As I have watched the unfolding of the saga of Primo “Howie” Leung, I keep thinking one thing: how much this person’s evil actions destroyed so many lives. The young women whose innocence he robbed. The way he took advantage of his position as an educator. The way he took advantage of the good will of the faculty and staff he worked with and for. The families of the young women who are dealing with the fallout. The student who was suspended for speaking out. The other students who came forward and were not believed. It is astonishing that one person has wreaked so much havoc on the people of our community.
What Leung did was evil. It is also too bad that the adults who could have stopped him earlier didn’t see the signs. There must be consequences for what happened. It is unfortunate that people’s careers are being ruined. However, we should never forget the real sin was done to the students Leung raped.
It should give all of us pause to realize how much our actions affect other people. Our choices, our behavior, aren’t just about us. The words we say, the actions we take, the way we use this one life we have been given really matter. We can destroy multiple lives with evil actions.
I want to believe that the opposite is also true. We can help so many lives with good actions. We can lift up others around us. We can make a difference in someone’s life. We can speak with kindness. We can respect the boundaries of other people. We can work for justice in our communities. We can seek to serve other people.
I have seen the good in this community. I have seen people use their one life to make an impact for good. I have seen it in our schools, in our religious institutions, in our city council and in our serving of each other. One of the lessons we can learn from this is that our lives matter, and we should use them for the good of all. The good we do will be just as impactful as the evil that Leung did. So let us use this life for good.
(The Rev. Jonathan K. Hopkins lives in Concord.)