Two weeks ago there came an announcement over the school intercom at Christ Presbyterian Academy that all students and teachers should stop what they were doing at once and to please proceed to the buses waiting in front of the school. So the entire student body at the acclaimed school in Brentwood, a Nashville suburb, went on an impromptu field trip.
That’s right, without any parent’s permission, without any forms that must be filled out, with no stupid bureaucracy to hold at bay. The buses drove to the home of Ben Ellis, a much-beloved teacher suffering in the final stages of terminal esophageal cancer. And when Mr. Ellis got out of bed to look out of his bedroom window at “What in the world!,” he watched through his tears of joy as over 400 children’s voices sang one of his favorite hymns, “Holy Spirit, You are Welcome Here.”
Ben Ellis was buried on Sunday but not before an estimated 30 million people watched a YouTube video that famed country music singer Tim McGraw posted on his Facebook page. “Ben Ellis is a Nashville area high school teacher battling cancer. The entire student body (400+ students plus the faculty) drove to his house to worship with him,” McGraw said upon sharing the video on social media.
Ten days later, McGraw published an update: “Mr. Ben Ellis has passed away …The example of love and kindness that showed in his heart through his teaching has impacted so many of his students, and through them has and will continue to impact the world …time well spent Mr. Ellis, time well spent sir … rest now, for you shall be well received,” McGraw wrote beneath a picture of a sunrise peeking out from the clouds.
As the students sang in the bright sun, Mr. Ellis joined in the hymn at times. “Holy Spirit … You are welcome here, come flood this place and fill the atmosphere … your glory God is what our hearts long for … to be overcome by Your presence, Lord …”
Ellis, who had taught Latin and Bible at the school since 2008, was showered with cards and letters from his former students since grueling chemotherapy took him out of the classroom just last month. “He loved teaching and even when he was sick, he welcomed the distraction. He thrived on his love for his students,” said one parent.
After the surprise by the student body, he told a reporter, “‘You know, none of us were built to think outside ourselves at that age, and it overwhelmed me that God would fill that many students with that much love … not just for me, but for one another that we have this community … that was built on loving one another instead of worried about self. It was a miracle.”
And it might have truly been a miracle. It came about after three separate people – unknown to one another -- mentioned a vision they had of the Christ Presbyterian students singing in Mr. Ellis’ yard. “Wow. It was amazing. In that moment, it felt like I was not alone. We’re all together and not just that group, but everybody I’ve known,” he told Nashville’s News 2.
School principal Nate Morrow explained the hurried chorus. “As Ben’s been fighting, the one thing he has found a lot of comfort in is hymn sings,” said the headmaster. “Tuesday evening the Ellis family got hard news. Just in looking at Ben’s progression, the cancer, you know, we were looking for a way to just love him back,” Morrow told News 2.
“The high school principal got on the announcements and said, ‘Stop what you’re doing. Let’s load up the buses. We’re going to go sing with Ben,’” Morrow smiled at the lesson in love his students had just been taught.
And what would be Ben Ellis’ final words to the students he loved? “Thin voice but big microphone, you know?,” he smiled at the request before saying, “Take the opportunity not only to love others but to receive love from other people, which is often so much more difficult, and trust God that letting others love you, and know you, can make a huge difference.”
Oh my goodness … If only the 30 million who have watched the video could memorize that line…
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