Twenty-one years after graduating...
Illustration
Twenty-one years after graduating from college I became a
college president. Thinking that, from experience, I still knew
the problems and stresses of college students, I was amazed to
discover that times had changed. The big concern of many students
was not classes and exams and dating. Rather it had more depth
and sprang from the question frequently asked of me: "Who am I?"
This was a question which had never bothered me. I had always
felt secure in the knowledge of my name and the family to whom I
belonged. But the questioners were serious, so how was I to
answer it?
Then the answer struck me. It was in the sphere of the
spiritual. Knowing your physical ties of name and family is not
enough. A person has to know the answer on a much deeper and
lasting scale. He has to be assured that he will not go into
oblivion after this life. The deepest need of the human soul is
met when we are assured that we are a child of God. Like
Michaelangelo who would take a large chunk of marble and create a
thing of lasting beauty, God is anxious for us to put ourselves
into his hands so that he can make something of eternal worth out
of us.
When you stand on a seashore and look at the moon, a lane of
light comes across the water directly to you, as though you were
the only person for whom it was meant. But a person farther down
the beach has his own lane of light, too, just as direct and just
as bright as yours. All the lanes of light come from the central
light, but each person has one particular lane. So, each one of
us is the direct recipient of God's love. He takes us into his
family with a special bond of love and makes each one of us a
child of God.
-- Lentz
college president. Thinking that, from experience, I still knew
the problems and stresses of college students, I was amazed to
discover that times had changed. The big concern of many students
was not classes and exams and dating. Rather it had more depth
and sprang from the question frequently asked of me: "Who am I?"
This was a question which had never bothered me. I had always
felt secure in the knowledge of my name and the family to whom I
belonged. But the questioners were serious, so how was I to
answer it?
Then the answer struck me. It was in the sphere of the
spiritual. Knowing your physical ties of name and family is not
enough. A person has to know the answer on a much deeper and
lasting scale. He has to be assured that he will not go into
oblivion after this life. The deepest need of the human soul is
met when we are assured that we are a child of God. Like
Michaelangelo who would take a large chunk of marble and create a
thing of lasting beauty, God is anxious for us to put ourselves
into his hands so that he can make something of eternal worth out
of us.
When you stand on a seashore and look at the moon, a lane of
light comes across the water directly to you, as though you were
the only person for whom it was meant. But a person farther down
the beach has his own lane of light, too, just as direct and just
as bright as yours. All the lanes of light come from the central
light, but each person has one particular lane. So, each one of
us is the direct recipient of God's love. He takes us into his
family with a special bond of love and makes each one of us a
child of God.
-- Lentz
