Why Are You Here?
“What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:3-9
The trees start to bloom again. The breeze has become warm. It is graduation time: a time when people start storing memories for the future, a time of parting with friends. It is also a time, especially for those who have yet to graduate, to think seriously about their purpose for being at Yale.
All the awards, all the applause, all the glorification that comes at graduation suddenly seem shallow and satisfying only for a short time. At times we seem like paupers in princely robes, honoring ourselves but forgetting who we really are. God says we are sinners.
I came to Yale as a willful freshman with existentialism as my life philosophy; then things changed. I did not become a Christian without a miracle. God showed me my sins, and opened my eyes to see beyond my selfish dreams and ambitions. Yale is no longer a place where I pursue these things, but where I live for God. Now I know why I am at Yale.
And why are you here? Since you have one life to live, how are you living knowing that there is no cure for death? Since you have one life to learn, what would you like to find out, before all is due and done? Life at its longest is short.
The trees will bloom and wither, the warm breeze will come and go. Every year there will be freshmen like you that come, just as every year there will be seniors that go. What will you take away with you when you graduate from Yale? Don’t pursue things that are temporary. Rather, seek the things that will last forever. Refuse to be satisfied with empty honors and pleasures and find for yourself what will count for eternity.
Helen Sun, Calhoun ’95
Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10