Confirmation, 2003
By Charles Rush
May 18, 2003
Philippians 4: 13-15
want to tell a story about Ian that could be told about all of you in different ways. When Ian was little he liked to swim. Scratch that, he loved to swim. I am talking about the time of his life when he is still in diapers through his early training pants phase. As soon as Ian would see the water, he would begin running, strip off his shirt. At the nearest point of entry, he would dive in like Tarzan.
Now, there was only one
problem with this method of attack. Ian couldn't swim. He would thrash the
water with great energy, but he could not swim. So the lifeguard was diving off
her stand after him. Or one of his parents would be diving in the pool after
him. He would come up gasping for air. The amazing thing was that he invariably
had a grin on his face ear to ear.
He had quite a reputation at
each pool we went to. Occasionally, you would hear the murmur begin upon his
arrival. Ian is here. Ian is here. I kept thinking that something would finally
kick in and he would amend his ways somewhat. For instance, some times we would
turn our backs for a second and he would dart in a line for the pool, fly in
Tarzan style, and he would be under water for quite some time before a real
rescue was under way. There was more than one occasion when he would drink
enough water that he would throw up. And he'd come sit on my lap for a while
with the blankey.
About five minutes later,
he'd be up and diving in again, same silly grin on his face. I didn't know
whether I should be worried that maybe he was sorta slow to catch on, or maybe
I should be flattered at his considerable trust in my rescue ability.
That story could be told of
every one of you if we had time. Whether you knew it or not, whether you would
admit to it or not, somebody has been looking out for you for the past 13
years, sometimes shadowing your every move. When you would have walked right
off the end of the building, they were there to grab your hand and gently bring
you back to safety. More than that, they were looking out for you in other
ways. They put you in school and made sure that you learned how to read and
study on your own (more or less). They made sure that you got to know your
extended family and showed you what respect and love is all about. Before you
could walk or talk, they began taking you to church so you could learn the
spiritual tradition that nourished your grandparents, your parents, and now
you. They made sure that you had enriching experiences in the summer at camp,
or on vacation. Some of you have already traveled more than most people will in
a lifetime. You have lived a pretty enriched life and someone, usually your
parents, were there in the background, making sure that you didn't get hurt,
structuring all of these wonderful opportunities, being there to pick up the
pieces and bandage the wounds when you did.
Part of what we want to tell
you today, and acknowledge in a public way, is that you are no longer children
any more. You are very young adults. And from here on out, we are going to be
pulling back more and more. You are going to get more responsibility to stand
on your own. Your parents are going to
give you more and more independence. I know that right now, part of you has
been waiting for more freedom for what seems like an eternity, that it is hard
for you to appreciate what I am about to say. Before you know it, you will be
on your own, and wishing for a little more structure.
I must tell you that there
exists a fair amount of concern about your generation. You have been given
enormous opportunities, most of the time far more than your parents ever
dreamed of having. And yet, there are these disturbing symptoms of unrest, like
these youngsters coming to school all around our country, shooting people. All
over our country people are writing editorials, all asking the same question
‘what is going wrong here'.
Many things could be said,
but I only want to mention the obvious, the time of youth is like fire. “Do you
remember the first time when you understood the sheer power of fire: it both
amazed and frightened you. When it is under control, fire betters our life in
countless ways, many of which we have come to take for granted. But when we
don't have it under control, a raging fire destroys everything in its path.
A young person is like fire.
With direction and guidance, they can change the very shape of the world.
Without direction, the fires of youth are wasted at best, while at worst, they
can become a dangerous, destructive force. To lead a meaningful life means
harnessing the fires of youth; to do so you have to understand the purpose of
youth itself.
The period of youth is an
odd one by nature, nestled between childhood and adulthood. You are no longer
content to play like a child but don't yet have the knowledge and
experience to be fully engaged in adult
pursuits. You are beginning to experience many of the frustrations and
yearnings of an adult, but may lack the maturity to deal with them. You have
plenty of time on their hands, and yet contemporary society is far better at
providing ways to waste this time
than spend it productively: video games, the Jerry Springer show, MTV, Cops,
cruising the Mall. Youth is one of the most precious periods of a person's life
and yet it is one of the most difficult.
These tensions within you
create a unique, untamed energy- the
energy of life itself. Young people are not looking for comfort, they are searching for a meaningful cause.”
I hope you keep on that search it is important. Teenagers are overflowing with
a mixture of adrenaline and confidence- “I
want to change the way the world works”, young people often think. “I can
change the world”. Adults burdened with the pressures of every day life,
may resign themselves to the world just the way that it is. Adults are tired at
the end of the day and just glad to have gotten through it.”[i]
And some of us are pretty well rewarded by the present system of privileges and
we have no real reason to want to change it in any fundamental way.
But you will not tolerate
such resignation, nor should you. You have already noticed that adults think
that teenagers are rebellious and tend to stay away from you whenever possible.
They are afraid of the fire of your youth. I saw a bumper sticker once that
said ‘Question Authority'. I like that. It is a motto that will serve you well
for the next few years. Question Authority. Be rebellious. Don't accept things
the way that they are just because someone tells you that is the way that it
is. The truth is, that we adults need your fire and your rebellion. We don't
question the world enough. You are a much better critic of our world than we
are. In fact, you are the coming conscience for our world. You see what's wrong
with it better than we do. You have a passion that things can be different. So
don't be afraid to speak up and tell the Emperor that he has no clothes. Don't
be afraid to question. Don't be afraid to think outside the lines of
established orthodoxy. Keep that fire alive.
On the other hand, make
sure you expose yourself to tradition as well. The reality is this. You are
setting out on a journey from here and you will need all of the help you can
get. I know some of you think you have come to the end. After confirmation you
are hoping you don't have to go to church anymore. Wrong! You are on a life
long journey to discover meaning and purpose for your lives, to find peace in
yourself, to find love with others, to find a rest in God.
Our little culture right
around here in Metro New York. We have led you to believe that all there is to
life is achieving material prosperity, that if you are rich enough, everything
will just take care of itself. You've probably seen the T-shirt that says ‘He
who collects the most toys, wins'. That is a dangerous and beguiling partial
truth. There is nothing wrong with prosperity but it does not constitute a goal
that will bring you true fulfillment.
Our little culture here,
tells you over and over that if you just succeed academically, all the doors
you need to open will open magically. There is nothing wrong with going to Duke
and Yale. I hope you do, but that is not enough either.
Our little culture here
tells you that if you are well liked and hang with the right people and get
invited to all the right parties, you will be happy. As a group, you are very
gifted in this area. I expect most of you to become really important leaders in
a very few years. But being popular is not enough either.
You will need substantial
spiritual values, wise meaning and purpose to get through all of life. Why?
There are disappointments out there, big challenges: accidents, tragedies,
death. There is injustice and some of you will be victims of it. There is
loneliness and illness, breakups of good friendships and marriages. Parts of it
are very hard as any older person will tell you who has lived through it. And
money, and education, and popularity and power do not shield you from these
realities. No, you need spiritual substance to embrace all of the joys and the
hardships.
So avail yourselves of the
great thinkers (our tradition) as you go through life. They are guides who have
already gone through it themselves and can offer you insights. This year we
started with one great thought, the 23rd Psalm. One thought. You
memorized it and in the course of time, it will move from the head to the
heart. Years from now when someone dies, you will find yourself saying it out
loud and it will mean something more, something different to you than it does
now.
You are just starting out.
This is not the end of your religious training. This is just the very
beginning. And I will not let you go and we will not let you go until you have
gained wisdom for the journey. Keep discussing great ideas in the future. I
want you to keep reading, keep thinking. I look forward to seeing you on the
streets in town 6 years from now when you are back from college and I can ask
“Alex what you think about Jesus now that you have had a religion course in the
New Testament at Columbia”. I hope you discover
Socrates- who said that the
‘unexamined life is not worth living'. He went on to ask ‘What is the
meaningful life'? And put his thoughts in dialogues
Plato- who said that the
world of ideas is more important than the material world around us. They can
shape the material world around us.
Immanuel Kant- who said
that all of our life is a quest to discover what is true, what is good, what is
beautiful. (Knowledge, morals, aesthetics)
Albert Schweitzer- who said
that more important than prosperity, education, or power is the life of service
to others, and who set up a hospital in Africa and worked there his adult life.
Jean Jaques Rousseau- who
showed us that culture was as effective at teaching us vice as it is at
teaching us virtue. Most of us are oblivious like fish that don't know they are
in a tank.
Martin Buber- who said that
in the era of technology, the biggest threat will be the triumph of the
impersonal over the personal: the I/it instead of the I/Thou.
Reinhold Niebuhr- who
showed us that our sin is most often committed when we think we are behaving
virtuously.
Phyllis Trible- who showed
us that since all of the documents from the ancient world were written by men
and cast from their viewpoint, so too even the Bible has a male point of view
on the world which mutes the voice and thought forms of women.
I want you to keep
thinking, keep reading, keep discussing these great thoughts. This is the way
that we discover the meaning and purpose for our lives. This is how it unfolds
before us. Many of you asked the question of God ‘Why is it that there is Evil
in the world?' It is an important question. It is a profound question about the
meaning and purpose of our lives. There are some questions that are given us
not so much to answer but to wrestle with all the days of our lives and that is
one of them.
Over the years, hopefully,
you will have a better and better answer to that question, a more profound and
mature answer. And in the afterlife, we can all put it to God directly.
One last thing. You are not
on a pilgrimage alone. We are all in it together. And we need each other to
make it. The church is drawn together, not because we are the coolest people in
town, not because we have the best reputations, but because we have discovered
that we need each other to find the way and keep on the path. We support one
another. Christianity is not a religion for individuals. It is about all of us
together with God, helping each other. It takes a relationship to learn about
love, forgiveness, compassion, mercy, justice, reconciliation. We need each
other. Don't overlook the obvious. If you want to experience God be forgiving
and compassionate to each other. It is in the simply acts of grace to each
other, with each other, that most of us come to experience God most directly.
May God bless you and keep you.
Amen
[i]
Schneerson, Menachem.
Toward a Meaningful Life, p. 40, 41.
© 2003
Charles Rush.
All rights reserved
