Today is my son’s graduation day from high school. Just a short while ago it seems I was holding him in my arms as a newborn, showing him to his mother, all red and white and bundled up in hospital blankets, the proud possessor of a beautiful full head of brown hair with copper and bronze tints my wife could not believe, since she was so certain his hair would be black, like hers. That’s when we discovered that blonde hair is not necessarily a recessive trait, but one willing to mix it up with the darker hues.

Eighteen years later we come to this day, and already my wife and I are holding back tears. Our baby is grown into a man’s body, and a maturity beyond his years. I wonder what sort of world he shall inherit as he comes into his adulthood, but I do not wonder about him. He’s a far better person than I am, and if there is a God, he and his generation will make a great and beneficial impact during their lifetimes for the betterment of this planet we all share. What hope we have that humanity will progress toward more spiritual, more humane and less materialistic values, values that place the acceptance of all people before the tenets of any faith or the prejudices of the past, lies with him and his generation.

Which is good, because never in our history has a generation faced greater challenges. From global climate change that threatens human life, globalization that benefits corporations at the expense of individual freedoms, human rights abuses, an unconstitutional and expansive executive power that has corrupted our government beyond recognition, political parties in thrall to the money power, a news media that long ago lost its way and became a propaganda arm for the rich and powerful as it switched over from ferreting out the truth to passing on lies, gossip and disinformation as part of a vast infotainment empire, and religious fundamentalism (Christian, Islamic, Hindi, Judaic, etc.) meant to return us to the dark ages of repression and ignorance, no generation in modern history has ever been dealt a worse hand as they begin their long journey through all that life has to offer them, both good and evil.

I hope you will join me today in wishing my son, and all his fellow travelers, young men and women just entering the most important stage of their lives, your well wishes, prayers and the hope that where we have failed they will find a way through to a better future than the dark vision that seemingly looms on our, and especially their, horizon.

Peace.