Reflections on wisdom

Dear Editor, this is the speech I wrote for the Richmond College Investiture ceremony at the beginning of the semester. I recently realized that I am still learning from the wisdom (particularly from Rilke and C.S. Lewis) every day. It is in its original form so the pronouns are all masculine, but please read past this if you aren't in Richmond College.

The Work of a Lifetime

Gentlemen, tonight you are being formally bestowed all the rights and responsibilities that accompany your new status: a member of the Richmond College class of 2014.

This group that sits before me has come from many different places of culture and tradition to make this place a home away from home. It is my hope and prayer that each of you will spend this formative era of your lives in fellowship with one another, learning from one another and encouraging one another along the way.

Tonight, I want each of you to begin to see college as more than just four years of school, but as a place where you can build the foundation you will need after college to begin the work of a lifetime. During these years, I hope you learn (perhaps the hard way) that life is not simply about responsibilities and expectations, but is filled with adventures, emotions, silences, crisis, renewal and time spent with the ones you love. I hope each of you will begin to value each of these aspects of life -- some you will need to pursue and cultivate while others will come without warning. You will carry these experiences with you for the rest of you life. Start to reflect now so that you will begin to understand how they have shaped your path and your perspective.

As you continually reflect on your own life, be willing to engage your fellow students along the way. Open your mind to new thoughts and struggle with the idea of applying them to your life. It hasn't always been easy, but I know that when the questions in my life seem overwhelming I have finally begun to allow myself to learn. When I was struggling with this three years ago, I was introduced to a man named Ranier Maria Rilke. In a letter to one of his students, Rilke writes: "Try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

The point is to live everything. Don't dwell on your insecurities and limitations, but live and develop your passions and strengths. Take an active role in your life and own your responsibilities before they start to own you.

Finally, if your work is to last a lifetime, you must seek out correction along the way. C.S. Lewis writes: "We all want progress, but progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any near. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man."

So we find ourselves tonight thinking about three places of significance in our lives: There's the place you came from (don't forget it), this place where you are now (don't miss it) and that place where you are going. Don't fear it because many men have walked that road before and will be waiting there to show the way.

Please, enjoy your life, reflect on your past, live in the present and allow wisdom to gradually correct your future.

Thank you and welcome to Richmond College.