Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Denison Forum

Home
Evangelical
Religion News
Why this teacher keeps an empty chair in his middle school classroom

Why this teacher keeps an empty chair in his middle school classroom

Last updated on: June 23, 2022 at 5:22 am by Jim Denison

Why this teacher keeps an empty chair in his middle school classroom 2022-06-23T05:22:33-05:00 Jim Denison

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dan Gill has taught social studies at a middle school in New Jersey for thirty years. That alone makes him worthy of recognition. But all these years, he has followed a practice I found especially noteworthy: he keeps an empty chair in the front corner of his classroom.

He explained that it “symbolizes that we will always have room in the classroom for anyone.”

He learned his passion for diversity at a young age. As a nine-year-old in New York City, Gill went to a friend’s birthday party along with his best friend at the time, a Black student named Archie Shaw. The child’s mother told Archie that he had to go home because “there are no more chairs.”

Gill said, “I felt so bad because he had been humiliated. We gave her the presents and I said we’re going to go to my house, where there are plenty of chairs.” When he began his teaching career fifty-two years ago, he started a tradition of telling the story to his students annually on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. He added an empty chair to his classroom thirty years ago and it has remained there ever since.

His story struck me on a personal level for reasons I’ll explain today.

Why standing on one leg matters

At this writing, an earthquake that struck Afghanistan yesterday morning has killed more than one thousand people, with more than fifteen hundred injured and the death toll expected to grow. In other news, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Jaylon Ferguson has died at the age of twenty-six; a cause of death has not yet been announced. A search is continuing this morning for a gunman who shot two people, one fatally, on a packed commuter train in San Francisco yesterday.

And a new study indicates that an inability to stand on one leg for ten seconds in later life is linked to nearly double the risk of death from any cause within the next decade. A medical professor explained that one leg standing requires good balance, is “linked to brain function, good muscle strength, and good blood flow,” and “likely integrates muscular, vascular, and brain systems.” As a result, “it is a global test of future mortality risk.”

What do these stories have in common? They all illustrate the personal dimension of Christian empathy.

I was tempted to pass over the tragedy in Afghanistan in a way I would not if it had occurred in Dallas, where I live. If Jaylon Ferguson had played for the Dallas Cowboys, his sudden death would have felt more personal. If I lived in San Francisco, I would be more concerned about the unidentified gunman.

And I had to try the ten-second standing test. I passed, which makes the news feel less relevant to me than if I had not.

How to be led into “all truth”

This week, we’ve been exploring my assertion that it is always too soon to give up on God. No matter how dark the night, Jesus is still the “light of the world” (John 8:12). He will forgive every sin we confess to him (1 John 1:9) and transform any life entrusted to his grace (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Here’s my problem: rather than give up on God, I’m tempted to give up on the world. On one hand, I can ignore suffering that does not affect me directly. On the other, I can empathize with our hurting world so deeply that I develop compassion fatigue and withdraw from our culture.

The best approach is to seek the heart of Christ for every person I meet and every story I hear. If I begin the day with him and walk in his presence through the day, his Spirit will teach me what to say and when to say it (Luke 12:12), give me strength to defeat temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13), and lead me into “all truth” (John 16:13). (For more on the privilege and power of daily intimacy with Jesus, please see my latest blog, “My Apple Watch is smarter than I am.”)

In the context of cultural challenges, the Spirit will guide me to those issues that align with my kingdom call and will give me discernment to know what stories and subjects should be my focus. And he will give me the compassionate courage of Christ wherever I need to experience and extend his grace.

Meet the first three British martyrs

Alban lived in third-century Britain in the Roman city of Verulamium. One day he gave shelter to a Christian priest fleeing persecution. While protecting him, Alban was inspired by the priest’s faith and asked to be taught about Christianity. As a result, he came to faith in Christ.

When the authorities caught up with the priest, Alban’s newfound faith would not allow them to arrest him. Instead, he exchanged clothes with the priest and was arrested, allowing the priest to escape. Alban refused to renounce his beliefs, so the magistrate ordered that he should receive the punishment intended for the priest.

As a result, he was led out of Verulamium and up the hillside where he was beheaded, becoming the first Christian martyr in the British Isles.

Before his death, the executioner assigned to kill him became so impressed with his faith that he became a believer as well and refused to kill Alban. The executioner was then executed, becoming the second Christian martyr in Britain.

The third was the priest. When he learned that Alban had been arrested in his place, he hurried to the court in hopes of saving Alban by turning himself in. He was then martyred as well. The place of their deaths is near the site of St Alban’s Cathedral today.

If the Spirit of Christ could empower them to die for Jesus, won’t he give us the compassionate courage we need to live for him?

NOTE: Thank you for being a faithful reader of The Daily Article, which we send out every weekday morning (and have done so for more than twenty years). If our words have encouraged you, please consider supporting Denison Forum today. Plus, if you give today, your donation will be doubled due to a generous matching grant of $35,000. Thank you for your support.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

June 22, 2022

Supreme Court ruling “a great day for religious liberty in America”

Next Post

June 24, 2022 US swimmer rescued by coach after fainting and sinking to bottom of pool

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category america biblical-living Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "If I perish, I perish"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Esther Deborah Ruth Hannah