Nobility is dignity. Because of the potential to achieve a real purpose, any work done well can lead to dignity. In our time every citizen can feel a sense of mission, place and importance. Every task can be considered an act of service to our nation when the essence of that task is being achieved. In this way every act can be an act of public service. And in this way every kind of work can be noble.

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Nobility is dignity.  Because of the potential to achieve a real purpose, any work done well can lead to dignity.   In our time every citizen can feel a sense of mission, place and importance.  Every task can be considered an act of service to our nation when the essence of that task   is being achieved.  In this way every act can be an act of public service.  And in this way every kind of work can be noble.

A Simple Teacher

Tim Knopf, an English teacher at Mariner High School, retired after 38 years in the school district.  In simple terms, what this means is that he was just starting in the district when Mariner High School's first class was graduating.  The year of his start was 1972, the year I graduated from Mariner High School.  But what does this retirement mean?  Can it only be best quantified in simple terms or is it best quantified in more complicated terms?

Does it mean:   "Those who can do and those who can't teach?"    This is what my down home farm relatives said to me when I told them that I had just earned my teaching certificate.   They did not mean it as a joke.   Is this an accurate view of what teaching is or does the task of teaching have a deeper more special significance?

Let's start with a discussion of quantification.  High school teachers, teach multiple classes in one day.  Perhaps they see as many as 100 students a day.  But let's make it easier on us.  Let's assume that the High School Teacher's class load is like that of an elementary school teacher.  

When I taught sixth grade I had 35 students for the year.   If you take 35 and multiply it by 38 years you get 1,330.   This means, at minimum, Mr. Knopf gave personal instruction to 1,330 different people.  He gave instruction to 1,330 people approximately 39 weeks of the year or 195 days.  In terms of days, 195 over 38 years is 7,410 days.  And when you think of it, each of those 1,330 people received 195 days or so of instruction for a total of 259,350 units of instructional contact -- at minimum. So if those who can do and those who can't teach, then those who can't are partaking in a huge amount of nothing.  But, deep down we know this isn't true.  

Deep inside we know that all of those instructional contacts are important.   In fact, when it comes to teachers, we know that they are important both in quantity and in quality.  

Inspiration

Almost everyone I know has their own story -- a story of how a teacher who inspired them or had faith in them changed their lives.   My personal story is also about a Mariner High School Teacher.  Her name is Ann Kashiwa.

When she was my teacher I was star football player.  Then I dislocated my shoulder.  My doctor told me not to play.   But my coaches encouraged me to keep playing.  They even said they would have a special set of shoulder pads made that would chain my arm down so that it could not get in the dislocating position.  

I considered that.  I considered playing at less than my physical best.   And while I was thinking about it those who wanted me to play tried one more thing.  They told me that if I did not turn out for football I would never have a chance to go to college because my only shot   was to go on an athletic scholarship.  

I was shocked.  Up until that moment I had never really thought about it.  I was on ok B-average student but here they were telling me that my whole future depended on my body and not my mind.   Then I got angry.  It was insulting.  I realized that they were telling me that because I was black my only hope was to be an athlete.   This hurt me very deeply.  And then I got real scared because I also thought what if they are right?

I was deeply depressed.  One day, my Humanities teacher, Ann Kashiwa noticed my state of mind.  She laid out the options.  She taught me to have faith in my mind.  She taught me that I was more than my body. After that talk I dropped athletics to concentrate on academics.   And for me in my life that decision has made all the difference.

I spent two years reinventing myself from athlete to scholar.  And in the end this meant SAT testing; becoming a National Merit Scholar Semi-Finalist, undergraduate school at Stanford University and the University of Washington.  

I received my law degree from Harvard Law School and this led to my first law job as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in King County.  As a baby lawyer, in my second year, I successfully prosecuted a mentally ill young man who stalked and planned to kill a doctor, his wife and his two daughters.  The entire family was saved.  He received a prison sentence of 20 years.  The case was on National TV in 1988 before the days of Court TV.  

This was just the beginning of my career. I am just one person.   Think of all of the other 1,329 people whom she, and teachers like Tim, have affected and how those they taught have affected others.   Imagine all of the other benefits, large and small, this group of people has been able to bestow on society.   Looking at it from this point of view couldn't teaching be considered a public service?

Service, Significance and Nobility

We make a mistake when we assume some people are significant and others have no significance at all.  Just the quantity of the contacts alone should reveal that even one high school teacher should not be considered insignificant. But when we add the potential quality of the contacts we can see just how far-reaching the work of any teacher can be.  

But these ideas do not apply only to teachers.  They can apply to any work.  I have had the good fortune to see the Cathedral at Notre Dame.  Remember that stonemasons built this timeless structure, not rocket scientists, or billionaires, or doctors or lawyers.     

The tasks of every day are important, no matter how small.  Every single job is essential.  We know this because when failed work affects our lives, we feel the pinch or slap of that job's importance.   When a job is done with excellence something special is achieved.   What is achieved could be called many things: perfection, or just a job well done, or excellence, or reaching the essence, or it could also be called true service.

Every citizen should be encouraged to discover a sense of purpose, mission, place and importance in their daily work.  Work done in this way can be considered an act of service to our nation.  

Any job can be a source of dignity.  Every single person is important.  No one is insignificant.

Authors Website: http://www.ericzlucas.com

Authors Bio:

Eric Z. Lucas is an alumnus of Stanford University (Creative Writing Major: 1972-1975), the University of Washington (1981: BA English Literature and Elementary Education) and Harvard Law School, J.D. 1986. Since law school he has been a public servant: a prosecuting attorney, a city attorney and a trial judge. Born in Spokane, Washington where his military family lived until the age of twelve, he still resides in Washington State. Married to his wife Beth since 1974, they have four adult children and two grandchildren. Further discussions of Eric's work are available on the website: The Path of Public Service. Eric is the author of the following books: a children's book entitled: "The Island Horse," November 2005; "The Tao of Public Service" published February 2013 by Balboa Press, and "All Lives Matter: Essays, On the Need for a New View of Citizenship" published by KindlePublishing e-book July 2015. Eric's books are currently available from: Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Balboa Press and Self Discovery Publications directly or through the website listed below.