circa 2014

Herodotus once said that it is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen. We cannot know how we will be challenged in the long days and nights before us, how we will struggle and fail and overcome and succeed.

The courage to continue forward is often difficult to come by, especially in the face of an uncertain future. As any veteran of Western Thought and Lit can tell you, the debate of fate vs. free will rages throughout classic Western literature. Do we control our futures, or are we simply puppets playing out a predetermined game? Whether you believe in Zeus or in Yahweh* or in perhaps no greater power at all, it is at times difficult to see anything other than human beings in a mob. But what’s a mob to a king? What’s a king to a god? What’s a god to a nonbeliever who doesn’t believe in anything?

We cannot see into the future, nor can we ever truly determine how responsible we are in creating our own destiny. But still we wonder what it all really means, and still we wonder if we’ll find our dreams. In moving forward, we must find boldness within, for it is better to risk failure than to ensure it by inaction.

This graduation represents the culmination of 12 years of education. The path to this stage has been fraught with proverbial dragons, those difficulties and distractions that have tested our strength and challenged our beliefs. Maturation is a difficult and demanding process. As we grow up we just need some time along with our own thoughts. We’ve got treasures in our minds but can’t open uo our own vaults. Our child-like creativity, purity and honesty is honestly being crowded by these grown thoughts. Reality is catching up with us, taking our inner child but we’re fighting for custody with these responsibilities they entrust in us. The world demands a lot, and sometimes it is simply too much. But in making it to this stage today, you have shown perseverance in the face of trials and dedication to improving your lot in life. You have achieved a great deal, and while I commend you for that, your journey is far from over.

While we are intimately familiar with the not so hallowed halls of our now former high school, we will exit this room today as mere fledgling adults. As we leave, our education continues in the real world. We leave high school as scared-to-face-the-world complacent career students. Some people graduate, but we’re still stupid.

Classroom education leaves much to be desired in regards to a true understanding of the nature of adult life. In the words of Langston Hughes, “life is for the living.” There are some things that a pastor doesn’t preach, some things that a teacher can’t teach. You truly graduate when you make it out in the streets. We all want to take trips to Florida, order h’orderves with views of the water, a life straight from the page of your favorite author. We want to live life when the weather’s so breezy, but life can’t always be that easy. We face difficult tomorrows and heartbreaking todays. We can never know, never never know, never know enough, until we lose control and our systems overload. Our world is a dark one, where there are tears on the mausoleum, blood stains on the coliseum door, lies on the lips of a priest, thanksgiving disguised as a feast. But it is our charge to boldly enter the world with the wit and will to make it as glorious a world as we can.

Yet how does one begin to make a better world? While we have unfortunately little influence over those around us, we do have the ability to control our own actions. Think about your choices. Rather than devoting yourself to meaningless debauchery and consumerism, find the things in life that truly resonate with you. You should follow shooting stars. Don’t base your life on shoes and cars, wood floors in a new apartment or couture from a store’s department. It’s hard not to act reckless, but to whom much is given much is tested.

Life is a tough road. You will make mistakes, you will bump your head, you will do your time and spend your bread. But in the face of these challenges simply forge ahead. We must work it hard, make it better, do it faster. This makes us stronger, more than ever, every hour. Our work is never done. Live your life with two tattoos, one reads “No Apologies” the other says “Life is cured by monotony.”

Don’t be afraid to find your calling and passionately pursue it. Do it better than anybody you’ve ever seen do it. There’ll be screams from the haters but they’ve got a nice ring to them. I guess that every super hero needs his theme music.

Class of 2014, I am proud to stand before you today because I believe that together we can make a difference. Together, we can find what gives this world meaning. Together, we can forge a better tomorrow. We’re living in the twenty-first century, let’s do something meaningful with it.

Thank you, and congratulations.

*YHWH