for you. What a wonderful tribute to her influence in your life. God is good.

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    1. Thank you Connie! As a boy I never had an opportunity to let Miss Gordon know how much she meant to me. I am happy I could at least allow some people to know how great she was! After all these many years I still think about her! I really thank you for your comments.

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  6. Thank you for sharing, Alan. It is a most encouraging post. May God bless you for stepping out of your introvert shell with the aim to encourage and bless your readers. We all affect those we come in contact with - not always as memorably as your Miss Gordon - but still making an impact on others, for good or otherwise.

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    1. Hi Violet! I'm glad the post was an encouragement for you! Miss Gordon's influence on me has obviously never left me. I wonder to this day if she was also a model for me as what a profound impact a truly encouraging person may have on one's life. I wonder also if she is a motivation behind my desire to also encourage people. Thank you for your encouraging comments Violet!

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  7. Oh Alan, I so relate. My post was about teachers who affected me and influenced my writing, too. And, wouldn't you know it - I see it as a God-incidence because I was booked months ago - tomorrow I am speaking to a group of retired teachers. Apparently they ask people who they feel have made a difference to share. I was humbled to be asked but I am going to turn the tables on these incredible people and emphasize how much each one of them has made a difference in the lives of hundreds, maybe thousands of children over the years! I am going to share a portion of my post with them and I would LOVE it if I could share a few paragraphs of yours about MIss Gordon. P.S. When did you come to Canada? And from whence did you hail? 'Miss Gordon' sounds like a teacher's name that I remember. Of course Gordon is almost like Smith here! :) Thanks, Alan.

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    1. Hi Glynis! I'm honoured that you would like to use some of my post about Miss Gordon. She deserves the honour as well! She didn't have children of her own from what I remember but I think she must have loved children.
      I came to Canada in 1964 when my parents decided we would leave Scotland. I was ten at the time. I was born in Dundee.
      The teachers will love you presentation Glynis! Take care!

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  8. This is reassuring to me as a retired teacher. I have fond memories of so many of my former students. (Some of them are my fb friends.) I can only hope that I was a positive influence in the lives of my students as well.

    My husband Hank still has a couple of his elementary teachers around Barrhead. He says he couldn't have been too bad in school, because he is still friends with these elderly ladies.

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