At CHS, members of the senior class have the opportunity to select a speaker for their commencement exercises. In 2006, the students chose Mr. Barry Giller, Headmaster. What follows is Mr. Giller's commencement address:

Pastor and Mrs. Anderson, members of the CHS faculty, Board of Directors, family and friends of the graduates, Class of 2006, I am truly honored that you have chosen me to speak at today’s ceremonies.

I spent many hours praying and contemplating what to speak on and how to challenge you, knowing that many of you simply voted for me over Mr. Haggerty because you knew my speech would be shorter.

I first considered a brief lecture on the evils of watching 24…

Then I thought about re-visiting our talks on “how far is too far”…

Or a further discussion on lawn mowers in heaven or if we even have clothes in heaven or will everyone have a nametag that says, “Hello, my earthly name was…”

But I have decided to end this year and my formal moments of addressing you with the way I began our Bible class, with Mr. Giller’s Five Laws of Life:

You thought that your exams were over and today was a guarantee, but I have chosen five lucky seniors for one final test, and your diplomas are on the line…do you remember my “Five Laws of Life?”

• Law #1 - Readers are leaders
• Law #2 - Honesty is always the best policy
• Law #3 - There is no such thing as a free lunch
• Law #4 - “I don’t know” is never an acceptable answer
• Law #5 - Life is not fair

I wish I could tell you that after today everything is downhill and that nothing will ever be as hard as a Bair paper, or as confusing as Mr. Vinton’s lectures on logarithms, or as heartbreaking as losing your first love. But the truth is that God promises nothing to you by way of easiness from here on in.

You will be on your own as you leave the security of your parents’ homes, the safety of your home church, and the cultural bubble of CHS. More danger is lurking, but you are so ready, and we are proud of you and look forward to hearing about your triumphs. So my advice is “buckle up your Holy Ghost seatbelts and enjoy the ride for God’s adventures are the grandest ones.” You just need to read the Old Testament to see God’s idea of fun!

Let’s briefly look at these five laws of life as a guide for this exciting journey ahead:

Leadership takes many forms, whether it is an elected position of authority or a natural tendency or quietly leading by example. You will all be leaders in some manner in your sphere of influence.

As a believer in a postmodern world, you must demonstrate a life of faith and reason. Too often in the public arena, Christianity is portrayed as a religion of the non-intelligent, a divorce of the mind and the heart. In order to enter that arena, you must be prepared. I trust that while at CHS, you have experienced and seen modeled this co-existence of faith and reason. Knowledge is power, so I implore you to read your Bible, read the newspaper (even online, if necessary), read biographies, read the church fathers and the modern Christian writers, read about culture, and become prepared. The Apostle Paul reminds us to fight the good fight - whether the imagery is sports or wars, we have learned that in order to consistently win we must be prepared with a plan. That plan consists of knowing our strengths and weaknesses as well as those of our opponent. I cannot emphasize enough that you are entering a culture war in these upcoming years, and you must be prepared and armed - so turn of the television and the computer and read, and read, and read.

Steve Brown, a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Florida, often speaks about his friend, Fred Smith, who asks his church members, “If you were arrested on Saturday evening for drunk driving, and it was reported in the newspaper, would you go to church on Sunday?” Most church attenders answer this question the same way: “I would let the situation die down a little before returning to church.”

But if you ask these same people, if you were hit by a car and needed emergency assistance, would you go home first and put on your best clothes and comb your hair? They would think you were being ridiculous.

Unfortunately, in the Body of Christ we have cornered the market on worrying about appearances.

We desperately need authentic believers in the Christian community. We spoke in class about what to do if your wife asks if she looks heavy in an outfit, or how to handle the poorly cooked meal, or how to respond when your husband asks if his hairline is receding. Although these are important parts of navigating honesty in a marriage, we need to take honesty to a higher level by being honest with ourselves, honest with God, and honest with our friends. Life is entirely about relationships. I am sure if I asked many of you this afternoon about your dreams that there would be mention of finding a spouse, having children, cultivating life-long friendships, and being happy.

To complete this thought about honesty we must comprehend the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is when you receive your diploma, when the Red Sox beat the Yankees, or when you find money in a pair of jeans you wore last week. Joy is all consuming and lasts much longer.

The country band Sugarland in their most recent release sing, “There has got to be something more… I believe that happiness is something you create.”

They have hit on an eternal truth. There is something more - it’s called joy. Happiness is something that you can create, and that is why it does not last long. Only God can create something that lasts, and that is why Christ must be the source of joy. Real joy comes only through Christ-centered relationships.

When you think about life on earth, the only thing that lasts throughout a life, and, hopefully into the next, is relationships. Your relationship with God is primary, and secondary is your relationships with other believers.

God created us in His image, and He desires true relationship, thus deep down we also desire true relationship.

What is true relationship? I believe it is rooted in honesty. True relationship begins with complete honesty with God. My favorite television show over the past few years has been The West Wing, and one of my favorite movies is Robert Duvall’s The Apostle. I am not agreeing with all of the ideology and theology in either this show or movie, but I reflect on two particular scenes often. In both instances the major character speaks sternly with God; one could even say they were arguing with or yelling at God. God wants all of you, not just the niceties and laundry list of wants and needs. He wants your inner feelings.

Frederick Buechner states, “When we tell our secrets, even if only to ourselves, they lose their power.” This past year I have learned this lesson on many occasions. We cannot handle this world’s trials alone. We need to rely on God and good friends in true relationship. If you open up about your struggles and fears, I believe the most common phrase you will hear in reply is “me too.”

Be authentic in your relationships. We need to avoid isolation, overcome our fears, and let others into our inner-world. We need to risk. Be honest about your shortcomings, your fears, your desires, your struggles, and you will find out that you are not alone. Then, and only then, you will find true relationship and thus joy.

Joy is a by-product not a goal, and it is a by-product of being authentic and completely honest.

You sit here this afternoon as the result of sacrifice by many people. Your parents have diligently paid tuition ($78,000 for those students who have been here since kindergarten), driven you back and forth to school and socials, helped with homework and projects (remember the egg drop and invention convention? Or everyone’s favorite – the Science Fair?), attended all of the concerts, games, events, and invested many dollars and hours on your behalf. I am also sure that they spent many hours on their knees praying for your days here.

Maybe you are here this afternoon because a generous donor provided the finances for you to be a part of this wonderful community.

I know this may shock you, but the people in these front two rows are not becoming wealthy working here. They, too, have sacrificed financially, given their time, and spent hours in prayer on your behalf.

In this world, nothing comes free - someone pays someone, somewhere. With this in mind we must remain a grateful people to those who continue to help and support us.

Living in Connecticut, it can be easy to forget the blessed lives that we enjoy. I say that CHS teachers are not rich, but by the world’s standards, we really are. We live a life of luxury but only by God’s grace.

Bart Simpson at dinner one evening prayed, “We paid for all of this ourselves, so thanks for nothing.”

We laugh, but unfortunately this mindset is often true in our own lives. We forget about God’s blessings, because they are so numerous, and often they could look like our own doing. We miss the trees of blessing, because we are so deep in the forest of comfort.

Os Guinness in his book The Call reminds us that Jesus said, “I have chosen you; You have not chosen me.” With this truth we have no rights then, just responsibilities.

What are your responsibilities? To be grateful and sing the praises of God who has tremendously blessed you with talents, gifts, resources, money, time, health, and family.

When I was a new teacher, I feared the question I could not answer. I distinctly remember a couple of times when a student asked me a question that I was not sure of the answer; but I gave one anyway sometimes just making something up. I thought the role of the teacher was to know everything. The funny thing is that the students always believed me, even when I was wrong.

The good news is that in life, the Master Teacher is never wrong. Jesus does not make up answers; He is the answer.

A wiser and more experienced teacher taught me as I matured in the classroom that the proper way to answer the question that I may not know the answer for is to respond, “I am not sure, but I know where to find the answer.”

As believers it is okay not to always have an answer. The secret is knowing where to find the answer, and fortunately God’s textbook comes with an answer key.

Yes, there have been times in my life when I did not understand or have any clue what God was doing. I have been to too many funerals, spent too much time with Christians struggling through divorce, heard of too many cases of cancer, listened to too many students struggling with their faith or their parents, heard of too many churches splitting, or watched too many Christian leaders fall from grace.

I have been frustrated with God. I have been angry with my circumstances and sought answers. Not having the answer is not the problem, the problem comes when you do not seek the answer or when you seek the answer in the wrong place, and then find yourself with the wrong answer or even worse stating, “I do not know.”

I wrestled with God on these issues. I have pleaded with God. I have told him that I thought He was wrong. And now my faith is stronger - it is always stronger- after I wrestle with God. When you read the Scriptures, you will find the giants of the faith wrestling with God, yelling at God, pleading with God, and bargaining with God. I believe that is what God wants because that is relationship. Your prayer life cannot always be simple and quiet.

Pray, pray, pray, and then listen for God’s answer.

The older I get, the more I realize the less I know…and that is okay…but I know where to find the answer.

In CS Lewis’s famous Narnia chronicle, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the children encounter the Beavers and head off to their home. Mr. & Mrs. Beaver tell three of the children - Peter, Susan, and Lucy - that they will take them to the King, Aslan.

“Is…is he a man?” asked Lucy.

“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the lion, the great lion”

“Ooh” said Susan, “I thought he was a man. Is he…quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”

“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver, “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you”

Mark Buchanan in his book, Your God is Too Safe, writes,

“But God isn’t nice. God isn’t safe. God is a consuming fire. Though He cares about the sparrow, the embodiment of His care is rarely doting or pampering. God’s main business is not ensuring that you and I get parking spaces close to the mall entrance or that the bed sheets in the color we want are - miracle! - on sale this week.

His main business is making you and me holy.”

Too often we think God’s primary role is to help us succeed at our tasks and endeavors.

God wants us to be Holy - not always successful.

I yearn for the day before the throne when God says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Notice that God does not say my good and successful servant. He wants us to be faithful not necessarily successful. God is interested in how we handle life, our gifts, talents, tragedies, and joy.

This is important as you begin your careers. I am not saying that God does not want you to be successful, but it is not paramount in His plans. David became King, Joseph was Prime Minister, but joining them in God’s Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11 are Rahab, the prostitute, and the prophets, many who were scorned in their time.

As you strive to be faithful, remember life is not fair. Your faith brings with it no earthly guarantees, only a heavenly assurance.

Let me give you an example: Right now, based on statistics, I could predict among this class who is most likely to become a CEO of a Fortune 500 company in America. This would be the American dream - CEO, money, cars, a house in the suburbs, vacations, power, and prestige.

The greatest predictor of Fortune 500 CEOs is not the college you attend, not your parents’ educational background, not your financial status, but rather your race and height. If you are white and over six feet tall – it’s that simple.

58% of all Fortune 500 CEOs are over six feet tall while statistically only 14.5% of Americans are over six feet tall. We hear this and wonder why and there are many theories and studies on the subconscious and its impact on decision-making, including people’s height. But we should not be surprised.

Remember I Samuel 9 when the Israelites ask for a king and then choose Saul because ‘he looks like a king and is a head taller than everyone else.”

I say all of this to predict that the future is bright for David Swanson and Brett Beatty!

Reality in a fallen world is that life is not fair. Bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, and there are no guarantees. You will have ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments, but in all of this be faithful for that is what God desires, and remember:

God’s journey is not necessarily a safe one, but it will be a good one.

Readers are leaders
Honesty is always the best policy
There is no such thing as a free lunch
“I don’t know” is never an acceptable answer
Life is not fair

Many of your peers graduating across the country will not enter the world grounded in these thoughts. They will rather seek the good life that they believe they deserve, and thus will hit reality head on…not on “Survivor”, but in the real world, where the devil prowls and evil runs rampant. These graduates will fight cancer, lose a spouse or a child, wrestle with their faith, and naively seek the happy life that consists of a good paying job, a loving spouse (who is extremely attractive), a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, two nice cars, a solid retirement fund, and 2.5 kids and a dog named Rex, all of which is temporary and hollow.

Recently, a friend told me that she is a relatively new Christian. When I inquired as to what that meant she stated, “I have always believed, but in the last five years I truly began to pursue Christ.” What a beautiful sentiment and word picture for all of us. Pursue Christ.

Ron Dunn has said, “If you didn’t meet the devil this morning, it is a pretty good indication that you are going in the wrong direction.”

Pursue Christ, and you will run into the devil and then I hope you will recall these five simple laws of life.

In Morris West’s, The Shoes of the Fisherman, the newly elected Pope declares “Find me men with fire in their hearts and wings on their feet.” Class of 2006 that is my prayer - that you have fire in your hearts, wings on your feet and that these lead you to pursuing Christ. Pursue Christ, congratulations on this glorious day.

May God bless you and keep you.