Are You Laying Bricks or Building a Cathedral?

Why do you teach?  There are as many answers to that as there are teachers.  It's a question worth asking yourself from time to time because it's your strongest motivation. It's what keeps you going when you rather wouldn't.  I teach because I believe in democracy and believe that public education is vital to that. There's also recess, reading aloud, and tater tots. Mainly though, I teach because it is my deepest calling. It's where my soul and the world meets. Three men were working on a building site. When asked what they were doing, the first man answered ‘I am laying bricks.’ The second said ‘I am making a wall’ and the third replied ‘I am building a cathedral’.  Why do you teach?