in new circumstances, simple words can mean much.
we all have had our fair share of angry teachers, but it never occured to me that it is such a noble thing for them to be angry, because not every teacher cares enough or is concerned enough to respond so personally. not every teacher takes each class and each pupil to heart and assumes full responsibility for the kind of person each turns out to be. not every teacher sees each child as his/her own child. angry teachers are good teachers.
honesty is often taught as a fundamental value, and deceit as a big no-no. but self-deceit is so much harder to spot. we can spend our whole lives thinking and writing and saying what we know we ought to, without ever coming face to face with who we really are. and when we are never honest enough to see ourselves, how can we be honest enough to tell someone else, i’m sorry, i need help, i want to know how you do that, i want to do something for you too? how can we say we know grace, when we never admit we need it? how can we say we know friendship, when we never practise what it means to be a friend in need, nor really know what it means to find a friend in need, because we have never admitted our needs? honesty is not just about not taking what’s not yours; it is also about taking what’s yours: my faults, my idiosyncracies, my peeves, my habits, my weaknesses are all mine, and i take them to be mine. if you will see them too and know me i’ll know i have a friend in you.
