My commencement address to Concordia class of 2024
A few people have requested copies of the text of the commencement address that Dr. Jeffry Utzinger delivered for me last Saturday. Sadly, I came down with COVID and he graciously stepped in to be my voice. Below is an unedited version of that address.
27 April 2024
Thank you, Don!
A todos Uds., los graduados del ano 2024, Felicidades!
Congratulations to you, Concordia’s graduating classes of 2024!
Last month, I came across a jarring image that I did not what to make of it. You may have seen it, too. You can search for it. It was of a smiling father with a newborn baby resting on his chest. What was startling was that he was wearing his new virtual reality headset called Vision Pro. It augments reality via technology. The father described it in his posting as “dad mode” saying he had found a great application for his headset. (L.M. Sacasas’s Substack blog “The Convivial Society”)
Christian ethicist Wendell Berry said: It is easy for me to imagine that the next great division in the world will be between people who wish to live as creatures and people who wish to live as machines. (Life is a Miracle, 2000)
So, I challenge you, graduates of 2024, to seek to be creatures.
Wendell Berry goes on to warn against our willingness to allow machines and the idea of the machine to set the standards by which we creatures ought to produce and live.
Technology and Machines are by their very nature efficient, productive, labor intensive, full of information, instantaneous, and fast.
Don’t get me wrong. These values are not evil or nefarious. Who doesn’t want to be efficient and productive? I used technology to write this address.
But I am suggesting that our temptation as creatures is to idolize the values of these machines and to strive to be more like them. And, then, when we do, we find ourselves trapped in a technological desert of loneliness, efficiency, and productivity.
Social media use and technology, in general, have now been scientifically shown to cause negative impacts our mood, fueling feelings of anxiety, depression, isolation, and the fear of missing out. Lack of positive feedback online can decrease our feelings of self-worth. Technology can disrupt our attention, our sleep, and our ability to focus on deep work. And that’s not even to mention how the entire way of life is fueled by advertisements and sponsored content designed to steal our attention and shape our desires and worldview. It has become a lifestyle so normalized that we don’t even notice its worst effects on us.
L.M. Sacasas writes that there are two ways to augment reality: virtually in the mode of machine, or by paying attention – in the mode of a creature. A headset can be a pair of spectacles, but it can also be a blindfold. Ian Bogost
So, what is it to live as a creature again?
Where do we learn the deeply spiritual skills of developing a relationship with God, developing a relationship with nature, developing a relationship with each other?
Technology is crowding out our spiritual, contemplative spaces.
And, so, if you prefer to live your lives more deeply as creatures as I do, let us turn this morning to a beloved American poet named Mary Oliver, who, in her poem “Sometimes,” offers three suggestions. She writes:
Instructions for Living a Life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Instrucciones para vivir una vida:
Prestes atencion.
AsOmbrate.
Cuentalo.
Pay Attention! / !Prestes atencion!
The famous Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Watson are on a camping trip. In the middle of the night, Holmes wakes up and gives Watson a nudge.
“Watson,” he says, “look up in the sky and tell me what you see.”
“I see millions of stars, Holmes,” says Watson.
“And what do you deduce from that?” asks Holmes.
Watson thinks for a moment, gazing intently at the stars. “Well,” he replies,…
Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of exoplanets.
Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in the constellation of Leo.
Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three A.M.
Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
Theologically, I come to know the heavens declare the glory of God!
What does looking up in the sky tell you, Holmes?
To which Holmes replies: “Watson, you idiot! Someone has stolen our tent!”
(From a collection of jokes on Philosophy, “Plato and a Platypus walked into a bar” 2007)
“The meaning of your life is not what happens to you, but what you pay attention to.” Winifred Gallagher in Rapt
Just think about it. Everything in your life that you have not paid attention to does not exist. You can’t be influenced by what you never noticed.
Why is someone else different from you? One major reason is that they have paid attention to different things.
The average American spends an average of 11 hours of screen time each day. Since that is an average, it means that some people spend more time than that. How will that shape who you become.
I have heard that our attention is like a needle on an old LP record. So much happens, but you only pay attention to 1/100000000 at any moment of all the data coming in around you. This is not tragic for creatures; it is human and quite normal. We can’t pay attention to everything, but to do so is uniquely a creaturely activity.
It highlights how critical that needle of our attention will shape our characters and virtues.
Graduates, proud parents, family members, friends…Put down your phones. Look to your right, and then your left, and just take a second to feel this moment. Experience it. What do you see, smell, taste, feel, think? What are you aware of? Pay attention to it. This moment will not come again. It is a pure and gracious gift of the present. Take a moment to pay attention to it.
“The meaning of your life is not what happens to you, but what you pay attention to.” Winifred Gallagher
My wife Carol and I were privileged to take students, staff, and faculty out on birding walks each morning of Nature Fest this year. There we met Andrew Katakouris, a remarkable young man who is here today graduating with honors, earning his bachelor’s degree. We also met his attendant and facilitator, Amanda Atkins. Andrew’s story is extraordinary due to the opportunity to study online at Concordia.
As we listened for birds, Andrew and Amanda observed Carol using the bird song recognition app, Merlin, on our phones. They were amazed by its capability to identify bird sounds. Andrew, being legally blind, found this app transformative, as Amanda can now identify bird species through the sounds he detects, opening up a whole new aspect of the natural world for him. Congratulations, Andrew!
And, here is the great irony of technology, isn’t it? The very distraction device that frequently keeps us from noticing can be transformed into the very opposite, helping us to pay attention more closely.
An art professor at Harvard has a simple yet challenging assignment for her students: Go to an art gallery and find one piece of art (no smartphones), and then look at that piece of art for one hour. Students found it to be very difficult.
I decided to give this a try. I only lasted 20 minutes at the wonderful McNay Museum in San Antonio but I was surprised at what happened after standing there so long. Suddenly, I noticed the greys were different shades of grey, and I noticed the texture rippling. I saw the main character gazing up into an empty sky. It wasn’t until about ten minutes in that I noticed stars carved on the frame, not in the painting itself. Now I know what she was looking at! But was she looking within the art, or beyond it? I imagined how long it took for the artist to create this and how decidedly much less time I spent thinking about it.
Instructions for Living a Life:
Pay attention.
Second, Be astonished.
Instrucciones para vivir una vida:
Prestes atencion.
Segundo, AsOmbrate.
Be Astonished / !AsOmbrate!
Astonished comes from the word meaning “thunderstruck.” Something hits you. Another word for it is AWE.
Dachner Keltner, a lead researcher in the psychology of awe, defines it as "the feeling of being in the presence of something vast and mysterious that you don’t understand with your current knowledge." All we need is two minutes a day in awe to work wonders in our life.
According to Keltner and his co-author, Jonathan Haidt, the feeling of awe is marked by two features:
1. ‘perceived vastness’ - vastness is not just about size, but about something being beyond yourself (which could be ethical goodness, nature, people, music, etc.); and
2. a ‘need for accommodation’ - every person’s need to make meaning of that sense of vastness. This means needing to adapt our thinking, knowledge, and mental structures to assemble this new experience into our lives and figure out how it connects with ourselves.
How did you perceive the vastness of the solar eclipse, and how did you make meaning of that event?
I think anything, if we just take the time to hang with the things we encounter each day, and truly pay attention to them, they will lead us to astonishment.
One can see a spiderweb as an obstacle to a clean house, or a miracle of engineering to stand in awe of.
One can see a plastic bag blowing in the wind as ugly trash, or as a marvelous witness to it buoyancy and beauty as it drifts to and fro.
Being astonished is letting something true, good, and beautiful beyond yourself grab you and hold your attention. To be enchanted again, “struck and shaken by the extraordinary that lives amid the familiar and everyday.” -Jane Bennett
Wise men and women of every tradition have encouraged the cultivation of awe. They knew its benefits intuitively. Modern scientific study now confirms this ancient wisdom. Researchers have documented the following benefits of delight-based awe emotions:
Results in better physical health
Gives a more profound sense of humility - awe experiences make us feel smaller (small self)
Improves critical thinking skills
Gives a greater satisfaction with your life
It puts you in better mood
Reduces the feelings of needing material items to make you happy
Increases cooperative feelings and generosity toward other people
Makes you a kinder person toward others
Consider this: A group of researchers took some people into a grove of towering Eucalyptus trees. They asked some of the subjects to look up into the trees. They asked others to stare at a nearby building. After one minute, when a pedestrian “accidentally” stumbled and spilled some pens, the tree-gazers provided more help retrieving the pens than did the wall-gazers.
50-60 percent of awe experiences are reported from people being amazed by other people. One of the consistent and reliable sources of awe is the other human creatures with whom we share each day. Says Keltner, ‘We often think of awe as spiritual or natural – and that’s part of it – but the bigger story is it’s about our fellow human beings.’
Quoting the French philosopher Simone Weil (Vey) (1903-1943), Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) used to say that love was the sudden realization that somebody else absolutely exists. (REPEAT)
CS Lewis put it another provocative way in his essay, The Weight of Glory,
It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor.
The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.
It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.
All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.
It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.
There are no ordinary people.
You have never talked to a mere mortal.
Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.
But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors….
Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.
The Weight of Glory (HarperOne, 2001), pp. 45-46.
Who is this mystery that is that person sitting next to you, or your parent, or your sister, or that stranger? Be astonished!
Consider the father holding his sleeping infant on his chest. What would it like to pay full attention and to be astonished by what is transpiring at that moment. I quote technology ethicist L.M. Sacasas, “What does sight disclose, at first glance and after sustained attention? What details reveal themselves—about the texture of the skin, the features of the face, the fuzz of hair about the head? What scent does he pick up? Quite possibly it is unpleasant! But not always. It is likely to be subtle but distinct. What does he hear? The quiet breathing? What does he feel? The weight on his chest? The softness of the skin?...Now consider how such an experience might shape memory, self-reflection, affection, a sense of purpose and moral responsibility. [What might happen to us as humans if we] habitually denied ourselves such experiences of depth and fullness?”
Instructions for Living a Life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Instrucciones para vivir una vida:
Prestes atencion.
AsOmbrate.
Cuentalo.
Tell About it! / !Cuentalo!
Maya Angelou wrote: There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
For this final section, let me share not my voice, but the voice of some of my students, who have spent time this semester paying attention, being astonished, and telling about it.
First, you will hear students from my Christian View of Nature class, and second, from my Christian Ethics class.
Here is what they paid attention to, were astounded by, and now tell about it:
Mariel Mejia: Once you observe one animal and what it eats, where it lives, and how it lives, it helps you connect everything else. This allows you to see the bigger picture and learn about everything else around it.
Julian Meza: But the Queen's Gambit re-sparked my interest [chess]. Since then, I have learned so much about what the game has to offer. Aspects of concentration, memory, creativity, strategic thinking and so much more. From my time as a beginner blundering all my pieces and leading my troops to their inevitable defeat, to now as an intermediate player, not only am I much better at the game, but I am a better decision-maker outside of chess. The game has taught me to stop and think. Evaluate the position and consider all possible outcomes;….
Randi Best: When I repotted the Croton [plant], I had a new bag of potting mix, and it was still wet from the rain …. The feeling of warm and damp soil in your hands is unmatched; everyone needs to experience what I felt in that moment. You can also feel individual parts of the potting mix: the coconut coir, the twigs, the perlite, the compost. There is also something deeply satisfying about looking at a plant’s roots. I cannot explain why; maybe it is because they look so simple, and yet they are keeping a complex organism alive, …. All of these things are profoundly calming and grounding, providing a break from the stresses of being a college student.
Trinity Klamecki: Whether we're walking through a forest, sitting by a babbling brook, or gazing up at the stars, nature has a way of calming our minds and opening our hearts to God's presence.
Ryan Scofield: The views [on the hike] were quite scenic and overlooked hundreds of feet of elevation, where we could see the middle school down to the water and coves. Although there was dead vegetation, the trees and distribution of sunlight had a few beautiful paths to walk through. We … were overwhelmed with the silence …I think Job chapter 12 hits on the most primal and beautiful aspects that we have lost in this current world, where he writes “But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8 ask the plants of the earth,[c] and they will teach you,
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
Major Smith: I observed how the rain fell and made contact with the water. I listened to the roaring of the rain as it began to pick up. ….the world was indeed alive, and had a language of its own. This language is so complex and beautiful, I like to think of it as nature's way of singing praises to God. … I watched as the wind and the rain blew the trees. It was like the trees were performing a dance that they had been doing for thousands of years. …I watched as leaves fell off and took flight, beginning their new journey into the unknown.
Hannah McIntyre: As I sat at the falls, I stuck my feet in the water. The water was chilly, but it felt so nice. There was a lot of moss flowing down the waterfall…and my cousin and I were like “gross” just because it was stinky.
Raley Ehlers: I was praying for Concordia campus but then I looked out into the preserve and thought of the fact that this campus is small compared to the whole Austin area. I then started to pray for all of Austin and the other schools here, which led me to pray for our teachers, leaders, and government.
Valerie Daniels: …We started the hike [at Bull Creek Park], and it was very interesting being able to get close to the rocks and see the different patterns and formations in it and being close to the water. … I enjoy the peace nature brings me, and it helps me realize how God’s creation really is perfect. … It is almost like we have been removed from God’s creation for so long it takes these experiences for us to realize how much we don’t actually need our phones, technology, a television, and other things that ruin our dopamine system to make us happy.
Allese Crutcher: The three questions that I found most engaging were “Do we need God?”, “Must my job be the primary source of my identity?”, and “What is the difference between right and wrong.” [In the discussion of] “Must my job be the primary source of my identity?” … I choose to read the short poem titled “The last hours” written by Stephen Dunn which talks about a man who is applying for a job but once he visits the workplace, he sees the reality around him. He talks about how the coworkers around him were dedicated to chasing money no matter what, which has altered their personalities making them more robotic. He mentions that one of his coworkers seems to be selling himself to a caller over the phone which lead to him deciding to quit the job. This overall discussion surrounding identity and career made me take a step back and question my own career path. … the poem [The Last Hours by Stephen Dunn]…showed exactly how a person stays true to the values they hold within themselves and chooses to walk away from something that would change them. …this discussion helped me restore hope in the path I'm deciding to choose.
EJ Sanchez: Take my college baseball career as an example. In 5 years, there will not be a single player on the roster that will have played with me. Heaven forbid, we may not even have the same coaching staff. The name “Efren Sanchez Jr” will not mean a thing to anybody if all I am is a catcher who played well and maybe even got his name mentioned in a publication or two. That’s why I have made it my mission to pour whatever wisdom and comfort I do have into the next generation. … There have been situations where I have brought others to my home in Georgetown for a homemade meal since I know many are hours or even states away from their homes. I do this so that they may be inspired to do the same for the next generation. My name may not be on a plaque, but if somebody’s life was touched by me, then I will take being meaningful over significant any day of the week.
TJ Jackson: The work “On Love” by Joseph Pieper explains the value and power of love. Pieper suggests that love is an act of affirmation of something or someone’s existence. Love is a part of God, altering relationships and perception. He uses the example of Mother Teresa and her compassion towards the dying and unfortunate without compensation. Mother Teresa’s works show that love requires grace, forgiveness, and transformation, encompassing a type of love called Caritas, a love characterized by charity or giving to those in need. The idea of love as an act of affirmation was most meaningful and changed the way I view love. …This essay … it guided me to believe that I ought to love more and love well.
Christian Garza: For me, the three most important questions are “What does it mean to be human,” “Why does art matter,” and “With whom and for whom shall I live …
[the question ] “What does it mean to be human,” is important to understand because it helps us to define what humanity is concerning everything else. It is the base level of understanding for our life, and out of it comes our understanding of the world around us. …The quote [from the Pico Iyer essay that sticks out is, “To me this only confirms the visceral sense many of us have that holiness and humanness may be more closely entwined than we imagine (Iyer, Pico, pg. 30).” … I am a Christian, I believe that God created us in His image (The Bible, Gen. 1.27). [We are] a reflection of Him.
MacKenzie Berger: “Should speech be free?” … I chose this topic … because it honestly made me open up my mindset over speech. When thinking about free speech before this discussion, I specifically thought about government speech that is lawful or speech that is said in a big setting. This story [“Breaking My Silence” by Min Jin Lee.] was about a girl who immigrated to New York with her family when she was seven years old. The narrator faced many bullies and actions in the story that made me question whether speech should be free, or to what extent we should limit free speech. …
Theresa Skelly: One topic I found to be engaging was the conversation the class had when answering, “With whom and for whom should I live?” This conversation led to us discussing family and how it influences our lives. By discussing this together I gained a new understanding of my classmates and heard struggles we all seemed to face when answering this question for ourselves.
Molly Stewart?: This novella [The Death of Ivan Ilych] really made me realize that I need to start taking the risks that I want to take because life is fleeting. … Ivan’s life was very grey, he did not have anything to really live for, he settled, he didn’t seek happiness through anything. This serves as a warning to us, do not settle for the grey life just because you are comfortable, shoot for color, shoot for passion!
Alejandro Davila (Dro): [T]he discussions we had … [on] why art mattered….helped me learn that art matters because it allows us to express our deepest emotions, ideas, and experiences in a way that transcends language and connects us to our shared humanity. One story in the book follows an artist who uses her work to process the grief of losing a loved one. By channeling her emotions into her paintings, she finds solace and meaning in the face of profound loss. Another story profiles a community art project that brought together people from diverse backgrounds to create a mural celebrating their shared hopes and dreams. These examples helped me understand how art can serve as a powerful tool for self-expression, healing, and creating human connections.
Emma Jones: I am able to discern that I am living a life that matters because I see the ways that God is with me- ultimately my life matters because of Him. It relates to living a good life because I want to act according to what God expects of me, making sound choices and being a positive influence for myself and others. This also gives my life meaning. Relationships are also very impactful, and if they are driven and connected by love, then there will always be some kind of satisfaction in my life. I also think that hardships and trials also bring about meaning, and God is particularly good at this because He works in ways that I can never foresee, so if I am dealing with something challenging, I have faith that he will help me through it if I am true to my faith. This process alone gives my life personal significance and meaning, and I think it is better to have that kind of belief system than nothing when it comes to making yourself a good life
David Castelan: In my conversation with individuals from diverse backgrounds, I aim to approach with genuine curiosity and a sincere desire to understand their beliefs and experience. By asking questions rooted in genuine curiosity, I hope to uncover insights that challenge my assumptions and broaden my perspective….By asking questions that honor their experiences and perspectives, I aim to foster meaningful dialogue and cultivate empathy.
Graduates: Risk it! Strive to be creatures!
- Pay attention!
- Be astonished!
- Write the song
- Compose the piece
- Narrative the play
- Write the blog
- Tell a friend
- Share with a stranger on the plane
- Draw the drawing
- Paint the painting
- Sculpt the sculpture
- Mime the feeling
- Serve the neighbor
- Cry and laugh with your family
- Be silent with God
- Shout the chant (pause)
- Celebrate your graduation!
- And, tell about it.
Congratulations!