She does not pose, for her simplicity and sincerity have no need of
artificial garnishings. Her outward mien is but the expression of her
spiritual power, and when we contemplate her we know of a truth that
education is a spiritual process.
To the teacher without serenity, the days abound in troubles. She is
nervous, peevish, querulous, and irritable, and her pupils become equally
so. She thinks of them as incorrigibles and tells them so. To her they
seem bad and she tells them so. Her animadversions reflect upon their
parents and their home life as well as themselves and she takes unction to
herself by reason of her strictures. Her spiritual ballast is unequal to
the sail she carries and her craft in consequence careens and every day
ships water of icy coldness that chills her pupils to the heart. She has
knowledge, indeed much knowledge, but she lacks wisdom, hence her
knowledge becomes weakness and not power. She has spiritual hysteria which
manifests itself in her manner, in her looks, and in her voice. Her
spiritual strength is insufficient for the load she tries to carry and her
path shows uneven and tortuous. She nags and scolds in strident tones that
ruffle and rasp the spirits of her pupils and beget in them a longing to
become whatever she is not. She is noisy where quiet is needful; she
causes disturbance where there should be peace; and she disquiets where
she should soothe. She may have had training, but she lacks education, for
her spiritual qualities show only chaos.
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