THE RECORD Online

Fall 2002 Memories

The Class of 2002

What do you say to a class graduating at the close of a year marked by terrorism, turmoil, and a failing economy? You cannot promise the students great jobs or financial stability or even personal security.

Dr. Cecilia Keener, professor of Communication at Greenville, accepted the challenge of addressing the 306 members of the graduating class of 2002 – a class going out into a world full of uncertainty and disbelief. She did not offer them wealth or even safety. What she did offer was a plan for “contentment, healing and joy.”

The strategy she presented was not complex but still far from easy – Gratitude. But gratitude for what? For a world in turmoil? For death and destruction? For a completely uncertain future? No – gratitude because, as Americans, we do not have to deal with these circumstances all the time. We can still be shocked when terrorists attack innocent citizens. And we still have the opportunity to better ourselves and our world. “To ‘be thankful in all circumstances,’” Keener states, “we need a proper perspective of our circumstances. Only then can we find contentment and be able to ‘give thanks to the Lord always.’”

I Thessalonians 5:16-17 says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” In her address, Keener presented three significant rewards of this kind of gratitude.

First of all, “adopting an attitude of gratitude makes us content with the blessings we have.” To find contentment in your blessings, you must think of the alternatives and be thankful for what you do have rather than dwelling on what you do not have. Also, Keener reminded students to be thankful for each day, each moment in time, as it happens. “I have to remind myself not to wait to be happy on Friday,” she said. “Be thankful for Monday morning too.”

Secondly, “gratitude promotes healing of the spirit.” Keener quoted best-selling author Sarah Ban Breathnach: “Gratitude holds us together even as we’re falling apart. Ironically, gratitude’s most powerful mysteries are often revealed when we are struggling in the midst of personal turmoil. When we stumble in the darkness, rage in anger, hurl faith across the room, abandon all hope. While we cry ourselves to sleep, gratitude waits patiently to console and reassure us; there is a landscape larger than the one we can see.” When it seems that everything is falling apart, you must shift your focus from grief to the countless blessings you have in spite of it all and your spirit will begin to heal.

Lastly, “gratitude brings joy to both the sender and receiver.” It is hard to be mad or stay mad when you are thanking someone, thanking God or being thanked. It is impossible to give or receive thanks with anything but joy. But, Keener reminded students, “we have to do more than feel grateful to persons. God can read our minds, but our friends can’t.”

Keener closed her address with this advice:
“Say thank you to your classmates this weekend.
Say thank you to your profs.
Say thank you to your family members.
Say thank you to God.
And brace yourself for a lifetime of blessings.”

View more photos from the 2002 Commencement Weekend at: www.greenville.edu/publications/memories/commence02.

Last updated: January 17, 2003