Bryant Kirkland - Baccalaureate Service (May 7, 1983)

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-	Distance...and you make	0:03
	your contribution to your time.	0:04
	When things get rough for me in New York,	0:08
	I don't know what your political	0:10
	feeling may be, but he's gone,	0:12
	so we can talk about it--Winston Churchill.	0:14
	I'd looked back on him because he was thrown	0:18
	out of office four times,	0:20
	and bounced back each time when	0:24
	the public called him to assume leadership;	0:25
	without rancor or resentment because he lived	0:29
	in the vision of something beyond his time.	0:33
	And you can apply this to any aspect of your life	0:38
	or your classmates or your future, yet unseen.	0:40
	Because God has a way of giving you	0:45
	an interpretation of circumstance,	0:49
	as that imminent biochemist Rene Dubos said:	0:52
	"It's not what you have in life,	0:57
	"it's what you do with what you have	0:58
	"that celebrates life".	1:00
	That's my point.	1:03
	Live in the light of an inner vision.	1:05
	Because the short term perspective is never enough.	1:08
	Because a single event does not encapsulate	1:11
	the whole of the situation.	1:14
	On top of it, is your personal dedication	1:15
	and your own interpretation	1:19
	of the circumstance that happens to you.	1:20
	And another major aspect,	1:24
	to live in the light of the inner vision	1:26
	is because there's more depth to your development	1:27
	and our country, and the university,	1:32
	then any of us can imagine.	1:37
	Because God works unseen	1:39
	in any event or incident.	1:42
	Lately I have gotten great comfort, friends,	1:48
	out of T.S. Eliot--a play called A Yard of Sun.	1:50
	It deals with a courtyard	1:54
	in Italy after World War II.	1:56
	This is an astounding line,	1:59
	I don't know what your faculty would say,	2:01
	but we're all removing out of here, aren't we?	2:03
	This is what T.S. Eliot said, listen to this:	2:07
	"There is a reality	2:11
	that would make falsehood	2:15
	"out of much that we hold true today."	2:17
	I can hear a philosophy major say:	2:23
	"Oh, that's just Berkeleyan subjectivism."	2:24
	But there is a greater reality	2:30
	that would make falsehood of much	2:32
	that we hold true today.	2:35
	It's a reasonable position to hold.	2:38
	A few weeks ago was the anniversary	2:41
	of the discovery of the Great Bay	2:43
	of New York Harbor--sorry to be local,	2:46
	but that's where I'd been confined	2:48
	for the last 20 years.	2:50
	Giuseppe Verrazzano	2:53
	came in on April the 17th	2:56
	1524 and discovered the Verrazano Bridge.	2:58
	(audience laughs)	3:02
	He'd started a few weeks earlier down here	3:07
	mapping the coast of Carolina,	3:09
	he went on all the way to Maine.	3:13
	What's my point?	3:15
	Those days in 1524, were bold days;	3:18
	you had Columbus who died in...59,	3:21
	you had Americus Vespucio who died	3:24
	in 1527	3:28
	and Verrazzano.	3:32
	Verrazzano did the most to map the American	3:34
	coastline and open up	3:37
	for the colonies.	3:40
	Each built on the other.	3:43
	And it's been that way in all of science.	3:46
	There was electricity in the Garden of Eden,	3:49
	but they didn't know how	3:52
	to make it a public utility.	3:53
	(audience laughs)	3:55
	If that is not so, when did magnetism	3:56
	and the whole Electrofield Theory	4:00
	come into existence in between?	4:01
	And when did they plant uranium?	4:06
	It's all there;	4:09
	and in the days of Verrazzano and the others,	4:12
	they thought the Earth was flat	4:14
	and science taught for four centuries	4:16
	the Earth was flat, you fall off.	4:18
	We don't believe it anymore.	4:21
	There is a greater reality	4:22
	that would make falsehood of much	4:25
	that we hold true today.	4:27
	So you live in the light of a vision	4:29
	that the God of creation, the God of wisdom,	4:31
	the God of the university life,	4:34
	the God who is always been willing to move	4:35
	with courageous men and women,	4:38
	will guide you into all truth.	4:39
	And he has a role for every one of you to play.	4:42
	I like to think of the young woman who retired	4:49
	last summer--this is a rather lowly example,	4:51
	but it seeks to make my point.	4:54
	She was the information clerk	4:56
	in Radio Corporation America	4:59
	building in Rockefeller Center,	5:01
	and many young men and women touring	5:02
	New York would go to her with their personal	5:04
	problems and predicaments: where to stay,	5:07
	eat, go, and et cetera.	5:09
	She was a refugee and that was the only job	5:12
	she could get 39 years ago.	5:14
	And many men and women would've said	5:16
	that's not very high aspiration.	5:18
	She made a sacrament out of that information	5:21
	table and presided over it like a holy altar.	5:24
	Helping you young graduates who come	5:28
	to a great city to make your name and fortune,	5:31
	and find your fun and pleasure.	5:34
	And when she retired, a great staff of people	5:36
	recognized she had used that humble office	5:39
	as one of God's servants because she lived	5:43
	in the light of an inner vision,	5:45
	that her life, limited as it was,	5:47
	could be of great service in a tumultuous city.	5:48
	So God has great use for you men and women,	5:53
	and I urge you to live in the light of an inner	5:56
	vision because there are more ways to fulfill	5:58
	your life than you will ever know.	6:00
	If you want to live by the light	6:04
	of an inner vision remember,	6:05
	if I may refer to William and Mary College,	6:07
	President Ewell, when that institution	6:10
	was bankrupted for seven years,	6:14
	1881 to 1888,	6:16
	faculty were dismissed,	6:20
	buildings were left open,	6:22
	doors banged...	6:25
	Only President Ewell roamed that campus	6:28
	and everyday for seven years,	6:32
	went over and rang the chapel bell	6:34
	in hope and faith,	6:37
	and in a light of an inner vision	6:40
	that God would bless that institution,	6:42
	your institution.	6:45
	All men and women who live in the light of an	6:46
	inner vision that the God of truth	6:48
	and of progress will fulfill himself	6:52
	in the slow, painful,	6:55
	torturous process of human life.	6:57
	So I urge you to live by the light of an inner	7:02
	vision and continue your education	7:05
	as long as you live.	7:07
	I urge you dear friends,	7:10
	to live by an inner vision to nurture	7:11
	your life when times get rough	7:13
	in your profession, your marriage,	7:16
	and in your civic existence.	7:19
	I urge you to live by the light of an inner	7:22
	vision in order to create and contribute	7:24
	something to this republic in our time.	7:27
	And last, I urge you to live by the light	7:31
	of an inner vision that you may know the peace	7:34
	of God who made you	7:37
	out of the love of your parents	7:40
	and loves you inestimably	7:42
	through his son, our Lord.	7:46
	God bless you all,	7:48
	amen, let us pray.	7:51
	Grant us thy favor Lord Jesus Christ,	7:55
	in all the years to come, amen.	7:57
	(organ music)	8:06
	(choir sings)	8:26
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	10:00
	(audience speaks in unison)	10:02
	We believe in God who has created and is creating;	10:04
	who has come in the truly human Jesus,	10:08
	to reconcile and make new.	10:11
	We trust God, who calls us to be the church,	10:14
	to celebrate life and its fullness.	10:19
	To love and serve others;	10:22
	to seek justice and resist evil,	10:24
	to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	10:28
	Our judge and our hope	10:31
	in life, in death, in life beyond death,	10:34
	God is with us, we are not alone.	10:38
	Thanks be to God.	10:42
	The Lord be with you,	10:45
	(audience responds)
	let us pray.	10:48
	Carl Sanburg has a word for us, he writes:	10:56
	"I have kept high moments,	10:59
	"they go round and round in me."	11:02
	Let us pray.	11:06
	O blessed, loving Lord our God,	11:09
	we pause on this day of beauty and meeting,	11:11
	this high and holy moment,	11:14
	to thank you for all the high moments	11:17
	of the years just passed;	11:20
	moments that we recall just now.	11:22
	New insights, deep friendships,	11:26
	a trust kept, a hope realized,	11:29
	frustration overcome.	11:33
	Darkness become light,	11:36
	sadness shared, hurt healed;	11:38
	comfort given and received,	11:43
	new life experienced and love made real.	11:47
	For this is the place, O God,	11:53
	where our lives have been molded,	11:55
	our values clarified,	11:57
	our minds enlarged,	11:59
	our visions expanded,	12:01
	where our touch has been made more sensitive.	12:04
	For life, where life for each of us	12:08
	has taken on deeper and richer meaning;	12:10
	as together, we have struggled and sweated	12:13
	and studied and cursed and griped	12:17
	and laughed and cried and now, we celebrate.	12:20
	O God, in spite of our complaints	12:26
	and our frustrations we do give you thanks	12:28
	for Duke University,	12:30
	and for all its people who love	12:31
	and care for one another here.	12:34
	Hear our prayers of intercession, O God,	12:37
	which we offer for those who graduate	12:39
	from this university now.	12:41
	Keep them strong in their struggles,	12:44
	weak in their pride.	12:47
	Give them health to do and to be,	12:50
	and grace, to become.	12:53
	Make them wise in their decisions	12:56
	and satisfied over the consequences.	12:58
	Give them power, not only to serve self,	13:01
	but also, to serve others.	13:04
	Give them not all things	13:07
	that they might enjoy life,	13:09
	but give them life that they might	13:10
	enjoy all things.	13:13
	Perfect, O Lord, the talents you have given them.	13:16
	Chasten the self-centered	13:22
	striving of their spirits.	13:23
	Forge their wills to follow you,	13:26
	no matter what the cost.	13:28
	Direct their lives the way	13:31
	that you would have them to go.	13:32
	And give them always the awareness that you	13:35
	and your love are with them.	13:38
	May deep joy be their constant	13:41
	companion along their way.	13:44
	May they keep this high and holy moment,	13:48
	may it go round and round in them.	13:52
	And now hear us as we pray together:	13:58
	Our father who art in heaven,	14:01
	(audience prays in unison)	14:03
	hallowed be thy name.	14:04
	Thy kingdom come, thy will be done	14:06
	on earth as it is in heaven.	14:10
	Give us this day, our daily bread.	14:12
	And forgive us our trespasses	14:15
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	14:17
	And lead us not into temptation,	14:21
	but deliver us from evil.	14:24
	For thine is the kingdom,	14:26
	the power and the glory, forever, amen.	14:27
	(organ music)	14:39
	(choir singing)	14:47
-	Will you stand, please?	21:32
	Now will you join with me as we offer to God,	21:39
	this, our unison prayer of gratitude and hope,	21:42
	let us pray.	21:46
	Almighty God, as you have granted us place	21:48
	and part in this university,	21:52
	(audience prays in unison)
	hallow to us now, this day when we dedicate	21:54
	ourselves to the life and work	21:58
	to which you have called us here;	22:00
	that we may remember with gratitude	22:03
	the families and friends who have cared for us.	22:05
	We ask your presence, O God,	22:09
	that in the life ahead of us,	22:12
	we may keep faith with those who have loved us	22:14
	and trusted us and whose hopes follow us.	22:16
	We ask your presence, O God,	22:20
	that we may enter with good courage	22:22
	and constant purpose	22:25
	upon the tasks which await us,	22:26
	we ask your presence, O God.	22:29
	From all sense of strangeness and loneliness,	22:32
	and from the fear that we may fail	22:36
	or may find no friends, good Lord,	22:38
	deliver us from neglect of the opportunities	22:41
	which are all about us,	22:44
	and from distrust of our ability to meet	22:46
	the duties of each dawning day,	22:49
	good Lord, deliver us.	22:51
	That the example of wise and generous people	22:54
	who have gone before us in our families	22:57
	and here in this university,	23:00
	may save us from folly and self-indulgence,	23:02
	we ask your presence, O God.	23:06
	More especially, that you would show to us	23:09
	and to all people your way of love,	23:12
	in a time when all of us desperately	23:15
	need to love and to be loved,	23:18
	we ask your presence, O God.	23:20
	These things and whatever else you see	23:23
	needful and right for us,	23:26
	we ask in your holy name, amen.	23:29
	(organ music)	23:34
	(choir singing)	24:13
-	And now my friends,	27:28
	fill your minds and hearts with those things	27:29
	that are good and worthy of praise.	27:33
	Those things which are true and noble	27:38
	and right and pure, lovely and honorable.	27:40
	Put into practice the good	27:46
	which you have learned at this place.	27:47
	And the God who loves us and cares	27:51
	for us and gives us peace,	27:54
	will be with you now and always.	27:57
	(choir sings)	28:09
	(organ music)	29:21
	(faint audience chatter)	30:01
	(triumphant organ music)	32:27
	(lighter organ music)	39:54

-	Grace, mercy and peace be with you	15:57
	from the Lord, our God, who has made us	16:02
	who redeems us and sustains us.	16:06
	With what shall we come before the Lord, our God	16:11
	and bow ourselves before God on high.	16:15
	God has showed us my friends, what is good	16:20
	and righteous and what does the Lord requires of us,	16:24
	but to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly	16:28
	before our God.	16:32
	With that awareness, let us confess our sin	16:34
	before God almighty, be seated please.	16:38
	Let us pray, oh holy God, to who's service we long ago	16:55
	dedicated our souls and lives, we grieve and lament	17:01
	before you, that we are still so prone to sin	17:05
	and so little inclined to obedience.	17:09
	Attached to the pleasure of sins, negligent of things	17:12
	spiritual, prompt to gratify our bodies, slow to nourish	17:16
	our slows, greedy or present delight in different	17:22
	to lasting blessedness, fond of idleness,	17:26
	indisposed for labor, soon at play, late at prayer.	17:31
	Brisk in the service of self, slack in the service of others	17:37
	eager to get, reluctant to give.	17:42
	Lofty in our professions, low in our practice.	17:46
	Full of good intentions, backward to fulfill them.	17:50
	Severe with out neighbors, indulgent with ourselves.	17:55
	So eager to find fault, so resentful at being	18:00
	found fault with.	18:04
	So little able for great tasks,	18:06
	so discontented with small ones.	18:09
	So weak in adversity, so swollen and self satisfied	18:12
	in prosperity, so helpless apart from you	18:16
	and yet so little willing to be bound to you.	18:21
	Oh merciful heart of God, grant us yet forgiveness	18:24
	for your holy name's sake, amen.	18:29
	Writer of Hebrew's declares to us, anyone,	18:58
	who comes to God must believe, that God exists	19:01
	and rewards those, who search for God.	19:06
	The mercy of the lord is new every morning,	19:10
	great is your faithfulness, oh Lord, our God.	19:13
	By declaring to you in the name of the Lord, our God,	19:18
	our sins are forgiven, amen.	19:23
	With that assurance, let us give thanks for God is good	19:28
	and God's love is everlasting.	19:33
	Thanks be to God, who's love creates us,	19:36
	thanks be to good, who's mercy redeems us.	19:40
	Thanks be to God, who's grace leads us into the feature.	19:44
	Now I say a word of welcome to each of you this day,	19:50
	this is without a doubt the most significant occasion	19:54
	of the academic year for us here at Duke university,	19:58
	that is those events, which make up this graduation	20:01
	weekend, it is a holy time, a special time for all of us,	20:05
	so I welcome those of you, who are graduating	20:10
	and parents, and family and friends, those of you,	20:13
	who helped to make up the larger Duke family.	20:16
	We are glad to have you today.	20:20
	Those of you, who are parents and family should know,	20:22
	that this exactly, where the same students sit every Sunday,	20:24
	they just don't wear caps and gowns.	20:28
	Now I offer a word of congratulations to those of you,	20:32
	who graduate, my prayer is, that your time here	20:35
	has been most enjoyable and most beneficial to you	20:40
	and that as you leave this place, God's blessing	20:45
	will go with you to guide you and to give you courage	20:47
	in times of difficulty, to stir you and to keep you doing	20:51
	what is best for you and for God and your neighbor.	20:55
	It is our privilege today to have as our guest preacher	21:00
	for the bachelorette services for the class of 1983,	21:04
	a most distinguished United Presbyterian churchman,	21:08
	the revenant doctor Bryant Kurklin.	21:12
	Doctor Kurklin is a graduate of Wheaton college	21:16
	and of Princeton theological seminary, a man,	21:18
	who holds honorary doctor degree doctorates	21:21
	from a number of major universities.	21:24
	He has been the senior minister at fifth avenue	21:28
	Presbyterian church in New York city for 21 years.	21:31
	During that time, indeed, before that time,	21:35
	he was already acclaimed and widely known	21:38
	and well known in this country and around the world	21:41
	as a preacher, a teacher and a writer.	21:45
	Doctor Kurklin, it is our privilege and honor	21:49
	to have you here and to have you preach the word	21:51
	for us on this holy occasion, welcome to you, sir.	21:54
-	Let us pray, oh mighty God	22:08
	and whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom	22:12
	and knowledge, open our eyes, that we may behold	22:15
	wondrous things out of your word	22:19
	and give us grace, that we may clearly understand	22:21
	and heartedly choose the way of your love, amen.	22:25
	The old testament lesson is from second kings, chapter six.	22:31
	Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel,	22:37
	he took council with his servant saying at such	22:41
	and such a place shall be my camp.	22:44
	But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel,	22:47
	beware, that you do not pass this place	22:51
	for the Syrians are going down there.	22:54
	And the king of Israel sent to the place	22:57
	of which the man of God told him, thus he used	22:59
	to warn him so that he saved himself there	23:03
	more than once or twice.	23:06
	And the man of the king of Syria was greatly troubled,	23:09
	because of this thing and he called his servants	23:12
	and said to them, will you now show me who of us	23:15
	is for the king of Israel.	23:19
	One of his servants said, none, my lord, oh king,	23:22
	but Alicia, the prophet, who is in Israel tells	23:25
	the king of Israel the words, that you speak	23:29
	in your bed chamber.	23:32
	And he said, go and see where he is, that I may send	23:34
	and seize him.	23:38
	And it was told him, behold, he is in Dothan.	23:39
	He sent their horses and chariots and a great army	23:44
	and they came by night and surrounded the city.	23:47
	When the servant of the man of God rose early	23:50
	in the morning and went out, behold an army with horses	23:53
	and chariots were found round about the city.	23:56
	And the servant said alas my master, what shall we do?	23:59
	He said, fear not, for those, who are with us	24:04
	are more with those, who are with them.	24:06
	Then Alicia prayed and said, oh lord, I pray thee,	24:09
	open his eyes, that he may see.	24:12
	The lord opened the eyes of the young man	24:15
	and he saw and behold the mountain was full of horses	24:17
	and chariots of fire, round about Alicia.	24:22
	Here ends the reading from the old testament.	24:26
	The epistle lesson is from revelation, chapter 21.	24:30
	Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,	24:35
	for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away	24:38
	and the sea was no more.	24:41
	And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down	24:44
	out of the heaven from God, prepared as bride	24:47
	adorned for her husband.	24:50
	And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,	24:53
	behold the dwelling of God is with men,	24:56
	he will dwell with them and they shall be his people	25:00
	and God himself will be with them.	25:04
	He will wipe away every tear from their eyes	25:07
	and death shall be no more.	25:10
	Neither shall there be morning, no crying, no pain anymore	25:12
	for former things have passed away.	25:17
	And he, who set upon the throne, said,	25:21
	behold, I make all things new.	25:24
	Also he said, write this for these words	25:27
	are trustworthy and true.	25:31
	And he said to me, it is done, I am the alpha	25:34
	and the omega, the beginning and the end.	25:37
	To the thirsty I will give water without price	25:40
	from the fountain of the water of life.	25:43
	He, who conquers shall have this heritage	25:46
	and I will be his guide and he shall be my son.	25:49
	Here ends the reading from the epistle lesson.	25:54
	Will the congregation please stand for the reading	31:43
	of the gospel?	31:46
	The gospel lesson is from saint Matthew.	31:54
	Then the disciples came and said to him,	31:59
	why do you speak to them in parables?	32:02
	And he answered them, to you it has been given	32:05
	to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,	32:08
	but to them, it has not been given, for to him,	32:11
	who has will more be given and he will have abundance,	32:15
	but from him, who has not, even what he has	32:20
	will be taken away, this is why I speak to them in parables	32:24
	because seeing they do not see, hearing, they do not hear,	32:29
	nor do they understand.	32:33
	With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah,	32:36
	which says, you shall indeed hear but never understand	32:40
	and you shall indeed see, but never perceive.	32:44
	For this people's heart has grown dull and their ears	32:48
	are heavy of hearing and their eyes, they have closed,	32:51
	less they should perceive with their eyes	32:55
	and hear with their ears and understand with their heart	32:57
	and turn to me to heal them.	33:01
	But blessed are your eyes, for they see and your ears,	33:05
	for they hear, truly I say to you, many prophets	33:09
	and righteous men have longed to see what you see	33:12
	and did not see it, and to hear what you hear	33:15
	and did not hear it.	33:18
	Here ends the reading from the gospel lesson, amen.	33:20
-	President Sanford, distinguished trustees,	34:27
	faculty and honored graduates and long suffering parents,	34:30
	I congratulate you on your attainment and pray God's	34:37
	blessing on you, it's a great privilege to be here with you	34:41
	this afternoon to celebrate glory to God	34:45
	and commemoration of your future.	34:48
	When I asked my officers, if I might be released	34:51
	Sunday to come to Duke university, they said yes	34:54
	with alacrity, because of the fame of your institution,	34:58
	but as with such speed and enthusiasm I was wondering,	35:03
	if they were giving me a message.	35:07
	It is also a very heavy responsibility to talk to you	35:11
	young people and your parents, because of all the future,	35:14
	because of the imminence of many great issues in our day	35:20
	and because this is an historic tradition,	35:24
	that goes back centuries and centuries,	35:26
	when men and women held in unity both the secular	35:30
	and the spiritual world.	35:33
	Many of you have and some of you will go to the continent	35:36
	and see where young men and women often spend	35:39
	the whole night in prayer of dedication.	35:43
	My hope is to say one word to you, that may be useful	35:47
	as your fulfill your dreams on this happy weekend	35:50
	of graduation.	35:53
	In one sentence I would like to say to you,	35:56
	live by the light of an inner vision.	35:59
	If anybody asks you what he said, you can say, he said,	36:02
	live by the light of an inner vision.	36:06
	I say that, because the missionary out in Utah	36:10
	once walked into a saloon and drew two pistols	36:13
	and said, I came to preach the gospel	36:16
	and I aim to finish the sermon.	36:18
	The Harvard business review said, culture is not measured	36:23
	so much by success, as by how men and women	36:27
	and a generation handle their defeats	36:32
	and their disappointments.	36:34
	This is an interesting insight about vision,	36:38
	when you put it against one of the great cliches	36:41
	of our American era, Vince Lambardi said,	36:44
	you know, winning is everything!	36:48
	But as you know in an eminent state for basketball	36:55
	championships, somebody has to lose in order	36:59
	to make somebody win.	37:03
	Once the navy cross country team lost	37:07
	and their coach analyzed it with his runners	37:11
	and they said, coach we lost because we didn't know	37:14
	how to run downhill.	37:18
	How do you plan to handle the turbulence,	37:21
	the disappointments and the pain of life?	37:25
	That's a sad note to bring on a happy beautiful weekend,	37:30
	but the two go together, because when you live	37:34
	by the light of an inner vision, you will be able	37:37
	to discover, that most great artists, jurists,	37:41
	most people of substance, as the Harvard review said,	37:45
	have come to terms with the heights and the depths	37:49
	and now that, that amalgam has come, the character,	37:53
	that this wonderful education you've had in this glorious	37:56
	institution becomes wisdom,	37:59
	maturity, love, faith,	38:03
	hope, the things, that the world cannot give you,	38:07
	nor take away from you.	38:11
	You might have thought, when the president read	38:14
	the old testament lesson, what's that got to do	38:16
	with this vision.	38:19
	In quick capsule you know, it's the prophet and his servant	38:21
	were surrounded by a squadron and when they woke up	38:25
	in the morning, the servant said, oh look,	38:30
	cavalry all over the place, what will we do?	38:32
	And the prophet said, oh God, open his eyes to see	38:35
	a vision, as it were in the sky of the chariots	38:39
	and horses of God suggesting spiritual strength	38:44
	and a way out and then	38:47
	the prophet boldly led them down	38:51
	into the valley and threw the lines and they looked	38:53
	so none descript, that the encircling enemy	38:56
	didn't even recognize them.	38:59
	And so you see I have a play on two words there.	39:01
	Open your eyes to that, which is obscure	39:05
	and learn how to recognize the obvious.	39:13
	That should have special reference to you,	39:19
	because every one of your automobiles has a license plate,	39:21
	that says what, first in flight.	39:23
	And on December the 17th at Kitty Hawk, when these two	39:28
	methodist, bishop's sons flew that orange crate	39:31
	for about 19 seconds, one of the world's better known	39:37
	newspapers called, I think, the New York Times said,	39:42
	it isn't worth sending anyone down there,	39:47
	nothing will ever come of it.	39:49
	And all through the day and the night our jet driven	39:53
	transports cross the skies and any place in the world	39:57
	is 50 hours away from Raleigh Durham.	40:03
	And all within the lifetime of a couple of generations	40:08
	in your home state.	40:12
	I pray, that you may have a vision to see	40:15
	what is obscured, because the average man and woman	40:17
	is blind to recognize the truth and development	40:20
	the implicitness, because perspective close up	40:24
	can never give you the full perspective.	40:28
	It was in the 30s, when your parents may have known	40:32
	something of the depression, that a scientist	40:34
	named professor Goddard with colonel Augustus Lindbergh	40:38
	set off a small rocket, that went poof for 30 yards	40:43
	in a few second.	40:47
	And today there are 100s of satellites rocket	40:49
	born into the sky, possessing camera quality to read	40:54
	your program from a 150 miles in the heavens.	40:59
	Men and women, I pray for you to seize this great	41:04
	education you have and live the light of an inner vision,	41:08
	that sees beyond the obscure, into the potential	41:12
	of your life and of your times and of your state	41:15
	and your nation.	41:18
	Because there's enough validation in scripture	41:21
	and in secular history to teach you,	41:23
	that most men and women are near sighted or far sighted.	41:28
	Not to see the obscure and to fail to recognize	41:34
	the obvious as it happens to them.	41:39
	This has been the history of people, Abraham of ancient	41:43
	old testament, son of Judaism and Muslim faith	41:46
	with us all went out not knowing whether he went	41:50
	and never got there, but pursued it, because he said	41:54
	he looked for a city, who's builder and maker was God.	41:58
	Our lord taught the same thing, he,	42:03
	that would be the greatest,	42:05
	let him become the servant of all.	42:06
	And then John of Patmos exile, the author of the last lesson	42:11
	imprisoned on the island of Patmos,	42:17
	which is not a tourist attraction 60 miles westerly	42:19
	from the coast of Turkey, wrote the last book of scripture,	42:23
	because he saw a vision of a city, who's builder	42:27
	and maker was God, where there would be unity among men	42:30
	kind, that would be no more pain and sorrow and death	42:33
	and it would be the light eternal illumining	42:37
	the human scene.	42:40
	Only as you and I and our parents have dreams	42:42
	and hopes and vision can we get the most out of what	42:46
	you've had as a privilege in this great university.	42:50
	And if I stop now, I would pray God give you the light	42:55
	of an inner vision to go on all your years	42:59
	and fulfill your education with the high hopes,	43:02
	that lie before you.	43:06
	There are more powers available for you,	43:09
	than a closeup of this present perspective give.	43:12
	I hope you live to see the day, usually comes about 30 years	43:16
	later when things go around in a cycle.	43:19
	And people change and come right back to center.	43:23
	If you live that long and take that long viewpoint,	43:27
	you will have a stronger life	43:30
	and you will have more stability.	43:32
	You will learn, that no single event explains	43:35
	a situation, for example.	43:40
	Today just happens to be the birthday of two eminent	43:44
	musicians, Peter Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms,	43:47
	but if you read their short biographies,	43:53
	both men suffered long and intensely,	43:55
	that you and I on cassette or what's the new form,	43:59
	digital, I'm not quite up there yet,	44:04
	but the new sound system, the electronic,	44:07
	all that music comes out of the pain of these men,	44:10
	who suffered in the previous century.	44:14
	Tchaikovsky, for example was often laid on the shelf	44:18
	his music, his fifth symphony lay on the shelf for 15 years,	44:21
	that's a long time for you to wait for recognition,	44:27
	but the bible teaches and history confirms,	44:31
	that when you live on the light of an inner vision,	44:33
	you can afford to wait, until the fulfillment comes.	44:35
	And more than that, the inner process of life	44:40
	always interprets the event,	44:44
	I want to say education	44:47
	is not an amassing of facts, it's more than that,	44:50
	it's the interpretation and the application of them.	44:54
	One of the great southern writers is Flannery O'connor,	44:58
	a young catholic woman, who died at the age of 36.	45:02
	She was limited by her disease to her red clay farm	45:08
	and the spiritual encouragement of her mother.	45:12
	But men and women who read her letters and literature	45:16
	today know, that out of that narrow confinement	45:19
	of geography and of health came a radiant spirit,	45:22
	that lived with the sight of a vision beyond	45:25
	her own lifetime and her pain.	45:27

Item Info

Title:

Bryant Kirkland - Baccalaureate Service (May 7, 1983)

Description:

Only by living by the light of an inner vision will we be able to live full and purposeful lives. This vision will help guide us through the hills and valleys and the obscure darknesses of life. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 00:03. Sermon end time: (Part 2) 45:31.
Key quotation: “Live by the light of an inner vision.”

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4mc8rx4m

Date:

May 7, 1983

Speaker:

Kirkland, Bryant

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Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 CS-0147
ref7817_2z5
uachapelsermaud
duke:320585
dcrau001138
ark:/87924/r4mc8rx4m
b960bc26-e12c-4ebe-90b8-1388245f7b42

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The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

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Bryant Kirkland - Baccalaureate Service (May 7, 1983)

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1. Bryant Kirkland - Baccalaureate Service 10:30 am (May 8, 1983)

2. Bryant Kirkland - Baccalaureate Service 8:30 am (May 8, 1983)

Duke University Archives

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Bryant Kirkland - Baccalaureate Service (May 7, 1983)

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