Yesterday I received a request for a link on LinkedIn that read as follows:
“You were one of my professors at Texas A&M. This would be back around 1992. Time flies by very quickly. I appreciated your values and integrity. I did enjoy your class. You probably do not remember as you have had many students over time. Hope life is treating you well.”
No, I don’t remember him, but I am impressed that he remembered me during a time when I was myself a PhD student, teaching three times the course load allowed for faculty by SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools). That was a very tough time in my life. I had no idea I was leaving a good impression on anyone, especially one that would surface 20 years later.
I post this just to say, you never know when someone else is taking note; and you may leave a lasting impression, even a positive one, when times are toughest for you.
Archive for March, 2012
Encouragement
Sunday, March 11th, 2012Legalistic life
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
This is illustrative of what Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in his 1978 address at Harvard”, referred to as “legalistic life.” He saw in America at that time that “the limits of human rights and righteousness are determined by a system of laws.” If it’s not against the law, then it must be my right.
It reminds me of young children who check to see if their parents are looking before they cross the street. They are not mature enough to know that they should check the streets for what is safe, not the parents for what is allowed. The person who passed me only demonstrated concern for the law, not the kids for whom the law was written.
Solzhenitsyn observed that of us over 30 years ago. God help us if we have become as a nation so immature that our only conscience is the law.