We couldn't forget if we tried.

In 1986, a young student walks into his science class to find a wooden box near the front of the room. As class begins, the teacher pours clear water into the top of the box. Red-colored water then flows out the bottom into a sink. “How did that happen?” he asks the class. “Write down your answer.” Then he pours more clear water into the box. This time yellow water flows out. “Wow. Look at that. How did THAT happen? Write it down.” Again, more clear water pours in, more colored water out. Oranges, blacks, browns, even white. “Sometimes a scientist can observe only from a distance and must make educated guesses by only recording what is seen, or even just what he thinks he sees.” When the bell rings ending class, he puts away the “magic box” and never once tells the class how it truly works.

Fifteen years later, the old student bumps into the teacher at a wedding. It’s there the old student asks a question that has been bugging him for years.

“Remember the trick you pulled with the colored water box?”

“Yeah,” he said with a smile and nod. “You remember that?”

“Remember? I couldn’t forget if I tried, and I’ve been trying for years.”

The teacher throws his head back and laughs in a way only he can. He then winks and walks away, as if challenging the old student to use observation and reason once again to figure it out. The old student realizes the old teacher is still working on him 15 years after the fact.

A few hours later, just before leaving the wedding reception, the teacher finds the old student who’s still confused all these years later, pulls him aside and explains how the experiment works. The student then thanks him for everything: his dedication, his humor, his impact on thousands of impressionable students. He thanks his teacher for making a difference.

And if anyone wants to know how the magic box worked, let me know.

Mr. Goering taught me.




God be with you, Don.
May you find the peace up there you longed for down here.