Valedictorian Speech

May 22, 2007; Nixon Field

A great musician once played a concert in front of a large audience. After the concert, a man out of the audience approached the musician with the intent of making a statement about the man’s performance. “You are such an amazing musician, perhaps the best musician I have ever heard,” said the man. “I’d give my life to play your instrument as well as you do. Quickly and without much thought, the musician remarked “I already have.”
Mr. Rogers, administration and faculty, Dr. Turner, Mr. Corne, and fellow district officials, board members, and other prestigious guests, on behalf of the Class of 2007, I would like to thank you for all that you have done for us. Truly you have given your life to this school and this graduating class in order to make this night and all it stands for possible. More importantly, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of parents and family members to our lives, especially the love given to me by the members of my own family. Our families have provided us with the love and support necessary in order to propel us to the end of the path where we find ourselves tonight.
I now find my heart constrained, however, to turn my attention toward my fellow classmates. Tonight I wish to speak especially to you about the things of the past which are familiar to us and about the things of the future, that distant land that we call the “undiscovered country.” Four years have come and gone quickly, almost too quickly. Much has occurred in the past few years. We have witnessed many things that we expected to occur: three football state championships for Byrnes, the end of the Star Wars story, and the trial of Michael Jackson. We have also witnessed many things that we did not expect: disasters such as Katrina and the Tsunami, free elections in the former totalitarian state of Iraq, the imprisonment of Martha Stewart, and the death of the Crocodile Hunter.
Many of these events, however, have had little weight on our actual lives. They were events that affected our lives in only a peripheral manner, in about the same way that Al Gore’s brilliance contributed to the creation of the Internet. What has really mattered to us here at Byrnes is not what others have accomplished, but what we have accomplished as individuals and as a class. And our accomplishments have been great. Each one of us has used our talents, time, and abilities in order to reach greatness and prominence. There have been many different paths that each one of us could have taken at Byrnes.
And while there may have been many different paths that we could have taken over the past four years, one thing is certain: we have all taken our own path here at Byrnes. Some paths have led to band, others to FCA, and others to Williams-Brice Stadium on a cold December night. There will undoubtedly come a time later on in our lives when we look back upon these paths that we have taken in this place. We will recognize these experiences as significant events in the course of our lives. However, after our lives are over and when we look back from eternity, will we consider these events to have been eternally significant? Have we been good stewards of the little time that has been given to us? Job 14: 1-2 states that “man who is born of woman, is few of days and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not.” More importantly than all of this, will we have lived our lives with a real purpose? I am ever increasingly convinced that our lives cannot be considered eternally significant now or in the future unless we have a purpose.
So logically, in order to give our lives significance, we must find a purpose. Referring back to my story of the musician, we have all given our lives to something or other at Byrnes in search of a purpose. Some of us have found that purpose here while others will still continue to search throughout their lives in order to find their purpose.
Tonight, out of great gladness, I would like to announce that I have found my life’s purpose here in high school, and I have found it in Jesus Christ. Class of 2007, I tell you now that you too must find your purpose in Him as well, or else you will travel throughout your lives as you have traveled in high school: searching for real truth. We can only find true meaning, significance, and purpose in Christ alone. Christ is a guide, mentor, friend, and savior in the lives of those who know Him, and nothing really matters as long as He is exalted and glorified in our own lives. I acknowledge that this is indeed a narrow and strict view, but it is my experience that truth is also narrow and strict. In John 6:60, even Christ’s own disciples, those few men closest to Him, acknowledged that this is “the hard way.” It is undoubtedly, however, the only way, and the only way that can truly fulfill us all.
Having said that, I have only one question to ask you, my friends and fellow graduates. It is the same question Jesus Himself asked to his disciples when many of them deserted Him. Turning to Peter and the rest of the disciples, Jesus asked if His true disciples would also desert Him as well. In response, Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life?” Class of 2007, to whom or what will you go in this life? Where will you find your satisfaction and pleasure? From whence will you draw your purpose and meaning in this life? I hope and pray that you will find it in Jesus Christ. Only He has the true love, meaning, and treasure that we all desire and desperately need in this life. We would do well to remember that as we cross over tonight, under the divine guidance of a sovereign God into the undiscovered country.