I don’t remember the commencement address at my college graduation. He or she did not leave much of an impression. For my Master’s degree, the speaker was some European scholar who the school had just given an honorary doctoral degree. He droned on and on about stuff that had nothing to do with what 90% of the graduates would be doing.
I was frustrated that my fellow students and my family had to endure that when it could have been, should have been, an inspiring address.
Having been serving college students for the past ten years, mostly at secular schools, I have found myself simply hoping that the commencement addresses would not be awful.
What we most often hear is worldly advice on how to get ahead in the world and the same-old-same-old “you can do anything you set your mind to” drivel.
I wish that my students could hear a truly inspiring, theologically rich, and practical commencement address.
Now I can give them seven!
That’s what we get in a new offering from the great little indie press Square Halo Books, Serious Dreams: Bold Ideas for the Rest of Your Life.
Byron Borger has gathered seven inspiring, theologically rich, and practical commencement addresses, along with two essays on what it looks like to practically apply these Christian principals in the real world out there after college. The messages are from such incredible Christian mentors and speakers as Richard Mouw, Steven Garber, Amy Sherman, John Perkins, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Byron Borger, and Claudia Beversluis.
What a great gift for my graduating college students!
And what a great gift for the graduating student in your life.
Image by Shawn. Used with permission. Sourced via Flickr.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In