Friday, May 15, 2004

Letter to graduates

By DAVID EPPS
Pastor

An open letter to this year's graduating class:

Richard M. “Pek” Gunn is known in some circles as the “Poet Laureate of Tennessee.” One of Gunn’s creations is a poem entitled, “The Optimist,” which reads:

I passed a sand lot yesterday,

Some kids were playing ball.

I strolled along the third base line

Within the fielder’s call.

“Say, what’s the score?” I asked the chap.

He yelled to beat the stuffin,’

“There’s no one out, the bases full,

And they're forty-two to nuthin’!”

“You’re getting beat, aren’t you, my lad?”

And then in no time flat,

He answered: “No sir, not as yet!

Our side ain’t been to bat!”

We smile at these lines and yet we identify as well because we always want to believe that there's hope.

Many years ago, I played chess in a league. There would be times when I was so far behind that logic dictated that the gentlemanly thing to do was to concede. In fact, many opponents would become frustrated with my staying in the game against all odds and would implore me to give up the fight. My reply was always the same: “While there is life, there is yet hope!”

You’d be surprised how many times I snatched a draw when I should have been beaten. Like the lad in Gunn’s poem, I feel that, as long as you’re in the game, victory is possible.

Over two centuries ago, John Paul Jones answered the British invitation to surrender by replying, “I’ve just begun to fight.” In World War II, an allied officer, hopelessly outnumbered by Axis forces, received a demand from the enemy to surrender. His one-word reply was, “Nuts!” Sir Winston Churchill was in the United States to address a college graduation ceremony. Sir Winston stood before the anxious crowd, surveyed the young graduates with a steely gaze, and delivered his speech: “Never, never, never, never, never give up!” and sat down.

This attitude is what keeps businessmen going when things look bleak. It is this state of mind that empowers an athlete to strain mightily against all odds. This optimistic belief kept patrons and fans going back to the ball park long before the Atlanta Braves ever became a powerhouse team.

We believe that, whatever the score, if we just keep swinging away, we can win! And we’re right! Dreamers, who believe the unbelievable, can change the world.

John F. Kennedy believed that the United States could put a man on the moon before the end of the 1960s and, although Kennedy did not live to see it, Astronaut Neil Armstrong took that “one giant step for mankind” in 1969.

During dark days of racism and inequality, Martin Luther King, Jr., dreamed of a day when “men would be judged by the content of their character,” and today African-Americans occupy places of power on the Supreme Court and in the President’s Cabinet.

Columbus was a dreamer who discovered a New World. Jonas Salk dreamed of a cure for polio. A peanut farmer from Plains, Ga., dreamed of being President of the United States.

The Bible says, “We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.” God “always causes us to triumph in Him,” the scriptures shout! We are not alone on this playing field either. There is One who will “never leave and never forsake.”

So what if we’re a little behind? So what if the other team is gloating? The game is not over! Not by a long shot! Get off the bench, take a firm grip, and swing for all you’ve got! It’s your turn to bat!

[Father David Epps is rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church on Ga. Highway 34 between Peachtree City and Newnan. The church offers Sunday services at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. He may be contacted at www.ctkcec.org or at frepps@ctkcec.org.]