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{"id":260,"date":"2012-05-14T19:31:08","date_gmt":"2012-05-14T19:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jonathanwilsonhartgrove\/?p=260"},"modified":"2012-05-14T20:45:58","modified_gmt":"2012-05-14T20:45:58","slug":"dear-class-of-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jonathanwilsonhartgrove\/2012\/05\/dear-class-of-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Class of 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"class$ <\/a>The weather was kind this year as SUV\u2019s with license plates from New York and Massachusetts started showing up around town, driving slowly with their turn signals on, trying desperately not to look lost. The sun shone bright and the humidity staid low and the local restaurants were packed with mothers in sun dresses, hugging their children, saying that they couldn\u2019t think of a better gift than seeing their child graduate from college. Such is Mother\u2019s Day in this city where we have not one university, but two. I can\u2019t imagine how difficult it must be to try to get a room.<\/p>\n

But if advice is what you\u2019re looking for, this is the place to be in early May. Our local newspaper was full both Saturday and Sunday of words of wisdom from politicians and civil rights leaders, TV personalities and even the First Lady, all weighing in with one last word for these young folks who\u2019re wrapping up their education to head out into the great wide world of work and family, avocations and citizenship.<\/p>\n

All of this reminded me of a conversation I had with a young man who graduated a few years ago. He\u2019d applied for our internship at Rutba House, and I\u2019d asked him what he hoped to get out of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d this young man said with an earnest expression, \u201cI want to be a doctor, and I\u2019ve got a pre-med degree that\u2019s prepared me for med school. I know med school is hard work, but after five or six more years, I\u2019ll know what I need to know to be a doctor. But I thought I should stop now and learn how to live. Because if I don\u2019t learn now, I\u2019m not sure when I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

$\"School$ <\/a>Of all the important things that could be said to the class of 2012, I think the most important might be the insight of this young man.<\/p>\n

Now is your chance to learn how to live.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Take it.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Because however much you want to make a difference, however much you want to fight injustice, however much you want to love and serve your neighbors, you can only do it as you live. And most schools don\u2019t teach you to do that well. What we need much more than answers to our big problems is people who can live a just and peaceable life, day in and day out, becoming the change they want to see in the world. What we need is people who know how to live.<\/p>\n

This is why, some years ago, I worked with about a dozen intentional Christian communities around the country to start a \u201cSchool for Conversion\u201d<\/a> that would allow young people to come and see how communities live that have tried to shape their whole life around the way of Jesus. We\u2019ve been hosting \u201cweekend visits\u201d<\/a> for the past six years, and some 1,500 people have passed through these communities, going on to start new communities, to join others, to establish households of ordinary radicals for their family and friends. These weekends are, in short, a space to come and consider how to live.<\/p>\n

The commencement exercises are over here in this college town, and the rain that held off has set in. Life is back to normal. But I\u2019m delighted to say that, just this coming weekend, SFC is hosting a weekend at Reba Place Fellowship<\/a>, one of America\u2019s oldest and wisest intentional Christian communities. There\u2019s even a few spots open yet.<\/p>\n

So, class of 2012, whether at Reba Place or elsewhere, go forth and learn how to live. You won\u2019t regret the time you spend apprenticing yourself to Jesus\u2019 way of life.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"