Nobody wants to die from Covid-19. Or from anything for that matter. Nobody wants to die at all. Yet no one escapes. Paradoxes everywhere. Some are obvious while others are not so. Nobody should blame our teachers. The same thing has been said of Christians, who say they want to go to heaven but when asked if they want to die, they say no. Besides, that thing about teachers’ reward being in heaven is half correct. The other half, that completes the reward package for teachers, is that part of their reward is here on earth.

The same earth that must receive the grain of corn if it hopes to multiply itself into manifold grains. The same earth that must kill the grain of corn before it infuses life back into the corn; life bigger, better more expansive than was the case in the former life. The same earth that shows the difference between being latent, inactive versus being vibrant and being alive from its handling of the corn affair. And the same earth that teaches remarkably the difference between walking alone and walking with others. The difference between thinking the individual versus thinking the collective.

The NUT reservations on the directive for schools to reopen should not be dismissed outrightly neither should the directive for schools to reopen. What should be dismissed are unintelligent manifestations of any refusal to let our corns be released into the bowels of the earth as we comprehend the sight of Covid-19 in retreat.