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From: andrea l
Category: Category 1
Date: 01 May 1999
Time: 14:13:00
Remote Name: hl721.labs.cis.pitt.edu
My friends --
I am thunderstruck. Greg was a mentor and friend -- the kind of friend we make in service, where the months or years that pass between meetings don't seem to dull the intimacy that we share or the love we know we have for one another.
When I was a crazy newcomer with nothing but a basic text and an attitude, Greg showed me love and support -- and he showed that he saw something in me, as well. He was the first one who made me feel like I maybe had something to offer. And earning his respect really mattered to me. Greg was also one of the first people I ever met who talked about being a scholar -- first, but not only, of the traditions. That mattered, too...
I was just talking with a colleague tonight about respect and integrity -- about trying to incorporate those values into our teaching, into our writing -- and I was thinking about where I learned those principles: from Greg, of course, who taught by example (and, yeah, sometimes by lecture). Who showed me what it was to have dignity, to know you've done something that matters in the world (and he did, he did) -- and how to keep going when dreams _don't_ become reality -- how to make new dreams, to have always a vision of hope. That, that is what keeps me alive when nothing else does.
Much of the lit on the tables that bears Greg's mark talks about "creative action of the spirit." Creative action of the spirit is living God's will and doing God's work as we understand it. It changes us, and through it, one addict at a time, we change the world. The gems, the texts, the people Greg touched seemed all to glow a little brighter under his hand. But that creative action he taught us about doesn't end when the touch ends -- it's something that is bigger than we are, and that lasts longer than we do.
I grieve Greg's passing -- I suspect I will grieve more as time passes. But more than that I am so grateful that we had him at all; and I know his presence will be felt far longer, and by far more people, than his absence.
My love and sympathy to family and friends -- especially to Lois and the kids, who needs our prayers at this awful time.
Yours in light -- and shadow, Andrea L