John Walkup,
Emeritus Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Texas Tech University
Faculty Commons Staff
[October 28, 2012]
There is no external reality. Life is what we perceive it to be.
That was Tom’s expressed perspective. There was so much to like about him: his enthusiasm for the subjects he taught; his very dry, but ever present sense of humor; his approachability and forbearance in answering rather stupid questions that I would ask when I was one of his graduate students.
I remember my conversations with him. He was one of my favorite professors during those years. Always respectful of my personal expressions of faith, he made it clear that he had chosen a different path.
Hearing recently that he had suddenly died startled me.
The tributes to Tom I read on a departmental web site and heard at his memorial service made me realize how much he had influenced my life and the lives of many of the other students he had befriended and mentored. So many students considered him both a friend and mentor. Thinking of Tom’s influence on my life also filled me with some feelings of regret. Should I have been more persistent in expressing how Jesus had made a real difference in my life and in the lives of so many students he had befriended and mentored? Should I have prayed more for Tom’s salvation? I don’t know—maybe, hopefully—Tom trusted Christ in those final years of of his life.
Our faculty group at Berkeley recently read Philip Yancey’s book, Rumors of Another World. Thinking of Tom as we discussed this book, I reflected on how the world of faith remains opaque, almost invisible, to those friends and mentors (and mentorees) whose spiritual eyes have not yet been opened by God.
Tom’s passing has vividly reminded me that I must always be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s prompting. God may choose to use me and you as a link in the chain by which He draws another to Himself. And when we finally get to hear “the rest of the story”, you and I may be both surprised and overjoyed that God chose to use our small acts of witness to those who of themselves see no “eternal reality.” Maybe, hopefully, we can help open spiritual eyes and bring the hope of Jesus Christ even to those who have strongly impacted our life for good.
Pray with me that the Lord will use us as instruments of His reconciliation.
(c) 2012 John Walkup