I am not called to be different.
I am called to invest and impress who I am on a world that can take me or leave me.
I am not called to tell students that they have nothing until they listen to me and learn from my limited experience.
I am called to reveal to them the capacities which they contain within themselves, nurtured in large part by the greater developments of time, commitment, and custom.
I am not called to make a difference in the lives of young people. I am called to live out the difference wrought in me by Christ Himself. Unfortunately, because the state so rigorously despises and spiritual learning or fulfillment, I am not permitted to speak at length about the Truth that sets me, and in turn may set, all men free.
I am not called to be the savior and mentor of anyone. I am a fellow traveler on the road to a brighter eternity. Sadly, there are many youth who have all but given up hope, convinced that there is nothing worthwhile if everything has already been seen and thought for them, anyway.
This is a great evil, and must be countered at every step.
Young people, in truth everybody, does not need to be taught so much as inspired.
I do not make a difference, I choose to be inspired; inspired by the Holy Spirit, who leads me to all knowledge, who incidentally makes it so that I need not that anyone teach me.
Imagine, the greatest difference a teacher can make in the life of a young person is that they do not need another person to make the difference, whether a parent, a teacher, a friend, or even (God forbid) a lover and spouse.
We were not made to find our answers, to seek out resolutions in the same frail flesh that houses our infinite spirits.
We are called to heed Eternal life. We are called to receive eternal glory. We are called to conceive greatness within us from the inside out.
I do not make a difference. I am the difference, and I hope that I can inspire one more person to be the same.