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So, this is a teaching story I often tell on the road, and a kind of teaching we should get back to. In 1985, after working my way through college and an MA, I finally got a PhD scholarship. I thought I was the cat's ass for that. /1 https://twitter.com/ShayKhatiri/status/1336039009559040000
And I swaggered into Intro to Political Philosophy (my PhD minor was in political theory), taught by tall, stern, crew-cut Jesuit named Father James Schall. Schall was tough as nails and I fought with him about...wait for it... Plato.
Because I was, you know, smart. /2
Because I was, you know, smart. /2
Jim had read Plato in Greek and all that, but hey, I was 24 and wicked smart. Anyway, at the end of it all, I manage to get an A. I feel like Superman.
So I run into Father Schall at the dept Christmas party, and I am totally full of myself. /3
So I run into Father Schall at the dept Christmas party, and I am totally full of myself. /3
I walk up to Schall and say:
"Hey, Father! Merry Christmas! What do you say? Peace on Earth, goodwill towards men?"
Schall peers at me over his glasses. "What I say to *you*, Mr. Nichols, is... REPENT."
/4
"Hey, Father! Merry Christmas! What do you say? Peace on Earth, goodwill towards men?"
Schall peers at me over his glasses. "What I say to *you*, Mr. Nichols, is... REPENT."
/4
You could almost hear the wah-wah sad trombone as I returned to normal size and then shrank down a little farther. I *so* had that coming.
In later years, Fr. Schall was a friend and mentor. Best thing he ever did for me :)
/5
In later years, Fr. Schall was a friend and mentor. Best thing he ever did for me :)
/5
He was a great teacher (RIP), and he wrote this and made us read it. Give it to a student you care about. /6x https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/education/catholic-contributions/what-a-student-owes-his-teacher.html
