THE POWER OF INFLUENCE 579

                                THE POWER OF INFLUENCE 579

        The other day, a couple of new students came
      into our creative writing class that we have been
      privileged to direct at school the past
      few months.

      As these students entered the room for the first
      time, the following thoughts occurred to us...
    
      We are continually influenced by new faces.
      Total strangers become our acquaintances.

      And gradually, or rapidly, these people often
      become our friends...or enemies...or, sometimes,
      forgotten or submerged entities hidden within 
      the recesses of our mind.

      But, nevertheless, their influence has entered
      in upon our souls. And our contact with them...
      has also affected... our future history.

      For good or evil, their acts or auras have
      fastened themselves forever upon our souls.

      So then, every word spoken, and every thought we 
      think and every act we perform, influences someone,
      somewhere, everyday.

      May we constantly be aware of the power of our 
      influence upon our fellow man.

      (Written on January 25, 1979)