BFA Commencement Address - 2008
Thank you, Mr. Shuman.
Greetings to the BFA Board Members, parents and families, their guests, BFA staff, faculty, all students and most ardently, to the Class of 2008, with a special greeting to you all from Uncle Don.
It is redundant to state how very much it is an honor for me to be here, but I'll do it anyway! It is an incredible honor, despite that I am convinced no one above the age of 25 in this audience remembers anything his or her graduation speaker said, and I question if anyone present even remembers the name of the speaker. Please, no show of hands. Permit me, for a moment, to luxuriate in the fantasy that I will elicit more in my students' collective memory than "long works underlined, short works, quotes," "shot at dawn," and my Christmas banquet Macarena.
This to say, I am fully cognizant of the limitations on this time, my likely final influence on the Class of 2008. "Minor poets," said TS Eliot, "imitate. Great poets steal." Imitating the greatest, therefore, I have stolen from a writer I trust you, Class of 2008, will reread regularly in the years to come, and perhaps, in the perusal, your mind will return to this moment.
Class of 2008, I am here today to ask you, "'. . . where have you come from, and where are you going?'"
Where have you come from, and where are you going? Do you recall the context of that question? Genesis 16, Hagar, the servant of Sarai, has been unjustly mistreated. She becomes discouraged in this service, and flees into the wilderness. She considers totally abandoning the situation, and is convinced only by divine intervention to persevere.
An angel comes to her and asks, "Where have you come from, and where are you going?" First of all, you just gotta love the question itself. I am fascinated, intrigued by questions posed by God, or His emissaries, in the Bible. Don't you just love them? God, asking Adam, "Where are you?" As if God, the creator of the universe, the one who holds all things together, didn't know where Adam was. Or Jesus, asking the man at the pool – "Do you want to get well?"
"No, thanks, I think I'll just stay here paralyzed and beg for another couple of decades."
An angel comes to Hagar and asks – "Where have you come from, and where are you going?" Do you think the angel didn't know? Obviously, it was Hagar who needed to think about that answer. So today I am asking you that question, the answer to which probably seems very obvious, but reflect with me for a moment.
Now, I can see that some of you are leapfrogging to false analogies already. "OK, Mrs. Storrs, how is our situation similar to Hagar's? Let's see -- so this means we've been oppressed by our parents, unappreciated by BFA, and now we're heading into further disaster in the desert of an immoral and intellectually vacuous university system. Only the appearance of Gabriel, Michael the Archangel, or Aslan himself will dissuade us from quitting. Great speech! Thanks for the send-off."
Not quite.
Remember the difference between an allegory and an allusion. I do think there are a few valid analogies to be drawn between your potential situation and hers: Hagar was a third culture kid serving a people who had a language, religious expression and culture different from her own. Her life of service had its ups and downs, but God did not forget her, and ultimately she was blessed by God for her obedience. Class of 2008, this could easily become your story. I felt that parts of it were mine last year.
Your answer to "where have you come from" varies greatly – Miss Young tells me your class represents about 40 different countries. But you know that as TCKs, you have a number of things in common, not the least of which is that curiously dreaded label, that you are "special."
As TCKs, my children positively revolt whenever I use that word, even if it is not referring to them. It's not an easy word to dodge: go to K-Mart; there's a Blue-light special. "Law and Order" has a "special prosecutor"; CNN, Fox, and all the networks have "special coverage." How can one ignore "special" blends at Starbucks, follow the elections without hearing about "special interest groups? I hope neither of my children ever has to see a medical specialist; they're liable to die first.
My guess is that you likely have been told all your lives you're special because you have grown up overseas, because you are multilingual, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The fact that it's true doesn't seem to make the distinction any more palatable, yet let me warn you of a phenomenon currently permeating North America. You will be joining a generation who all think they are special, the Millennial Generation. They've been told this all their lives -- by their parents, by their teachers, Dr. Dobson, Mr. Rogers and Telly Tubbies. They've been given stickers, T-shirts, trophies and award banquets just for showing up, and they are confounding the universities and the work place with a resultant, but not surprising, "it's all about me" attitude. Their helicopter parents have worked hard to assure that their journey through life has been "perfect," or at least, "the best it can be." According to many culture trackers, among them, the CBS report, "Sixty Minutes," Mom and Dad can now be found in the Millennial's classroom, college dorm room, accompanying them to job interviews, and even to performance reviews, to ensure that the school, university, and employer continues recognize their "specialness" and reward their child with the best. For those of you who are not returning to North America, as far as I have read, the same phenomena is also occurring in other highly Westernized cultures. Everybody, in your generation today, it seems, is "special," and expects to be treated as such.
In addition to being "that word which cannot be named," there are a number of other characteristics you share as Millennials. You are technologically savvy, and view technology as a means to stay in relationship. You can text-message in your sleep, and if you sleep, it's not before you've checked Facebook. While many of your friends on Facebook speak a mother tongue different from yours, in North America, currently over 20% of your generation has at least one immigrant parent, giving them also a multicultural perspective. You at BFA have been required to serve your community; a recent survey shows that over 96% of this year's US HS graduates have also volunteered in society, and wish for this kind of community involvement continue. Ninety-seven percent of HS graduates recently surveyed indicate that the most important factor in their career choice is being able to have an impact on their world. Do these sound like ideals you can relate to?
So, Class of 2008, what makes you different? Because, after empirical observation this past year, I can assure you – as graduates of BFA, as third-culture kids, you are a singular group of students. Although you share some characteristics with your fellow Millennials, you are – well, that word again. I maintain that your peerless position is the result of where have you come from, and where are you going.
One very noticeable difference between you as TCKs and your fellow Millennials is your home life. Most of you, thankfully, have not come from homes like them. Upwards of 70% of Millennial graduates today come from divorced parent homes. A large percentage of that group has parents who have had multiple divorces. Your dilemma of where-will-I-spend-the-holidays may be painful (you can always come to our home in Colorado, remember!) but that pain will be nothing like the pain of deciding which parent, or sets or parents, to disappoint by choosing father over mother, stepsister over your real brother, the choices that will be facing many of your Millennial fellows.
The role of a parent, it is said, is to give a child roots and wings. I thank God for your roots, for your homes, mobile as they may have been. I thank God for the roots of your parents, who themselves are rooted in God, who sent you to BFA, where hopefully those roots in Him were strengthened. You will need that strength where you are going.
Let us return to Hagar for a moment. Recall the ending: the angel talked, she listened, and with her faith strengthened, she went back to work. She named the place of their meeting, "'Lahai Roi,' the well of the One who sees me." As you leave BFA, may it become for you your Lahai Roi, the place where you drank deeply, and remember the One who sees you, the One who will always see you, will always care for you, and will always guide you, if you continue to visit His well. Remember where you came from, from the parents who love and believe in you, from your teachers and staff who also love and believe in you, who hope great things for you.
But most importantly, remember, you come from God. An echo of that phrase, "where have you come from, where are you going" is repeated twice in the Gospel of John. Jesus --another TCK, who also left His home to minister to a strange people who did not comprehend Him or treat Him with kindness-- Jesus told the Pharisees who challenged Him, " . . . I know where I came from and where I am going" (Jn. 8:14). And at the Last Supper, after Judas had gone to betray him, Jesus took up the towel in his final act of private service for his disciples, before the Crucifixion. Scripture tells us: "Jesus knew that . . . He had come from God and was returning to God (Jn. 13:3). The implication is that that knowledge was what enabled Jesus to wash the disciples' feet, this supreme act of love and humility, even knowing his friends would deny Him, even knowing what unspeakable cruelty lay before Him. Jesus knew where He came from and He knew where He was going, and that knowledge enabled Him to face whatever the future held for Him. You have that same knowledge, knowing that you have been sent by God.
The knowledge, of where you came from, will enable you not only to survive, but more importantly, to thrive through whatever lays before you.
So, Class of 2008, what lays before you now? Where are you going? Many of you are thinking, I know – grad reception, Basel boat trip, breakfast at . . . . –and those will be great times. But you have even greater things to anticipate.
Class of 2008, where are you going? First Corinthians tells us: "'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him'" (1 Co. 2:9). No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for you, you who love Him!
I was trying to recall when I graduated from high school, before the crust was formed on the earth . . . Seriously, there was a world before computers, cell phones or ipods. The technological question that faced me was: am I going to get a manual typewriter for college, or push the edge of the envelope, trust the new technology of an electric one? (Well, you know me and technology --I went manual). The brand-new cars my fellow grads were saving for cost $1999, brand-new: 2-door, VW beetles, and the war that faced my class was Vietnam.
I remember my yearbook editor asked us to list three goals, to be printed w/ our senior picture. My three were: to give birth to a child; visit Paris; and own a Porsche 914. How lofty! Now, you must know I was not a believer at that time – I came to Christ the end of my freshman year of college. Looking back now, I blame my unenlightened state as the reason for setting my sights so low.
I just had no imagination! "Give birth to a child?" God in His goodness has given me two children, and I have lived to see my daughter give birth to her daughter. (Let's get this straight – Uncle Don is a grandfather. I, however, have a child who's had a baby. Are we clear on this?).
My second goal -- "Visit Paris?" We were missionaries for 15 years in Belgium, just south of Brussels. On a good day, if you hit traffic right, you could get to Paris in under 3 hours. So you know where we took all our visitors. My children can navigate Paris better than they can Brussels.
And as for the Porsche, well. I am thrilled to report to you that I do now own a sexy, sporty, foreign car. It comes from Korea, and the 4 on the floor is park, reverse, neutral and drive – but hey, I'm not dead yet! There is still time.
Or not. Because it's only gonna burn, anyway. The things that I experience, the places I go, the possessions I acquire are not going to endure. They are only tools along the journey, and the journey is not the destination. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the journey is the preparation for the destination, and the destination is being with Him.
"'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.'" Class of 2008, you cannot conceive of what God has prepared for you! I cannot conceive of it.
But you will be equipped for that journey if you remember the answers to these questions: where have you come from, and where are you going? The answer to both fundamentally is one in the same: the Lord. You have been brought here, from far reaches of the earth, brought here for a unique time, by Him, and now you are being sent out by Him. Ultimately, you will return to Him. He has been with you and will continue to stay with you. Let that knowledge, that which was gleaned from your parents, that which was girded at BFA, be the force that guards and guides you into your future. Where have you come from and where are you going? What you do with the time accorded to you, between now – where you have come from -- and whenever you return to Him – where you are going -- what you do with that time, that will be your legacy.
I pray for each and every one of you, and thank you again for all that you taught me. Go with God.
