You may consider this next part of my remarks to be Rita Geier’s version of “This I Believe,” the NPR segment that has inspired me and I am sure many of you to articulate your core beliefs. I’d like to share some of those with you today in the belief that they can be as meaningful for you today as they have been for me. You either have or will find your own guiding principles, but I ask you to consider these on this occasion.
Approach life with an attitude of humility and thanksgiving.
You are indeed the fortunate ones who have come this far. Some of you came from Appalachian towns and inner cities where the odds were against you standing here today. You have been privileged to be educated and to earn its benefits, not just to make more money and to live more lavishly, but you have had the chance to acquire knowledge from many disciplines of the individual, of society and the world in which we live and to gain the understanding and technological skills to apply that knowledge and make the future better and brighter for yourself and others. Never forget that you did not get here by your deeds alone, or that there are others who yearned for this opportunity, but were not so fortunate. Each of you had someone, probably many, who have supported and sacrificed for you, who have been with you all the way or just when you needed someone the most… who never let you give up, give in or lose your way… and to those dear ones you should be eternally grateful and be sure today that they know you know what they have done for you.
You are not owed anything. You owe.
You have all heard that of those to whom much is given, much is expected. I believe that. My son and I mentor 8th graders in the Higher Achievement Program in Washington, D.C. where the mentors are mostly young professionals who universally say they want to “give something back.” But those who practice ethical altruism get back far more than they give. The opportunities are everywhere, in every community, virtually on every street corner. I encourage you to consider “pro bono publico” -- serving the public good -- as a career and discover as I have some of the most challenging and rewarding work that your profession has to offer. Marion Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, a person I greatly admire, put it this way: “Service is the rent each of us pays for living.” But Dr. Albert Schweitzer said it best to young people like yourself when he said: “I can’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”
Never be blind to injustice or accept it.
You must not become hardened to injustice because there is so much of it in the world. One can not watch the news or read the papers without being overwhelmed with the hardships that so many suffer at home and abroad. We must not accept as inevitable the suffering of others, whether from war, homelessness, lack of medical treatment, hunger, child abuse and more. Do not deceive yourself that you are powerless. You can indeed be an army of one. Every reader can fight illiteracy. One parent can galvanize a PTA and then a school board; one parishioner can help a church find its voice against injustice. Sadly, the opportunity to fight injustice is everywhere. Mahatma Gandhi and his successors taught us that noncooperation with evil is just as much a duty as cooperation with good. What I did as a 23 year old instructor at Tennessee State 38 years ago was not special or heroic, it was opportunistic…I was in the right place at the right time to do what needed to be done, and I did it. There was no lofty moralizing or in making that decision… it was simply the choice to do the right thing or to acquiesce in a status quo that was unjust. There are daily opportunities in your lives, small and large, to make ethical decisions and it takes will, not heroism, to do what you know is right. I challenge you to assume the leadership role that your education has prepared you for to fight injustice where you find it, whether in the boardroom, the classroom, or the locker room.
Live in the Moment.
This is not a call for self-gratification or existential nihilism. Rather it’s a call for fully exploring and enjoying the experiences of life as they present themselves …in real time. Not to see the world through rose-colored glasses, but to experience it as a kaleidoscope of shapes, colors and textures igniting your spirit and sparking your imagination. I have learned that so much in life is missed if we hurry past it….like the character said in the great film “Postcards from the Edge,” “Having a great time, wish I were here.” It is a gift we can freely bestow upon ourselves, it is as Thomas Merton said, the ability to see “the value and the beauty in ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is all around us.” Only if we are open to the possibility of learning from our own thoughts and feelings can we find wisdom and inspiration in our everyday experiences. The “Aha” moments never announce themselves, we must be ready to perceive them.
Never forget the Importance of Relationships.
We all have the need for others in our lives, to know and be known, to trust and be trusted. To be united with other human beings is primordial, it’s spiritual, it’s kept the human race going, it’s “all good.” You must let nothing interfere with your building and nourishing strong and lasting relationships with your family and with friends. They will sustain you when all else fails. Toni Morrison’s character Sixto describes such a relationship in plain language in Beloved: “It’s good you know whenever you get a woman who is a friend of your mind…She gather me up, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.” We all need special people in our lives who can help us stay centered and hold it all together, who accept us without question and love us unconditionally. Never ever delude yourself that you can go it alone. Sharing your life gives it exponential quality. So don’t ever get too busy, too tired, too self-absorbed or whatever to forego or neglect this essential for living a full and satisfying life. I believe it is true that nobody on their deathbed ever said: “Oh, I wish I had spent more time at the office.”
Do the work you love.
We spend too much of our lifetime in work for it not to be an extension of our souls. So chose carefully and keep searching for the work that you can do with passion. “Work is love made visible,” wrote Kahlil Gibran, and “if you bake bread with indifference, you will bake a bitter loaf that will feed only half your hunger.” There is no pride or satisfaction to be had in such labor. President Roosevelt (Teddy that is) summed it up perfectly in words with which I have often exhorted my staff. He said: “One of the greatest prizes that life has to offer is the opportunity to work really hard for something that really matters.” Don’t settle for less for if you do it will poison the spirit that allows you to enjoy all the other facets of your life.
Finally, Live in Community.
There is a Zen concept of “interbeing” that compels us to be engaged in our communities and the world. It recognizes that community is not just a spatial concept, but that we should be involved in communities of faith, shared vision, and common interests…becoming stronger in our faith, vision or interests because we have the encouragement and support of others. We know that it’s a small world after all and that neither nations nor individuals can exist in isolation; that the world has finite resources and they must be shared and preserved for all of us; that wars between tribes can destabilize whole regions and threaten world peace. Through the wonders of technology, we have instant images in horrific detail, and as one commentator graphically put it, a drop of blood spilled in Darfur or Iraq can splash upon the hem of our best dress. It will take an intelligent, compassionate and engaged world community to move nations to take responsible action to make a better world for all peoples who share this planet. There are really no sidelines, our interbeing means that we are either part of the solution or part of the problem.
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