Satirist Garry Trudeau began his address to the 1991 graduating class of Yale University with these words:
Distinguished faculty, parents, friends, graduating seniors, Secret Service agents, class agents, people of class, people of color, colorful people, people of height, the vertically constrained, people of hair, the differently coiffed, the optically challenged, the temporarily sighted, the insightful, the out-of-sight, the out-of-towners, the Eurocentrics, the Afrocentrics, the Afrocentrics with Eurailpasses, the eccentrically inclined, the sexually disinclined, people of sex, sexy people, sexist pigs, animal companions, friends of the earth, friends of the boss, the temporarily employed, the differently employed, the differently optioned, people with options, people with stock options, the divestiturists, the deconstructionists, the home constructionists, the homeboys, the homeless, the temporarily housed at home, and, God save us, the permanently housed at home.
I missed commencement this year. I am sorry to have missed it. As with every year, there were students and colleagues — all of them very different — to whom I wanted to say, thank you.
Commencement is also a great time to say one last time, “God’s keeping.” It’s not a throw away line, it’s a prayer, which I hope will follow our students through the years ahead.
Commencement might not be a regular part of your life. If it isn’t, count your blessings, this is a terrible time of the year usually to wear academic regalia in Texas! But find a time to lighten up, laugh about our God given differences, give thanks for people around you, and bless them with a prayer for God’s keeping.