A Reminder

I’ve learned more about communication from watching my student teachers than I’ve learned from books. Erica, for example, is a natural-born teacher. She started a class on the book of Jonah with a clip from a nature movie about whales, then she opened a can of tuna, filling the room with a fishy fragrance while she told the story with enthusiasm.

As she talked, she passed around a piece of wet rubber, so her students could “feel” a whale. When the story was over, she served Goldfish crackers, “sea soda,” and gelatin “whale blubber.” Through it all, her busy brown eyes and charming smile made her irresistible.

Children are not the only ones who need multisensory communication. When I need to contact our college registrar, it’s tempting just to fire off an e-mail and be done with it. But if I really want to communicate, I go to her office, sit down facing her, and spend some time conversing. I snitch a few of the M&M’s she keeps in a jar on her desk and study her expressive face for reactions to my ideas. The give-and-take of conversation is stimulating, and I always leave her office feeling refreshed and connected, a little less lonely, and a lot more hopeful about life.

E-mail and the telephone have their place, but we communicate better when we involve the senses: the sight of a smile, the smell of cologne, the touch of a handshake, and the sound of a happy laugh.

God, I am so glad You came down here, where we could see You face-to-face and know what You are really like.

—DANIEL SCHANTZ