classroom desks chairsI worship the ground that school teachers walk on, for the most part, but here's a teacher in New York who's seriously going to be up for sainthood, whether she wants it or not.

You may remember Lissedia Batista, the Spanish teacher from the Bronx who miscarried when she was knocked into a chair during a classroom brawl between students. It's incredibly sad. However, she came back to the classroom to teach, not with contempt but with forgiveness.

After Batista suffered the abdominal injury while trying to break up a fight, she calmed the students and continued her class. Later she found out she lost her baby as a result. Many women would be seething mad and would set out to teach these brawling teens a lesson; however, Batista did not press charges. Instead, she chose to forgive them.

She told the New York Post (via Daily Mail):

They're so young, and for something like that to follow them for the rest of their lives? I think they were already stressed enough with the fact that they felt they caused the death of someone's child. I can't put anybody through that.

This is such an amazing and selfless attitude, and one that we can all stand to learn from. This forgiveness, no doubt, provided some small relief for the fighting students whose bad choices led to the loss of their teacher's child. However, even bigger, the forgiveness has probably helped Batista to heal. After all, there is no going back for her. Nothing can change the terrible thing that happened. Carrying around hateful feelings about it isn't going to help anyone.

Of course, attitudes and thinking and behavior and feelings of compassion CAN change. And beautiful things so often bloom out of the worst life experiences.

Could you forgive such a thing?

 

Image via hpeguk/Flickr