From a list of ten persons referred to in the Bible with whom I would like to converse, Gamaliel would be one of the ten. His wisdom and ethos defused a desperate situation between influential authorities and the apostles in the early church. (Acts 5:34-40) He was a teacher of Saul of Tarsus, during his (Saul’s) formal and formative education. Saul, now Paul the Apostle, invoked Gamaliel’s name in his biographical sketch. (Acts 22:3 ff.) Paul held high respect for his old professor, even after he (Paul) became a Christian – when he extensively amended much of what he had been taught. Jewish history recalls the name of Gamaliel as revered and rightly respected as an eminent rabbinical teacher. He was a pivotal figure in the Jewish history of education.
There is a wonderful thing, a bonding friendship, respect and honor, perhaps love occurring between students, and the teachers they make eminent to their lives. Teachers have to reciprocate acceptance if the pattern is to be fully effective. I related to many professors in this pattern, and they returned the interest, to my lasting appreciation. They greatly impacted my life, beliefs, and commitments. That observation does not mean we always agreed, but we respected the search we each made for truth. Then I became a teacher, and took the other chair. What a gift of meaning that has proved to be for me – to enter truly the lives and minds of others. In my first year of teaching, I was told by my former professor, then my boss, that I was to assist a student who had asked for help. My chairman was too busy for the special project, but wanted it done. I could be initiated at this point. Ed McCully wanted to be coached to enter the competition of the Hearst Oratorical Contest. As a new college student he wanted someone to help him reach the goal. I became his coach, although I felt somewhat incompetent. We went to work. The details are skipped here except to say that we resonated, worked together, and he won the national contest. I was greatly touched and solemnized with lament when, less than ten years after that national victory, Ed was speared to death on the banks of the Curaray River in South America as he attempted to use his faith, talents and education to share Christianity with the Huarani Indians.
Forty five years after Ed gave his life, Todd Beamer bravely gave his. When he said to the passengers on that September 11, 2001 flight: Let’s roll, he knew that he was giving his life to save the lives of more than the number on the plane. And he did it. I graduated from Wheaton College in 1946; Ed graduated four years later; and, Todd graduated in 1991 – forty years after Ed. Each found in their family contexts, and in a Christian educational community, the processes, knowledge, and convictions that served to reflect the meaning and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The college well named its athletic field after McCully, an excellent athlete. The new Student Union was named after Beamer. He shared McCully’s example. These two men are models of what higher education, in a tradition of high values, helps to achieve in lives. They learned how to think, and to direct their lives, to give themselves for others. Institutions founded in that Christian tradition are effective across the world. I could recite many stories, of persons well known to me – of those who lived fully a life of commitment holding hope for that which is yet to be. Persons and congregations fail when they omit participation in dynamic Christian education at every stage of life, early and late. It means to address personal and spiritual issues in informed life. It meets inner needs as well as outer – in a holistic context that addresses what is needed for life direction. It generates mutual respect and objectivity even when there are variant belief differences – as was the case with Paul and Gamaliel. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020