Each of us ought to try…
May 9, 2017
This is my final chapel talk of the year and as usual I had too many things run through my mind in preparing for today. On my walk in to school this morning I kept coming back to gratitude. I am grateful for you all, my audience, as this year I have tried to become a better speaker and writer and any success that I have had in those endeavors is in part due to your patience, your humor and your willingness to listen. As I close out my 8th year at St Johnsbury Academy I am reminded that in this class of 2017 are some of my very first students. Some young players who started kicking a soccer ball around in the spring while they were in 6th grade a group of which became the core of our team. Some stayed with it, some did not, but each was a part of that beginning for me 8 years ago and I know I am better for it.
On Monday evening I had the chance to watch President Obama’s acceptance speech at the Kennedy Profile in Courage award ceremony, and I was moved by some of his words. Our 44th President is an incredible speaker. Good, bad or indifferent as time will certainly judge, one aspect was clear in his presidency, he is a first class orator and knows how to bend a room to his voice. Monday night, I was especially bendable given the current state of politics and some of his words echoed themes that I found particularly poignant for our newest class of “graduates to be” so I thought I would share them with you.
This speech was an acceptance speech, but also President Obama’s first real speech since leaving office. No doubt there are multiple audiences in these words, not the least the Kennedy family that gives the award but also certainly a message for the country is included. I have two passages from his speech that I'd like you to consider this morning.
The first passage comes from a section of the speech where Obama was drawing on the theme that real courage is that which we see in everyday people and in everyday life.
"We lose sight sometimes of our own obligations, each of ours, all the quiet acts of courage that unfold around us every single day, ordinary Americans who give something of themselves not for personal gain but for the enduring benefit of another. "
“Not for personal gain but for the enduring benefit of another” I have seen this selflessness that President Obama describes in you, the senior class, often over the past 4 years. I have seen this through the smiles of young children with nothing in life but hope; smiles you gave them. I have seen this in your willingness to sit with others at a lunch table because if you don't maybe no one will. And I have seen this in your decision to pass up an opportunity on national stage for the benefit of a team and your teammates. Over 4 years you have all given of yourselves through your time and community service, through your canned goods and resources, through your willingness to ask the simple question “How can I help”. Our community has been the beneficiary of your gifts and I for one am thankful for it. Obama, in this speech, was recognizing that deep human connection that has always bonded us together, regardless of race or income, despite differences in who we pray to or what we look like. He was calling on us to see how deeply meaningful our lives can be when we just take a moment to look away from our own reflections in our smart phones and do something for someone else or to recognize those around us that show these little acts of courage as well. It helps us understand our obligation to be our best for if someone else can do this, then so must I.
He concluded his talk building on the theme of America's experiment in democracy and the role that individuals play in shaping our democracy and our country.
"...that very Kennedyesque idea that America is not the project of any one person and that each of us can make a difference and all of us ought to try"
To me, Obama is asking us to realize that our efforts and our character define us so much more than our achievements or abilities. That our country is not defined by those in power or in positions of leadership but by all of us participating and making a difference in our own small ways. I know that there is a diversity of intellect and ability in this class, of personality, confidence and humility, but I believe that each of us can be most accurately seen through our best efforts each and every day. Most importantly for me this morning, Obama reminded us that we all can and should make the efforts to make a difference. Perhaps over these past 8 years I have grown too used to the fact that you are quiet and patient listeners each morning. To the fact that you give your all in class and on the stage and on the fields and courts of competition. To the fact that you find time to support each other with kinds words, hugs and simple acknowledgments of good work done. But this morning I am reminded that I have to remain inspired and grateful for this community.
This has been an incredible year. I have been touched by the grace and hope of some of the poorest people in our world and I have seen the beginning of the second St Johnsbury Academy Campus in Jeju South Korea. I have been witness to a 4 year journey of a group of girls through the beautiful game and I have been privileged to watch many of you grow-up in front of my eyes. I have welcomed and said goodbye to colleagues and even been lucky enough to have a couple former students and players join me here in the North East Kingdom. And all of that has been made possible and more meaningful by your efforts, the collective efforts of this St Johnsbury Academy student body.
So this morning let’s give some of our attention to these thoughts from President Obama's message.
That we have an obligation to give of ourselves for the enduring benefit of another.
And that each of us can make a difference and all of us ought to try.
Seniors, you are a lucky bunch, a quirky and spirited bunch and I wish you all the very best of luck on your paths into the future. Don’t be strangers! You will be missed.