W e don’t just need leaders, we need followers.
A friend, after decades of work in Washington politics, was thinking aloud about a commencement speech she was scheduled to give at her law-school alma mater. She didn’t want to give the graduates fluff. She wanted to be congratulatory while not being patronizing or feeding their egos. She wanted to make a point about gratitude and stewardship and about the fact that we are not the ones all of human history has been waiting for. Our friends and families and our encounters with each other and the world can be helped by our contributions to build on the good that has already been given to us.
Jerry Seinfeld somewhat made this point, in his comedic way, while speaking at Duke University’s commencement this year. “I have truly spent my life focusing on the smallest things imaginable, completely oblivious to all the big issues of living,” he said. “Find something where you love the good parts and don’t mind the bad parts too much.”
And while he moved on to the use of the word “privilege” next, it all relayed something about gratitude.
“Privilege is a word that has taken quite a beating lately,” he said. “Privilege today seems to be the worst thing you can have. I would like to take a moment to defend it.”
After making a few jokes, he noted that he “grew up a Jewish boy from New York: That is a privilege if you want to be a comedian.” His relatives would correct his jokes. (If you want to know the off-color one he told, check the internet!)
“You went to Duke. That is an unbelievable privilege,” he encouraged the graduates. “I now have an honorary doctorate-of-humane-letters degree, and if I can figure out how to use that, I will,” he quipped. “My point is we’re embarrassed about things we should be proud of and proud of things that we should be embarrassed about.”
“You may be the only Bible people ever read,” Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in The Chosen series, quoted in his commencement address this month at my alma mater — the Catholic University of America. I don’t get the impression he has any delusions that he is Jesus, but the role may have helped him understand the mandates of Christianity, and he seems to be doing his best to share what he’s learning. “Being Jesus to the world doesn’t mean God is expecting perfection from you,” he emphasized. “We all know that was accomplished by only one Person on earth . . . and His Mother. But you must endeavor to preach the Gospel by the life you live. By your actions and the choices you make, by the political positions you take, and advocacy for the causes you champion.” He also put in a word for protecting the sacredness of human life. Which is always a gift from a man: to challenge other men.
At the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., a single mom graduated this year with her baby beside her. It’s a traditional Catholic school that has vowed to support students who are pregnant and need support. They will expedite your transfer. They are inspired by Mother Teresa, who would say, essentially: Bring me your child — you do not have to abort her. Mother Teresa really wanted to walk alongside struggling mothers, and abortion was anything but her first concern. She knew the pressures on women — and men — and wanted to let them know that there are alternatives.
When I was near Mother Teresa, while I was an undergraduate at Catholic University, I was surprised by what a humble figure she was. Physically and spiritually. It would be years before my friend, preparing her commencement speech, would make the comment about the importance of following, but Mother Teresa seemed something of an incarnation of the thought. She may have been photographed with Princess Diana and received the Nobel Peace Prize, but these for her were just opportunities to remind people about the Creator of the universe and about how much better off we would be if we not only gave Him homage but shared the love He has shown to us by our very existence.
The most controversial address so far this commencement season seems to have been the one given at a small Catholic college in Kansas, Benedictine College, where I’ve spoken in the past. The press might not have noticed if the commencement speaker wasn’t a Super Bowl champion. I won’t defend everything he said, but I will share that the school has a particular love for Mary, the Mother of God, that is illuminating. The president, Steve Minnis, and his wife Amy, are great witnesses to the students of the beauty and realities of family life. I’m grateful for them and people like them who live their faith as followers, even in leadership.
Gifts. Gratitude. In our culture, keeping focus on these things can be miraculous.
“When life seems cray, get on your knees and pray,” The Chosen’s Jesus said as he received his honorary doctorate this year. “The era we’re living in demands a revolution of deep prayer. One of silence and solitude amidst the din of the world, in order to cultivate a sense of peace and harmony within.”
That’s the right idea. We will frenzy about comments here and there and join the current fuss, but living virtue and being good stewards of all we have been given, noticing people and their needs, and showing love matter most. Whatever is stirring in the news.
This column is based on one available through Andrews McMeel Universal’s Newspaper Enterprise Association.