It is the spectacle of completion. I love witnessing the personal and corporate climax of students who are sharing a cocktail (for you, John) of emotions: the sorrow of departure and relief of completion, blended with the thrill of anticipating a future yet unknown. It's an intoxicating atmosphere. All of us are a little more real than we are during the rest of our semester groove.
It always surprises me that some of them made it. I selfishly wish some of them would never leave; but, there they go - out the door into all the rattle and the hum of the world. I always hope that more of them would take risks and tilt at windmills than will probably come to pass. Unfortunately, we work hard to tame them when they are with us. Produce, produce, produce. Too often we have driven them into submission so they can be meaningful contributors to the economy and the faith. What thrills me are the subversive glances I catch from behind mortarboard tassles assuring me that not all will go gentle into that good night. Thank you, sweet Jesus.
I have to say, the thing I enjoyed most this semester was the speech by the reigning president of the state denominational convention (the one that muscles the University). He did fine, I guess. Seemed like a nice enough guy. Managed to avoid talking about gay marriage or the secularizing influence of evolution.
But, he told a story about when he was playing football in high school. His hero at the time was Dick Butkus, famed middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears and ubiquitous shill for Miller Lite (the speaker didn't mention the latter). He claims that in the state championship game, he took a page from Butkus' playbook and bit another player on the leg, while they were both at the bottom of a particularly fierce dogpile. The captain of their defensive team brought them back into their huddle, fuming about an opponent who had bitten him on the leg!Heh, heh. That was a good story.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't think it was particularly funny or meaningful as a graduation story; but considering the way our current evangelical leaders often end up harming those on their own teams - through lawsuits, witch hunts, and power plays - I thought it was an especially appropriate metaphor.
The dying of the light? Rage against it.
4 comments:
Open arena, free-thinking, non-conformist, spacious dialog in a college atmosphere! Are you nuts!?
One of my favorite You're-the-last-person-in-the-world-I-would-have-expected-to-do-this stories comes from a friend of mine, Wess Stafford, the President of Compassion International. It occurred while he was in Vietnam-era Army boot camp. Always pausing for prayers at his meals, the other men would consistently steal the food off his plate. One day as he bowed over his food, he made sure he had a good grip on his fork. When the inevitable hand came into view, he nailed the man's hand to the table with the fork. Amen and pass the salt.
Ahhh, the freedoms and idealistic dogma of university. How I miss those days. Filled with such dreams and ambitions of what my adult life would become. Then reality set in. The everyday life of rent and bills set in and squashed those lofty dreams. But, it comes back! I have found my dreams and now work to make them reality. That is more exciting, to me, the rediscovery and knowledge that it does and will get better than you originally thought.
Hee Hee Hee! Dick Butkus. If ever there was the perfect name for someone who worked in one of the most homophobic professions...
The best part of graduation for the students is the groin-twisting, flop-sweating, panic-induced thoughts of "What the hell am I gonna do now? Dear God, I majored in Theatre! WHY DID NO ONE STOP ME?!? KHAN!!!!!!!!!!"
By the way, I have no idea what any speaker at any of my graduations ever said.
I have two graduation-speaker memories. One was the ceremony that I was supposed to participate in and the other was the one I actually participated in.
The first speaker was John Ashcroft just after he ascended to his post in Washington. It was a moving ceremony. That was before 9/11 and the Patriot Act, but it was still captivating. Anyway, I think it was the speech that usually accompanied his "Let the Eagles Soar" song.
The next was, surprisingly, another politician. Congressman Roy Blunt. No, it's not a coincidence that they look alike. His was by far a more political speech. He had to defend some recent action which I opposed, so I can't say that I enjoyed it. There was no moving tribute to past classes or graduates, no quirky little anecdotes about him or his kin, and, definitely, no inspiring go-out-there-and-make-something-of-yourself words. I was kinda sad. It was mainly political posturing.
Oh, well. That's what happens, I guess. The memorable thing about my actual graduation was that I pulled my groin two nights earlier in a softball game, so I almost fell off the platform after I shook the prez's hand.
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