Lehman's Letter

People can have varying opinions. Unfortunately, we have abused those opinions in order to make ourselves look better. We have all fallen short of our potential, and we have all failed one another in too many ways to count. Fortunately, we can still do good things, like Chris Lehman has.

Lehman wrote a letter in response to Natalie Munroe’s angry outburst on the Internet. He explained that her comments disconcerted him, which doesn't set him apart from other people who disapproved of Munroe’s actions and updated their Facebook status about it. What sets him apart is the way he phrased the letter.

From the beginning, Lehman sympathizes with her. He insists that teaching can be extremely frustrating. He even cites an experience, where a student writes a negative and rude email to a teacher and the teacher responds even more negatively. By doing all of this, Lehman shows Munroe proper respect, and disarms the knee-jerk defensiveness we all have at times. When he does this, he uses pathos, which indicates an appeal to the reader’s emotions.

Additionally, while Lehman wants Munroe to know that he understands her, he also wants her to realize how he could possibly understand a person like her. As a school principal, Lehman deals with situations like these all the time. He knows that kids can be (and not limited to) rude, snarky, annoying, too loud, too quiet, and unwilling to push themselves to the best of their ability. He has dealt with all these kinds of students and many more. Throughout the letter, he shows her that his letter is worthy of reading, a rhetorical strategy called ethos.

Most importantly, Lehman reminds her of the consequences of her actions. He notes that every student mentioned in her blog has value, and deserves to be treated that way. He shares his concern that she never apologized for her statements, and begs her to reach out to the students. He asks her to apologize and offer any help she can. Her students are hurting, he says, and she needs to notice that. By using a logical, step-by-step plan, he exhibits logos. At the same time, he also demonstrates cautious diction (word choice) and extremely cautious syntax (word order).

I mentioned last week that Munroe’s story ought to show us who we are. We’re selfish and insecure and we only want our own success (as opposed to the success of other people). However, with Lehman, I would like to suggest the opposite. Lehman’s letter ought to show us who we can be. You and I can overcome our shortcomings. We can love the people society finds too hard to love. We can lift up the people society deems too heavy.

No one is too heavy.

So here’s my question for you:

How we can use Munroe’s story and Lehman’s letter to love one another?