Full of Emptiness
Story★★★★★There’s a beautiful old story about a Sunday school teacher who asked the
children in his class to bring plastic eggs on Easter Sunday, each one filled with
something that symbolized the meaning of the resurrection. The day came, and the
teacher took each child’s egg in turn, opening it and making a point of amplifying
and reinforcing its meaning. One child had a tiny flower, and the teacher spoke of
the new life that springs forth at Easter. Another egg contained a crayoned picture
of Christ, and the teacher spoke of that. Another had a small nail, and the point was
made about the nails of the cross. Another had a round pebble that represented the
stone that had guarded the tomb.
But the teacher was dumbfounded when he opened the egg of seven-year-old
Brian, a mentally-challenged boy, and found nothing there. But not to worry, Brian
himself spoke up and announced: “‘It’s full of emptiness—just like the tomb of Jesus.”
His was the best lesson of all.
The point
A mentally-challenged boy's empty Easter egg becomes the class's best lesson: it is 'full of emptiness, just like the tomb of Jesus.'