On the Horizon, All Shall Be Well...
- Alec Plumley
- Apr 3, 2019
- 7 min read
Updated: Apr 3, 2019
I wrote this in hopes to deliver it at my college Commencement. I, however, was not chosen for the honor, but still felt it was something that had immense meaning to me. I wanted someone to read it though, for it to exist in someone else's head too.
Enjoy.
The poet T.E. Lawrence once said, “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”
These words perfectly encapsulate the difficulties of life, the passion to pursue our dreams, the obstacles that lie within our path, and the will to see them realized in spite of the challenges that lie ahead.
Ladies & Gentlemen, family & friends, esteemed faculty & staff of John Carroll
University: Thank you for being here. Days like today are rare, and we will never come together again quite like this. I am humbled by the support of the John Carroll community, past, present, and future; as well as all of those who chose my words and saw them as worthy of being shared with you. Speaking to you today brings me joy beyond words. I am deeply and truly honored to both reminisce and look boldly forward to the experiences before us. A terrifying task to be sure, but one also filled with splendid promise and possibility. So share a few last moments with me on this bright spring afternoon as we walk together, venturing into the sunset of this brilliant experience.
On this beautiful afternoon, in this beautiful moment of success and finality, recall with me your first steps onto this beautiful campus of John Carroll University. Mine proved tentative, unsure, and tinged with the bitterness of disappointment.
I’ll tell you a secret, I didn’t plan to come to John Carroll University. I didn’t plan to take one step onto this campus. I had plans, plans for a specific life, with a direct goal unimpressed with the universe or it’s inconveniences. These plans proved unsuccessful.
John Lennon famously said; “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”. We build great expanses of possibility for ourselves. We decide that we will be important and famous and rich, that our lives will become greater than those around us. We feel that this is the only thing that will make us happy, the only goal that can make our lives worthwhile. Glory seems an obvious end, and in the end achieving it threatens to make us simple and small-minded. When we live only for ourselves we then subject ourselves to the obstacles of selfishness. Only by working towards the good of all means and hopes for every person can we be truly free to achieve the greatness that results from the greatest potential of love.
I must admit now however, that the whispers to fame and prestige led many of my first intentions on this campus. I was desperate to be accepted, to be recognized, to be praised; I was so desperate in fact, that the fear of not attaining those goals paralyzed me. Petrified me to the very spot that I started, I could not move forward because I was so obsessed with where I was standing.
I became stagnant. Routine became gospel and change was an invitation for failure, so I thoroughly ignored it. But then life, once again, showed me the direct effects of what immobility achieves in a ceaselessly mobile world.
I had my heart broken for the first time.
My family was struck with financial difficulties.
I almost lost my dad.
The realization that followed, of how fast life could change, could end, sparked me into movement. The need to accomplish something, anything became even more important. But in place of where vanity and self consciousness once stayed, something new was there. Hope.
My dad, a 1994 graduate of JCU, is a man of humor, a man of learning, and a man of
God. He is everything I hope I can be one day. I am a better person today because of
what he has taught me and has shown me endless strength through what he has endured. I fought, I worked, I committed and persisted because he showed me how. He has shown me the best qualities of a full-hearted man for others. The best qualities of a human being. I will never be able to repay him.
Speaking of unpayable debts, my mom is here today, and without her and her
ceaseless faith and strength I simply wouldn’t be standing in front of you today.
She is the most gracious, loving, and dependable person that I have ever known. I
know many people think that they have the greatest mother in the entire world, but I know it’s true. Plus I’m at the podium, so I win by default. God willing we all have the good fortune to have someone in our lives that make us better by their example. Cherish these people and never let them go, as we are reminded today, time runs out and can never be reclaimed. So tell them while you can how much they matter.
She has done everything in her power for the last 22 years to prepare me for the real world, to help me become the man I am today. But none of us are really ready. It is not a matter of opinion or degrees, it is simply fact. We have had opportunities aplenty to prepare us for the sheer immutability of reality, but when we step off this campus and are buffeted by that reality we will be given a choice: To care only for ourselves, or to accept a greater responsibility. To accept love.
Stop. Take a Breath. Look Around.
We all exist here, in this moment, from vastly different backgrounds and experiences, and because of that we have learned so much. I implore you to continue to seek new stories, live outside of yourself and engage in the empathy that comes from compassion for those unlike you. John Carroll has given us that chance, and we are now called to embody the ideals of that example.
But as we lie here in wait for the beginning of our lives, we know that though our hearts will always be with our families, we must quest on alone. The light that we see just beyond the horizon is a light that only we can recognize, and we must take the first steps towards it. So allow me to share just a few lessons learned, the hard won wisdom that I’ve earned these last 4 years.
Speak simply, love completely, work diligently. In spite of fault, in spite of despair, in spite of hatred; love boldly. The Gettysburg Address is 272 words long, the Ten Commandments is only 179. So say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done to preserve happiness and progress the ideals of justice and peace for all. We are here for a desperately short time, so I implore you to take actions that make everyday worth the steps you take.
Look around you, see into every eye that exists in this same moment and space as you do now. We depend on each other. We come from vast experiences and profound backgrounds, but we are not weaker because of those differences, we are stronger. By banding together in solemn recognition of our shared bonds of humanity, we can see the hope we symbolize for those who came before us, and those who will come after. The walk is long, the journey treacherous; so look off into the distance and see the future that we can build together. It’s possible, it is only a matter of time.
In the past 20 years we have seen a technological and cultural bound forward unparalleled by any other in human history. We are the generation that will stand on the verge of a new world, and the graduates of John Carroll University that sit before me today are going to be an integral part of that new horizon. We will investigate the most closely held secrets of the universe; curing before undominated diseases. Deciphering the tapestries of government and culture that will one day lead our separate threads to a world united in peace. And extending our hand forward to new generations, inspiring them to action and empathy through film, poetry, and theater.
The world has never been wider, and it is in desperate need of young, fiercely tenacious, and hungry progenitors of a new age, vigorously prepared to change the world for the better. Strive toward a legacy, but demand and fight for love and peace for all. These goals and more we will achieve, it is only a matter of time.
We can all recognize the oft quoted adage about those journeys of 1000 miles. Well the journey lies ahead of us, and the threshold lies at our feet. We can’t see the destination from here, but we can see where our first step will fall, and that is enough.
So take a deep breath, because the rich blue sky is above and the road rises up to meet us, the gentle breeze at our backs. Our chance to spring into this rich and plentiful world is upon us, and the duties of our generation to stride forth in the pursuit of progress and possibility is more important than it has ever been before. The walk is long, the trails are untraveled and uncharted, but our destination can be reached. It is only a matter of time.
I could try to give you the perfect parting words. To pass on the most intricately and profoundly chosen quilting of thoughts strung together in just such a way as to inspire you to success and happiness for all the years to come, but I can’t.
No one can.
It is your responsibility, your destiny, to find out why you were put on this Earth, and do so in service and love to one another.
When life is unjust, be the source of justice.
When the world seems offset and wrong, be part of the balance that sets the horizon right once more.
When the sky and stars are dark, the future seems bleak, and the glow has left the eyes of those who were once hopeful, seek the light on the horizon. It’s there, I promise you it is.
But only remember to reach out and hold the hand of someone you love and you will soon see it too, it is only a matter of time.
So Class of 2019; I have nothing else for you, and everything lies ahead. Go forth, live your dreams with your eyes open and have no need for vanity or selfishness. This desire and determination makes us dangerous, but it is hope in the dreams of our fellow man that makes us truly powerful. One day we will see these hopes realized, but until then…
as T.S. Elliot wrote, “And all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well...”
Don’t doubt, don’t fear, don’t despair; we will see each other again, it is only a matter of time.
Hell's Bells,
Alec Plumley
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