by Keith Sharp
Helen Keller is one of the most famous women of modern times. Her life story is amazing. She was born in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama to a well to do family. She was a healthy, normal child until age 19 months, when she contracted “brain fever” (perhaps meningitis or scarlet fever). When she was eventually well, her mother discovered that Helen had become both deaf and blind. How could she learn anything? Her situation seemed hopeless. Most such children of that day were committed to an asylum.
Helen’s behavior was atrocious. In her frustration she pitched fits. She had no manners and was completely unkempt. She learned to lock people in their rooms and would hide the key, delighting to feel the floor vibrations as they struggled to get out. She enjoyed pinching family members so hard that sometimes they bled. At meals she would shove into her mouth what smelled good on her own plate and then walk around the table, pulling good smelling food off the plates of her family members. Some of her kin folks wanted to put her in an asylum.
Before Helen was 7 years old her parents hired a young woman from Massachusetts named Annie Hutchinson to try to educate Helen. Annie was fresh out of college with no experience, had a horrible background, and could barely see herself. Remarkably Annie was able not only to educate little Helen, Helen Keller became one of the best read, most accomplished speakers of the 20th century. She lectured to crowds and was welcomed by national leaders throughout the world. She met every American President from James Garfield to John Kennedy.
People called Annie Hutchinson a “miracle worker.” Annie was indeed a brilliant, gifted, dedicated teacher and is properly held in the highest esteem, but she did not work miracles. Miracles are events for which there is no natural explanation. Jesus raised Lazarus from the tomb after he had been dead four days (John chapter 11). That cannot be explained naturally. It is truly a miracle, the direct intervention of God into the realm of nature.
Annie Hutchinson’s accomplishments with Helen are amazing, but the explanations are both simple and natural. She used and wisely adapted advanced methods of teaching she learned in college. But before she could do that, she very wisely demanded the freedom to discipline Helen, so Helen could learn self discipline. She never injured Helen, but she forced her to use manners at the table, to stop playing tricks on people, to stop throwing fits, and to pay attention. Once she had taught Helen self-discipline, then she could educate her.
Parents, if you want your children to learn, you must first discipline them, so they will learn self-discipline. Only then can they be educated both in the knowledge of the world and the knowledge of God.
“He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly” (Proverbs 13:24). “Chasten your son while there is hope, And do not set your heart on his destruction” (Proverbs 19:18). “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him” (Proverbs 22:15). “The rod and rebuke give wisdom, But a child left to himself brings shame to his mother” (Proverbs 29:15). “Correct your son, and he will give you rest; Yes, he will give delight to your soul” (Proverbs 29:17). “Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?” (Hebrews 12:9). “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).
