May 27, 2014
The following is excerpted from my address at Commencement on May 22, 2014
Class of 2014, if I have any advice for you, it’s take some advice. Through all the rest of your life, may you be offered and may you be willing to receive the gift of “good counsel.” Right now, there’s no shortage of advice in your life. It’s barely noon and already [you've received advice from]—me, Mr. Campbell, Fr. Gross, mom, dad . There will be plenty more—“You simply must go here when you’re at the Beach.” Or not. “You really should rush for a fraternity freshman year.” Or not. “You are going to look great with this tattoo.” Or not. Enough with the advice.
Listening to advice was certainly not my strength when I set out as a college freshman. Why did I need advice? I was smart; I had the exam scores to prove it. Back then in 1976, almost every African nation boycotted the Montreal Olympic Games over my homeland New Zealand’s continued willingness to play rugby with South Africa, a nation isolated from the rest of the world because of its racist ideology. Nelson Mandela still had 14 years left in prison on Robben Island. The issue divided households. Dinner discussions degenerated into arguments. I would push away from the table thinking my dad was about the last person I would ever count on for advice. After all, I knew what I was talking about. “You don’t listen” I said, dismissively. I was in love with my own way of seeing things. Well, the passage of time makes us humbler. Becoming a parent yourself makes a difference, too. Once in the real world it did not take too long for me to start to cherish the good counsel of my dad and mom.
Class of 2014, we know you have plenty that you have to struggle with and figure out on your own. Nonetheless, stay open to good counsel. Earlier this month, Pope Francis had this to say: “We know how important it is in the most delicate moments to be able to count on the advice of people who are wise and who love us.” You have a lot of those people right here. Your teachers, behind me. Your family, right behind you. That’s good counsel.
The Holy Father went on to say that whether it comes from a prayer to Mary, Mother of us all, or a few wise words from our own mother, the gift of counsel can enlighten the heart and help us understand the right way to speak and behave. Being able to listen to advice helps us grow. The Pope concluded: “Little by little we put aside our own way of thinking, which is most often dictated by our closures, by our prejudice and by our ambitions, and we learn instead to ask God: What is your will for me? … Always ask for the gift of counsel.”
So, graduates, two take-aways: Leave Good Counsel. Take good counsel.