Graduates, make up your bed

It’s graduation season, and it’s been interesting, especially on the college campuses. President Biden gave the commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta last weekend. From what I saw, it appeared to be more of a campaign speech, with President Biden trying to drum up support from his political base.

Several colleges canceled, or scaled down, their graduation services, due to pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld spoke at Duke University, and several graduates walked out of the graduation in protest, apparently since Seinfeld is Jewish.

Then there was the speech given by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker to the spring graduating class at Benedictine College, a Catholic liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas. Butker, also a Catholic, shared traditional Catholic views with the graduates, and has been criticized strongly in the media for his speech, especially about the roles of men and women in today’s culture. A traditional Catholic spoke at a traditional Catholic college and shared traditional Catholic thought, and the media and the internet responded with outrage.

Not so controversial was a graduation commencement speech from a few years ago. It was given by Admiral William McRaven at the University of Texas graduation. McRaven commanded the Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden. McRaven spoke to the Texas graduates about the ten most important lessons he learned from the difficult SEAL training program. His first lesson is, in my opinion, probably the best graduation advice I’ve heard.

It is, “Start your day by making your bed.” Why? McRaven stated that if you do so, it will mean that the first thing you do in the morning is to accomplish something, which sets the tone for the day, encourages you to accomplish more, and reinforces that little things in life matter. “And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made,” McRaven said, “and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.”

I’m sure there are also the usual commencement addresses for the graduates this year. The ones that tell graduates to go out, chase their dreams, and do what makes them happy. College professor and popular author, Scott Galloway would probably tell them something much different.

Galloway is a clinical professor of marketing at New York University (NYU), has a podcast, and is the author of several books. In a recent radio interview, I heard him state that you should find out what you’re good at, and work hard developing it, even though it may not be your “dream.” He says that being good at something makes you feel good about yourself. He adds that if you’re really good at something, you probably can make good money doing it. And that ordinary occupation may end up becoming your “dream” occupation.

But maybe there’s another challenge to present to those graduates. It’s the first line in Rick Warren’s best-selling book, “The Purpose Driven Life, where he writes, “It’s not about you.” In the book, he states that it is not about me and my plans, wants and desires. It is about determining and achieving God’s purpose in our lives. If you do that, then you will find the life and career that you were created for.

In closing out his speech to the Benedictine College graduates, Harrison Butker echoed that sentiment. He said, “Make no mistake, you’re entering into mission territory in a post-God world. But you were made for this and with God by your side and a constant striving for virtue within your vocation, you too can be a saint.”

And graduates, remember to make up your bed.