If I were an 18-year-old graduating student at a high school and were asked to give a speech at a graduation ceremony, this would be my speech:

After 12 years of sharing an education with some outstanding teachers as well as an occasional mediocre teacher we find ourselves at this celebratory event.

At this moment in our lives we pause and reflect upon the past, noting our accomplishments and failures, our sprints forward and stumbling missteps. And we will also reflect upon the future.

Many of us persevered with the encouragement of families and friends. Others amongst us persevered despite the lack of encouragement. For some of us it was easy. For others the journey was difficult. But we all succeeded. The gauntlet was set before us and we accepted the challenge. We overcame all obstacles and now we celebrate our success.

Looking back is useful if only to help us perceive what the future may hold. Many generations before us down through the ages have participated in similar ceremonies as we do tonight. There really is nothing unique about this event. Humans have always paused to take note of one generation passing the torch of history to the next.

Perhaps what is unique is what a generation does with the responsibility to move society forward for the betterment of all.

Some generations make significant strides forward like the generation of Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and the other founders of this great experiment in democracy.

Other generations struggle and squander their birthright, like the one that fought to perpetuate slavery and human subjugation.

The generation of our grandparents, conceived in the crucible of the Great Depression overcame fascism, Nazism, and held communism at bay. This was not a generation inclined to rest and bask in past glories. They took up the torch again, generously rebuilt a war-torn Europe, fulfilled a dream of freeing people from the shackles of Jim Crow and made a glorious leap to the moon.

Holding the torch now is our parent’s generation, that cohort known as the baby boomers.

For you a long strange trip it has been. But I’m relieved to say your time to pass the torch has not yet come. This is good considering some of your contributions thus far – sex, drugs and rock-n-roll, McMansions and gas-guzzling SUVs, Monica Lewinsky and the meaning of “is.”

Henry David Thoreau once observed that the masses of men lead lives of quiet desperation. This he said as he contemplated the energy, resources, time and sacrifice that his comrades expended in the acquisition of material wealth. I dare say Thoreau would be shocked and dishearten to see how materialism has become the holy grail of Western civilization.

This baby boomer generation has been living a life in the fast lane trying to reach nirvana in a place called The Hotel California. That place of physical bliss and pleasure, and of opulent though decadent materialism could be perceived as heaven but assuredly it is hell. But do not give up, baby boomers. Take another hit of fresh air and keep the faith. Yours is truly a long and winding road.

The noted British historian, Paul Johnson, wrote a history of the American people. From the inception of the American experience he saw an overriding theme of an American exceptionalism.

From that shining city on the hill envisioned by John Winthrop, to the founding brothers who dared give birth to a democratic society, to Lincoln’s emancipation of an enslaved people, to Reagan’s exhorting the communists to tear down the walls of tyranny, we Americans, as imperfect as humans may be, are blessed by Providence and by our very nature to be an exceptional people.

You baby boomers, our mothers and fathers, uncles and aunts, teachers and clergy are no less part of this American exceptionalism. You have had your missteps seeking solace and redemption from the false god of materialism but your best days are still before you.

So in the future as you wind on down that road seeking a stairway to heaven and no longer blinded by the gaudy light of materialism, you will lead us, your children, America your country and all humanity to a much better world. I know you will do it. There is no way you will fail. How can you fail? You are the guys that gave us rock-n-roll!

So now I’m talking about my generation. I wonder what the future holds. I imagine it will be pretty exciting. I think we are on the cusp of a technological revolution that will lead to a lifestyle unimaginable a generation ago.

I guess I was a bit critical in my assessment of the baby boomer generation. Despite your penchant for materialistic pleasures you have laid the foundations for an awesome new world. You have given us, your children, an educational foundation and a spirit for adventure that will do us well going forward.

Take a look at this Class of 2007. I think of my friends and classmates and I see a deep wealth of intelligences, creativeness and ambition. You boomers have raised the smartest and most gifted generation this world has ever had. It boggles the mind to consider our potential for advancing the human agenda once you pass the torch to us.

Let us imagine for a moment what tomorrow may have in store.

I imagine that there are graduates amongst us that will, like Columbus before us, seek out distant worlds and new lands for us to explore. This is the generation that will establish a permanent colony on the moon. This is the generation that will send humans to Mars and lay the foundation to the eventual colonization of that far-off world.

I imagine that there are graduates amongst us that will create the technology which will use nanobotics to seek and destroy cancerous cells in our bodies and make that scourge of today no more of a concern than the common cold.

I imagine that there are graduates amongst us the will discover how to tease from the good earth more crops than ever to make hunger a rare condition.

I imagine that there are graduates amongst us that will lead all nations to a state of worldwide harmony and peaceful coexistence.

I imagine that there are graduates amongst us that will write deep, thoughtful books on the nature of the human experience, books that will help us see the paths that we should follow.

I imagine that there are graduates amongst us that will take music and arts to a level that will astound us with visual and auditory beauty.

It is fun to imagine.

John Lennon imagined a somewhat different world. In his world there would be no religion, no heaven above us and no hell below. I can imagine a world without hell and even a world without religion but not world without heaven.

Heaven is a place that we, fundamentally flawed humans, imagine to be the dwelling place of a supernatural being we call God. To me, and I imagine for most of you, this supernatural being is made known to us through love. My God is the God of love.

Love is what binds us together. Love is what makes us want to get up each day and do the best we can. Love is why we are all here tonight. Love is made manifest in us humans.

I imagine that there are graduates amongst us that will compassionately reach out to the entire world and bring to them the love and respect that they deserve.

Tonight I feel love all around me and I’m sure you feel the same. It is in the air. It is like an invisible web that is touching and joining us all together. I feel the love of my mother, father and grandparents, my uncles and aunts, my brothers and sisters and cousins. I know each and every one of you feel the same. You cannot help but not feel love’s spirit touching us.

There is a love boiling inside of me wanting to break free to reach out to each and every one of you. Not just in my tight family and not just here with my fellow graduates. I want to share that love with the entire world and I want the world to share its love with me.

The family of my high school has taught me a lot and I have been blessed with many gifts. We all have. The most important lesson school has taught me is the lesson of love. The most important blessing I have is love. Like I said I want to share that love with the entire world. But that is not possible.

Henry David Thoreau said something else that strikes my fancy. He said if a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

I like Thoreau. He was a pretty insightful fellow.

The drummer I hear measures out love. For all that I will do, for all that the class of 2007 will do, I hope we do it to the beat of love.

In closing I want to say that I love you my high school. I love you, Class of 2007, and I love the opportunities set before us. But most of all I love you – all of you.

Love is so sweet. Hang on to it for all that it is worth. Good night and may the good Lord bless you the family of the Class of 2007.

r.j. desprez

Tyrone, Ga.

zerpsed1 (at) yahoo.com

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