I found out last week that the Headmaster of my old school, St. Albans, passed away from acute leukemia. Jack McCune was a special person in my life, and though his influence on me has been great, I confess that I have not yet adopted as much of his personality as I would like.
In the most simplest sense he was a gentleman. Kind, compassionate, sincere...he was all of those. This is not to say he was soft - he could be stern when he wanted - but he always went about things in the right way.
I don't mean to reduce him to simply "Happy Jack" as he affectionately known to us, for he was much more than a nice fellow. The thing is...his demeanor towards us was the embodiment of his love towards us. His behavior was not an act nor the mere product of his upbringing -- it was a sincere manifestation of his endless caring and admiration he had for his students and all those around him.
If only I could do the same...to believe in something so strongly that it affects the way I act towards all, and all the time, with no holidays for rest or slips of absent-mindedness. To be so grounded as to not falter in one's belief.
These words are from a commencement speech he delivered in 1981: "Never, never underestimate ... the power of graciousness and simple politeness. ... Be ever gentle and caring and you cannot help but quit yourselves like men. Be ever gentle and caring and you cannot help but be strong. Above all remember this."
I will indeed never underestimate such a thing. If it impacted me, then surely it can impact others.
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