Our Own Nazareth

Mark 6

Jesus's disappointment in Nazareth is surrounded by spectacular successes.  In Mark 5 he heals the woman who stole a touch of his robe, and after Nazareth that becomes a runaway trend in every town he visits.  Then he raises the young girl from the dead and asks no one to tell the story yet -- which doesn't prevent him from being mobbed by the crowd of 5,000 even in the desert place a chapter later.  He even sends his disciples out on their own and they go.  Mark 6 ends with the walking on water to his disciples scene -- two of his most famous miracles.

How much did He think of Nazareth, in those successful, stressful days afterward?  How much should we?

This semester, all but one of my classes is going extraordinarily well.  I'm torn between being puffed up with myself that I've finally figured this curriculum out...and realizing that I should really just enjoy the ride with these amazing students I've lucked into for the semester.  Not that I'm not a good teacher all the time, but that it's so enjoyable when the whole class is interested in the subject and ready to participate and just...smart this semester.

Like I said, all but one.  The one that, going in, I probably should have been best able to cater to.  The one that I've had since last semester.  The one that knows me best and what I have to offer and my shtick...has pretty much decided that it doesn't care and we'll endure each other until the end of the year.

I'm being dramatic, but my point is: how often do I think of my Nazareth? 

The answer is obvious if I want to improve as a teacher.  I have more to learn from trying to fix the class that's not working than from enjoying and personalizing the classes that are going swimmingly, right?

St. Paul would recognize the class as the thorn in my side keeping me from being too elated (2 Cor 12: 7-10), and tell me to be grateful too it.  Lest I get cocky.

I think my mother would tell me not to dwell on the one failure in a string of successes unduly.  Probably a good number of my friends too.

But how much are we meant to think of Nazareth?  Amid the 5,000 throng?  Walking across the water?  Healing the sick?

Sending beloved disciples off on their own?  Surely then we must think of Nazareth.  Surely then we must worry over our failures.

When is it poisoning the well and when is it the needed deflation?  When is it healthy to think of our own Nazareth?  And when should we focus on the path ahead?