Stanford's Graduation Speech

I HIGHLY HIGHLY Recommend that you follow the link to read the ENTIRE speech... http://go.sojo.net/ct/871vei61BjYR/
"For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that's Moses, not Jesus. I haven't heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the beatitudes, be posted anywhere."> > - Kurt Vonnegut> Hearts & Minds> +++++++++++++++++++++>
Building global justice: We are the ones we have been waiting for> > by Jim Wallis> >

The following is excerpted from the baccalaureate address Jim Wallis delivered at Stanford University on June 12. +

When I was growing up, it was continually repeated in my evangelical Christian world that the greatest battle and biggest choice of our time was between belief and secularism. But I now believe that the real battle, the big struggle of our times, is the fundamental choice between cynicism and hope. The choice between cynicism and hope is ultimately a spiritual choice, and one that has enormous political consequences.> More than just a moral issue, hope is a spiritual and even religious choice. Hope is not a feeling; it is a decision. And the decision for hope is based upon what you believe at the> deepest levels - what your most basic convictions are about the world and what the future holds - all based upon your faith. You choose hope, not as a naive wish, but as a choice, with your eyes wide open to the reality of the world - just like the cynics who have not made the decision for hope.> > And the realities of our world are these: Almost half the world, close to three billion people, live on less than $2 a day, and more than one billion live on less than $1 a day. And every day, 30,000 children die due to utterly preventable causes such as hunger, disease, and things like the lack of safe drinkingwater - things we could change if we ever decided to.> > For the first time in history we have the information, knowledge, technology, and resources to bring the worst of global poverty virtually to an end. What we don't have is the moral and political will to do so. And it is becoming clear that it will take a new moral energy to create that political will. > > Malcolm Gladwell in his best-selling book, The Tipping Point, talks of how an idea, product, or behavior moves from the edges of a society to broad acceptance, consumption, or practice. Along the way there is a "tipping point" that transforms a> minority perception to a majority embrace. Today, a sizable and growing number of individuals and institutions have identified the deep chasm of global poverty as their central moral concern and have made significant commitments to overcome the global> apathy that leads to massive suffering and death. But we have not yet reached the tipping point - when the world demands solutions. I believe the religious communities of the world could provide the "tipping point" in the struggle to eliminate the world's most extreme poverty.
So let's turn to you, the graduates. You are a bright, gifted, and committed group of students. There are probably many people who tell you about your potential, and they are right. You are people who could make a real contribution to a movement forglobal justice.> In that regard, I would encourage each of you to think about your vocation more than just your career. And there is a difference. From the outside, those two tracks may look very> much alike, but asking the vocational question rather than just considering the career options will take you much deeper. The key is to ask why you might take one path instead of another-the real reasons you would do something more than just because you> can. The key is to ask who you really are and want to become. It is to ask what you believe you are supposed to do.> > Religious or not, I would invite you to consider your calling, more than just the many opportunities presented to graduates of Stanford University. That means connecting your best talents and skills to your best and deepest values, making sure your mind is in sync with your soul as you plot your next steps. Don't just go where you're directed or even invited, but rather where your own moral compass leads you. And don't accept others' notions of what is possible or realistic. Dare to dream things and don't beafraid to take risks.> You do have great potential, but that potential will be most fulfilled if you follow the leanings of conscience and the language of the heart more than just the dictates of the market, whether economic or political. They want smart people like you to just manage the systems of the world. But rather than managing or merely fitting into systems, ask how you can change them. You're both smart and talented enough to do that. That'syour greatest potential. Ask where your gifts intersect with the groaning needs of the world.> The antidote to cynicism is not optimism but action. And action is finally born out of hope. Try to remember that.> > One of the best street organizers I ever met was Lisa Sullivan - a young African-American woman from Washington, D.C., who went to Yale and earned a Ph.D. But Lisa felt called back to the streets and the forgotten children of color who had won her heart. She was in the process of creating a new network and infrastructure of support for the best youth organizing projects up and down the East Coast when, at the age of 40, she died suddenly of a rare heart ailment. > > Lisa's legacy is continuing through countless young people she inspired, challenged, and mentored. But there is one thing she often said to them and to all of us that has stayed with me ever since Lisa died. When people would complain, as they often do, that we don't have any leaders today - or ask "where are the Martin Luther Kings now?" - Lisa would get angry. And she would declare these words: "We are the ones we have been waiting for!" Lisa was a person of faith. And hers was a powerful call to> leadership and responsibility and a deep affirmation of hope. > > Lisa's words are the commission I want to give to you. It's a commission learned by every person of faith and conscience who has been used to build movements of spiritual and social change. It's a commission that is quite consistent with the virtue of humility, because it is not about taking ourselves too seriously, but rather taking the commission seriously. It's a commission that can only be fulfilled by very human beings, but people who, because of faith and hope, believe that the world can be changed. And it is that very belief that only changes the world. And if not us, who will believe? If not you, who?After> all, we are the ones that we have been waiting for.> > Stanford graduates, you are the ones we have been waiting for. > > + Read more commentary by Jim Wallis:> http://go.sojo.net/ct/ip1vei61BjYF/