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commencement-speech-lead-ssThe commencement speech is an American tradition. Every year, on graduation platforms across the country, a prominent person steps up to the podium and spends a few minutes encouraging, instructing, and challenging the graduates as they cross the threshold into the next phase of their lives.

Most of these speeches are a stew made up of self-help ingredients, with a strong “pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps” base and a dash of “you can change the world!” sprinkled in for good flavor. But we shouldn’t skim too quickly over these commencement addresses.

Nick Eicher of World magazine describes them a “cultural barometer;” that is, they offer us a window into what some of the most famous people in our society see as the purpose of life. They show us what passes for common sense and moral exhortation in our society.

Every now and then, one of these speeches will become part of the cultural milieu, as was the case with Steve Jobs’ 2005 address at Stanford, in which he spoke candidly about his brush with cancer. He defined death as “life’s greatest invention” because of its ability to force people to look at their lives with clarity and purpose.

As Christians, we ought to pay attention to commencement addresses because they are a good indicator of what our friends and neighbors “take for granted” as sound advice and worldly wisdom. What is the good life? How is it achieved? What kind of future should you pursue? If we are to be on mission in the society in which God has placed us, we ought to be curious about how our society sees the world, the future, and the role of the next generation in it.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to take a closer look at several of this year’s commencement addresses. If these are a “cultural barometer,” then perhaps we would do well to reflect on what many people in our culture believe, and ask what are the strengths and weaknesses of this cultural outlook. We’ll begin with the address that made the most headlines this year — Stephen Colbert at Wake Forest University. In subsequent posts, we’ll consider the words of Katie Couric, Tim Cook, Ian McEwan, Meredith Viera, and Bill Nye.

I hope you find the series to be engaging and enlightening.

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