Commencement speech - Light

He walked to the podium and stared at what we could only guess was his speech. He cleared his throat noisily and looked at the sea of expectant faces. He looked down again and began.

"I don’t know what to say, I am not a great speaker, nor do I know any poems that would entertain you, nor do words come smoothly out of my mouth, for I am a stutterer. Last night, as I contemplated what I would say, I asked the Lord what He would have me say. After four hours, I was convinced that the Lord did not want me to speak on this podium today, for He remained silent. And so this morning, I called the Provost and told her to choose someone else to give the commencement speech on behalf of our class, she refused. She did not give any reason, even though I told her I had no written speech, nor did I have organized thoughts from which to draw a message. She remained adamant. So, here we are." He motioned at the building and entire congregation. Everyone was silent, no one breathing. This was unheard of, an off the cuff speech!

"And so I have no speech. I just have one word, light. Our generation is the most mentally and intellectually developed of all that have walked this earth. We have scholars and people who understand great mysteries of this world: some look to the skies and tell us it is going to snow, others look to the earth and tell us there is oil deep down, others look to the side and tell us there is coming a hurricane. Still others have created vehicles that can drive themselves, personal assistants that talk to us, machines that can repair themselves. Some have found cures for our greatest illnesses, prolonging life, growing more food from the same seed with less water; our generation has achieved a great deal."

"Yet, ours is the generation of the greatest moral depravation. As our intellect has risen, our spirituality has fallen. As our minds have expanded, our morals have degraded. Even though we produce enough wealth, food, water for all citizens to enjoy the glory of this earth, greed and perversion have kept us adrift. We hide our money in banks, offshore places that not even the government can reach, we waste half of the food we produce while others hunger, we manufacture pills that cure one disease and create another, we tamper with the genetic code and presume ourselves gods. Even now, we try to create life, deep in the bowels of the earth. We trample the poor, imprison the meek and kill those who say the truth. We love hatred and lies, with our social media, we have all becomes sources of great deceptions that have put all previous generations to shame. We run after every man, woman or beast we can find, and lay with it, calling it our right to our sexuality. The angels on high hide their faces at the abomination that has become of the children of God."

"Oh, when will we turn away from our sin? When will we look to the heavens and plead for mercy from our God, who has loved us and given of His Son to die to save us? When will we turn to our brothers in love, and care for the sick, for the orphans and widows? When will we stop wars of injustice? And yet, we claim that God has not spoken to us, that we do not know Him, He has not revealed Himself to us, He has kept Himself hidden in the heavens. Oh, what folly! How wrong we have been. Our churches have not given us the truth, they have hindered the ascent, for the keepers of the knowledge are blind, and how can the blind lead the blind? "

"We have been blind. God is in our hearts, and He speaks to us through His Spirit. We call the Divine spark of the Spirit of God the conscience. But we have silenced our conscience, we have elevated the other voices, our parents, our professors, the media, the politicians, social media and our own voices. But deep down, we know that God has revealed Himself to us all, for even in darkness, that spark of His Divine Love has not gone out. And yes, we deny, yet know, we argue, yet our very being bears the truth."

"Let us come out of darkness, and live in the light. For no one lights a lamp and hides it under a bushel. Let us repent, and ask God to purify us with His love, ask for forgiveness; and He will hear us, and show us mercy and grace. There is no condemnation in Him, He wants to love us and be with us, not judge and punish us. And we will live in the land, restored and ready for Him to return. Yes, He will return. And when He does, will He find us living in darkness or in light?"

He stepped off the podium and walked to his seat. The Provost continued to stare at the ceiling and wondered what she would tell the University Board. Well, till then, she had a ceremony to conduct.