The measuring of men is in degrees—more a compass wheel than a single straight rule of measure. The rules of our human compass, in the end, bloom how they will and inevitably prove all too brief and oh, so powerfully true.
I have thought long and hard about which degrees, or directions, if you will, might aid in sending you into the world’s great mix of truth and temptation, with some hope and personal pride for what you have accomplished here.
There are many directions I know you will, and have, pondered in your life—some to follow and others I hope you will abjectly dismiss.
I ask forgiveness and forbearance of this audience if the three degrees I have chosen for Joe may differ from your own.
First, Joe, I ask you to kill.
This may seem brutally bizarre and a quick method for resignation from residential treatment, were it not for the only degree on your human compass so worthy of demise—and that is fear.
Our world today consistently stands in animosity, on the brink of manmade disasters, based in large part on fear.
Fearing loss of power, of dignity, of possession, of legacy, and of life.
Ranchers recently facing off with federal rangers in fear over lands in Nevada, Native Americans facing off with militarized police in fear over waters of North Dakota, shifty politicos facing off in fear over our rights in the nation’s capital, our world facing off in fear over control of our souls in desolate Syrian skies, and Joe, a young man facing off his peers from an accidental blow by a basketball to his face and fearing the loss of his pride.
I ask you to kill your own fear, to help kill fear in others. Kill it with abandon, kill it with forgiveness, kill it with joy, kill it with your love.
Which brings me to another point on the human compass: the slippery slopes of love.
Unlike killing fear, love should be a constant concern for your cultivation and growth. The discoveries of love in your life are the discoveries of the mystery of life itself. Love may be the most fragile of human degrees in its beginnings yet, tended well and nurtured by wisdom and patience, will be the most powerful, resilient force in your life and in our world.
Do not ever let the opportunity to love pass you by.
Never mistake lust for love. Lust has its place on the compass for both good and great evil. Lust is, in a way, the lie of love.
Lust, like lye soap, may be employed to augment water in getting yourself spotlessly fresh. Kept controlled, it works wonders.
Too much lye, or lye used unwisely, will more often than not lead to ruin and a sure knowledge that lust and lyes indeed get you scarred and burned.
Love is the key to your future. Realize there is more to love than solely the glories of the physically intimate.
Love each sunrise, love the innocent, love brotherhood, love sport, love great art.
Above all, love those who have proven they will stand amid the blaze of hell itself in their love for you. Love them with loyalty and with passion and with the third degree I would cover with you today: faith.
There are no guarantees outside this black box, and that is the only guarantee I can give within it.
Faith, like the remembered smells of bread yet to bake, the heat of lights unseen yet felt, or the echo of voices yet to return on the wind, are beautiful shifting mirages that keep us safe and sane.
My faith in many things has shifted over time, as likely will yours. Faith must often be sifted to keep it pure and light. Your faith is something no one will ever really see. It is so deeply personal, no amount of display will ever truly explain faith's true worth to you.
Never use faith as a crutch for empathy or as a springboard to fame. You may find yourself alone and broken or, like as not, more infamous than admired.
I have a great deal of faith in you, Joe.
I have worked with you, I have listened to you, I have met your great family, but more than these, I have learned from you.
Surprise! Yes, I have learned from you.
Each morning, after hosing down the disaster left in the school by the swing shift and having prepared a proper learning space for our scholars, I head to the cafeteria.
There, entering to eat, are the beautiful wild things of this forest, where I am Max.
The boys eat first. After the shout and scuffle to enjoy the fare of our fine chef (the other great Joe), a nervous truce is understood, and the sounds of the feed begin.
Except for one—I have seen it before, I have seen it in others, but if he has made it to breakfast on time to eat (this boy loves to fix his hair), I have seen it rarely with such humble fervor.
Joe will grab his grub of choice and with silence and gratitude, among the din, bow his head and speak with his Creator.
He is undeterred, unembarrassed, and in that brief moment completely unconscious to anything but his internal focus on a higher power. I feel blessed to bear witness to that brief Zen moment of peace at the beginning of my day. With all my heart, I will miss it and you.
I have faith, Joe. I have faith you will be OK. I have faith you will abandon all fear, I have faith you will love your life completely. I have faith you will gift your faith to others.
I have measured a man and now personally fear less, love more, and know greater faith because our paths have crossed. I am grateful to know you and forever count you kindred, kinsman, and friend.
Name changed to protect Joe. He knows who he is.
– Hermit King-
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