THE COURAGE TO BE
Colgate University

May 19, 2002

John M. Buchanan

| There is something wonderfully timeless about this and profoundly

important and [am always grateful to be part of t\so thank you for
Semen —z
inviting me to be the preacher at your Baccalaureateand @ participant in

this amazing and good day in your lives.

even wore
these as a paren{and if | stretch memory sete, | recall

sitting. there where you are sitting this moming fin a kind of SUSPED ded
Cares Yd + ~ VE) p TE rece
a \tired.fronathe over-exertions of iast evening’s party] savoring a

{ stalgic about leaving —

prety, Wop bY
actually there wasn't much of that — at the moment | was jaeétd with the

rospect of getting out of th Ay talgia ter.) And | recall a bit of
prospec of getting out of there. |Nostalgia comes la «) nd | reca ito

“ boredom. ysomeone did a study to see what graduates remembered from
their gradation day ten years later| Sermons and speeches were pretty low

on the list.
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Din “| Wwlwe by me ad abet, 2aN\S aa TW Hunt

A Colgate mehA Wits Under attas’ \Whet ad, all art een
FSA are fon ovtside wy Wuadew ,

A Doonesbury, cal

umn portrayed this event 4 a university graduation.

Three robed graduates are staring blankly ahead. | One is reading Vogue.

magazine | Another is plugged into his walkman\ The third looks up to the
podium and asks, \Who's the old guy?” His friend responds, (Chink he the
bee nal Satie

ae

President.") The questioner asks, “Of what?”
eo

bie

important name) a defining moment if you wil real milestone

preceded by a lot of work and javestment \ on your parnt— intellectually,

physically, emotionally, \and not the leas financially. You have a lot riding

on this occasion,{ And feummaeeetiiees |, so do your familie

graduations. Iney are proud and happy. And some of them are thinking

eqn
praesent

EEO _— 2 = mn a crn

And threggtizefon Ts deeply invested \ The administration hopes you have

paid your bills and will now become 2 conta hic is an altogether

good thing to do and a necessary thing | hasten to add b te keep this

enterprise vital and strong for your children.
ees rene. ——

And the faculty will remember you and follow you and will watch attentively
Qe. my

as your future enfolds\ They hope you will remember their names — which

| know you will,

EE

This event happens at a critical moment in our history. [We are all a little bit

tired of hearing September 11 referenced in every public utteranceland,

a) that we live in a very different
; Wemtermitetent ing

yet|there is truth to the overused euphemis

world now |e my proposal to you this morning, ir this extraordinary time, |

my admonition and my prayer for you is that you will respond to this

moment in history and this important moment in your histories with —

There is a story almost 3. 000. years old that is tailor made for the occasion. |

| use this story cautiously,

eet

painfylly.ay

re that there are people dying in

Palestine,and in Israel on the basis of this story's histarical_us

apres ance ovkas =
geographically and politigally. : ume tod lisassociat ate

ideological or political agenda.

Having said that! want to use it anyhow because there Is truth in it. — vot
é\oov'r gts - po bes ~ len clot he BE 9729)
of XR Wea, Wiad . 3

Back almost on the edge of regorded history fa loose federation of nomadic

SR.

people had been wandering around in the desert for forty years| And now
EET SERS

they need to decide what to do next, It is a time of high anxiety high

Ga.

potential and not a little fear That is to say, they are not unlike the class of

2002 on graduation day.
ial ——

They are standing snail loking over a rver,jand seeing for the first

time, the Promised Land the future. \Eor forty years they have been

moving from oasis to oasis\ Their liberator and leader| Moses, always

ad

pushing, prodding, pulling, scolding, teaching \rot unlike a parent or
professer or Dean or advisor. au now he’s oid. it's the end.of the lige and
he knows it\He's not going with them any further\ And so he gives them a

lot of last minute advice, OL. things. weparents are inclined to
; t | tek
say yO Vipin getables (ge your sleep, tuck your

ein of Fe the right thing,
= - Ta |

obey the law, hold onto one another! and the climax of what he says to

them is this:
EE,

“I call heaven and earth to witness — | have set before you life and
-—_ ™ le Se,

death. \Choose life so that you may tive.”

There's a remarkable.idea in that little sents tp 7

The a choice to make[and it will require courage — the c to be.

the way, of one of the most important books of my

That is the title.b

generation| written by the late Paul Titlict, one of the most important
ume! anf eo

philosophers and theologians of the last century, refugee from Nazi

Germany, \Tllich wrote: We ows OWE CAsy hey Udersteud ~ G
Mov Maw tn Listen Care LAW + -

—

“Courage as the universal and essential seif-affirmation of one’s

eI

being is an ontological concent The courage to be is the ethigal act

in whicn humans aftirm their own being in spite of those elements of

their existence which conflict with their essential selfatfimation, |

e_

[Tillich, The Courage to Be, Yale University Press, 1952, p.3]

Hamlet

aden Shakespeare said that a little more poetically and clearly:
- 4)
17 I | 7
jaments, NO God! God! How wegry, stale and unprofitable.seam to me all

the uses Qf this world.”
an

And ther_in lines that put the matter powerfully and clearly:

“To be, or not to be: that is the question.”

eC

The late Rollo May, psychiatrist, philosopher, wrote a lot about it.
bi a

eres,

“Courage,” he said fis not one virtue out of many| it is the foundation
La nd aiid

ad

[ |\Courage is necessary to make being possible | Aeems

attain worth and dignity only by the multitudes of decisions they make

-
day to day\ Those decisions require courage.” [The Courage fo
ell /

Create, W.W. Norton, New York, 1975, p. 4,5]

The truth is en if you haven't discovered it yet, you will - the truth is
pe ad we cel

that life sometimes knocks the courage to be out of us| Payl Tillich said,
“There are elements of existence which conflict with our essential self-

affirmation.” } What was he talking about?| Well, feat. for instance. Fgar of

the futyslyFear of dailing

us to giye.Up, giyejn, lower our sights, expggtations, hopes,.aspizations

and choose non-being instead of being.

\ Fea of isn [Fear obdgath| Feancauses

Isn't that what happens every time you and | decline to try something

adventuresame and demanding and exciting because

REAR canteen

lous probiems and shuddel\ or wring our hands

if

and then turn our backs? We see, for instance, a political and edu ugation nal

re

system that can’t seem to figure out how to pay for quality education for all

our children;fa healthcare system that cannot seem to get services to all

yr i in ou
the sick people jar-emkasmzz
qari |

unemployed men and adolescent mothers, selling.drugs t

one another isn it a denial of our being as humans| to walk away from all
[oes SSE

é
that anc and retreat to privileged enclaves of affluence fer, wy wick Wiech Wish

if us _\ee Mada Wado N VAdiun Opin?

The courage to pe the will to choose life can be knocked out of us...in the

very middle of life by a variety of things.

Bob Greene wrote a thoughtful column atewerregpgemeeg, Which recalled

Bea Sain wr

Franklin D. Roosevelt's famous statement during the Depression{ “The

SESE

only thing we have to fear is fear stan how it reassured a frightened .

a weinhd “ ~

iches, our buildings.
want our land, our r ; ngs.\ What they want is our terror.|. Fear

itself ts thei goa | [Bob Greene, Chicago Tribune 12/17/2001]
innate

m ight

sists of four ate fires of aunan-speaking| [netag, first
EEE oY ~

day. \The cartoon gensis

he picture he says: Selguul, «.

Watch out for suspicious people Be careful when opening your

y,
mailbox.”

“Keep away from tall buildings. Be wary traveling around.
mets.

In the third, he says:

“Don't take unnecessary risks. Remain at a heightened alert level.

And in lastnane| you can see that he’s addressing a. graduation assembly

and he concludes:
a

“And go out and live life to the nutest”
re eer ER re

We've always known tha Ahe| Jpower ¢ offer as a mativator and market
Th j

glis calg Alar | And § écurity a, fear sels gungy— \

fo re.| Fe: aft

es asif ifa soni nt {the pos¢ apy that they will

ironically |

as réfugeeSmove across international border\and as city dwellers head to

the|suburbs.

| scot a ligaits and patalyzes. Fear of failing prevents ys from trying
something new, hing new, stretching and skin Children humiliated by a teacher

fraid to speak up and ask a question As sometimes | for the rest of their
are afr: p
1 Ole cam, trying out for

e you, | want yout") Someone

said that if Michelangelo had been afraid of heights, we’d have the Sistine
oe aay
Ch .
apel floor

thing that red th
There is something paralyzing about fear, bore ing reduces the

scope ofour lives, [the extent of Quplave,\the depth of our passi oh the

- nslusess wed
generosity of our givin

“ete «3 i> wore te Wn 2¢ eb We =
+ paint de re

Ans anal

in our naljgn ths, this year. pare will be impgstani got to give the » jemotists the
esa ean A res restyictin seheaaularin

gi€in\pe aftermath of September

10

“There are millions of us, surely, who know how to look life in the eye

Bn |

however awful things get, and still try to love it back.”

_a———

eee [SE e

And it all begins not only in the halls of government and boardrooms of

big business \ begins here in your heart \ where we decide to live fully,

acy

cE

of current reality. 5 4

in spite of all the reasons not to care\to dream in spite of the heavy weight

Dr. Bernie Siegel, |a surgeon_and professor at Yale Medical School, author

of several best sellers| works directly with people who are very sick.

Hearing the three words| "You have.cancer {often destroys the will to live,

=a

the courage to be.\ o Siegel works hard to nurture the fundamental will to
Pan gE one =a

|

lve \to be within each of his patients,(no matter how little or much time they
‘wren | | ore Q USTs ‘Panoy

a =_—

have left.

One of them, an 85 year-old woman, gave him a poem that she wrote:
eeeTEARE TALEO eer

Serene

Wor ery Gord Poedn - Yor mx Vow aw Pot -

“If | had my life to live over...

| would take more chances,

11

) would take more trips,

| would scale more mountains,

Swim more rivers,
See
Watch more sunsets,

Eat more ice cream and fewer beans.
ere,

1 would have more actual troubles

And fewer imaginary ones. \You see...

| was one of those people who lived
Prophylactically and sensibly and sanely,
Hour after hour and day after day} \

I've been one of those people who never went

os Femme ie nal

Anywhere without

A thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle,

A raincoat and a parachute... \\

lf | had it to do all over again,

I'd travel lighter, much ight... |
| would start barefoot earlier
In the spring, and I'd stay that way
Late in the fall.\ And | would

De ed

Ride more merry-go-rounds, and

12

Catch more gold tings, and | greet

More people, and pick more flowers,
And dance more often. \

If | had it

To do allover again.

But you see,

| don't.”

[Peace, Love and Healing, Dr. Bernie Siegel, Harper Perennial Press, p.

245-246]

Cane > MO want

Inu ~ © OF gh Ta oo

It's a choice nal} personal decision we all make every day of our lives.
De erate ea S eee a |

Cl

The occasion for courage comes wrapped in choices'\ to love or not to ove to
Dd i eo, ee

get involved or hold back\ to serve and help or witharavdl to give.your life to

something important or to retreat and settle fora good credit rating and secure

retirement: \to,commit self passionately to some improbable and wonderful

cee

dream like the peace of the world \the reconciliation of God's people\ the

healing and feeding and housing of Goq’s children beginning with the children

in your own community - or staying at arm's length\the refusal to risk

anything \peing a spectaior instead of a participant.

13

ee

In Washington oc wt a few hours to spend, ve visited the U.S. Holocaust

Museum] an unrelenting three. hours of pictures, exhibits, films, showing

SaaS

common good folk\ implicated in grotesque evil by little choices! by averting

~

their eyes, by refusing to care | And then, The Hall of Remembrance, large
phase

room \quiet |with candles \a pool,land inscribed _on the wall — tise haunting

words an the edge of history, speke to frightened people looking into the

unknown, unexplored, uncharted future...

awd
",..today | have set before you life an death| blessings and curses.

Choose life so that you and your descendents may live...”

ee ee

SS: the midst of all the advice you will receive today (the good wishes for

success and happiness, may | have the privilege of this challenge’

a]

Don't be sat [Have the courage to care passionately \Fing something you

care about enough to weep, and work:lsomething to live for: \something you |

love enough to die for. 7 \: a
2000 rs Jesus sards AAnest Wis Saue Their Mes W\\
love use Rd Ale, ie fase Mat Was = qo Vs awe ya 1

given to us without condition. \It is yours to live\ to enjoy, to

give. How you do that is a matter of courage.

Site

Cola ate's Som Hoy Gigs Coach, “ :
CB rons Vs Usd | Grand vs Courayy

The choice is yours this day.| every day\ The courage to bd God bless you

on your Way.

=o

15

Deuteronomy 30: 15.26 \%

15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and

16
adversity. Ifyou obey the commandments of the LORD your God +
that [am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God,
walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and

ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD

17
your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray

18
to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today -

that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are

crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. » I call heaven and earth to
witness against you today that I have set before you life and death,
blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants
may ve [vi the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast
to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may
hive in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to

Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.