Humor has a way of connecting with people. Evident among great schools, if not Ivy League, were the choice of known comedians to address their graduating class. I had a chance to view random keynote addresses from the University of Southern California, the Wake Forest University, the Harvard University, and lift the gist of their messages, respectively. Will Ferrell1 defined success—married for 16 years, with children, and giving to charity; he emphasized the need for “empathy and kindness, . . . enjoy the journey, . . . trust your gut, . . . figure it out, . . . you are never alone in the path you choose.” Stephen Colbert2 wittily mentions the importance of “having own set of standards.” While Amy Poehler3 compared life to the movie Fast 5, and assured the students that “life is like a heist that requires good drivers and explosive experts, a hot girl who doubles as a master in disguise . . .” Finally, she reminds the students that we “can’t do it alone, . . . be open to collaboration, . . . spend time with people who challenge and inspire; . . . God, Allah, Buddha, Gaga, whoever you pray to . . . the answer to your question is in someone else’s face; try putting your iPhones down and look at people’s face . . . limit your ‘Always’ and your ‘Never.’”
Truly? Are these legitimate counsel after one’s university life and how to face the challenges ahead? Perhaps the speakers assumed that each student had a high moral standard? What if one student considers right but to another is wrong? Who determines right and wrong? Can we determine right from wrong unless there is a moral law that we submit to? And if there is a moral law, is there not a source or an author to draw the law from?
Indeed we cannot abdicate standards to each and every one. There is one truth. And the source of truth—Jesus. I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.4 In the beginning [Jesus] was the Word, [who] was with God, and the Word was God.5 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.6
Through Jesus we come to life. “The reason that the new birth is God’s creation of a believer is that this new creation happens through the word of God (1 Pet 1:23; James 1:18)—through the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit, creates spiritual understanding and faith where once there was blindness and unbelief.”7
Have you felt empty? Longing for love? Would you consider inviting Christ as your true Valentine?
Notes:
1. USC Commencement Speech Class of 2017; USC, published on 13 May 2017
2. Wake Forest University Commencement Address Class of 2015; CBSN, Published on 19 May 2015
3. Harvard University 2011 Class Day Speech, 25 May 2011; Harvard, published on 8 Jun 2011
4. John 14:6
5. John 1:1
6. John 1:14
7. John Piper, Finally Alive, p118-119
8. First and third pictures are existential sculptures by Park Ki Phung; second, Melancolie by Albert Gyorgy found in Geneva. No copyright infringement is intended.
