Remarks by 1952 alumnus Ned
R. Mann, delivered to his classmates
on the occasion of their 50th reunion, at the Colorado College
Fifty Year Club
Induction Service held in Shove Chapel October 11, 2002.
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Salutations. Mr. President, CC Staff who made this moment possible,
Classmates, spouses and friends.
On behalf of the Class of ’52, we are both proud and humbled
to become the newest members of the 50-Year Club. We’ll
endeavor to contribute to its prestigious status.
This opportunity brings back memories often revisited in my mind.
Look around you, find your assigned seats. Mine was right up there,
the top row in the balcony. If this chapel were seating only our
class, we would find many vacant seats where once our classmates
sat. They are still there in our minds and memories.
For our lives have been marked well.
· A Great Depression
· A king gives up his throne for a woman
· Mussolini, Hirohito, Hitler, Stalin
· Atomic bomb
· Man on the moon
· A president assassinated
· A president resigns
· Long overdue civil rights
· Women’s rightful place in society
· Wars upon wars, too sad and too many to count
On that distant day in May of 1952, each of us began to travel
our own road to Damascus. We believed, in our naïveté,
that rain would never fall on us. We were told don’t pray
for tasks equal to our powers, but rather pray for powers equal
to our tasks. Remember, they said, the value of the citadel is
not to be measured by the ease of its taking. Let this be true:
go forth, tomorrow is promised to no one. Keep in mind tomorrow
has never happened before. But, oh my friends, that was once upon
a distant dream.
Then for us, life began to unfold. There was no distant drum
to stir the heart. We surrender youth to purchase wisdom. Life
is a journey and getting lost is an integral part of that journey.
We learned all too soon that if you place a small value on yourself,
rest assured the world will not raise the price. If there were
a 9th beatitude, it might read like this: Blessed are those who
expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed. Remember this:
nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.
You are only as bad as the worst thing you have ever done. You
are only as good as the best thing you have ever done. There is
not one among who has been free from misplaced faith, poor judgment
or lost love. But, my classmates, this does not make us children
of a lesser God.
Respect is what you owe. Love is what you give. Only a fool will
lose tomorrow reaching back for yesterday. Being a Rotarian has
taught me this: The fragrance remains on the hand that gives the
rose.
And now for the Golden years, we live our lives for others, our
children, our grandchildren and, for some, great grandchildren.
We must fervently believe that the best does not belong to the
past. Let us draw a degree of comfort and solace from this verity:
although it will never be, it might have been. For there is no
pain like the stab of regret. You see, if there be a goodness,
do it now, for you may never pass this way again.
I am reminded of when I visited India with a chance to play golf.
On one particular hole a sign on the tee read, “Play the
ball where the monkey drops it.” Well, I hit a reasonable
drive and managed to keep it on the fairway. On both sides of
the fairway there were trees full of, among other things, capuchin
monkeys with coloring much like capuchin monks, gray bodies with
black cowls like those worn by monks. When they see a ball, they
descend their tree, run out into the fairway and pick it up in
their tiny hands thinking it to be food. Finding it not to be
the case, frustration and disappointment prevail, and they throw
the ball somewhere forward, backward or into the woods. The offended
ball owner must then “play the ball where the monkey drops
it.” This comical scenario applies to life as I see it.
Despite our well-intended efforts, extraneous conditions beyond
our control determine what happens in our life. Fate, karma or
some event comes into play. In effect you must play the hand you
are dealt.
They say you can’t trust a memory if it has had too much
time. As it ages, it
· Embellishes facts
· Accentuates the highlights
· Minimizes the failures
· Enhances the dreams to fit the present
This you must remember. Every mortal needs love, comfort, respect
and encouragement. You are as young as your faith. You are as
old as your doubts. You see, sorry looks back, worry looks around,
but faith looks up. From this day forward your life should be
measured not by what you have, but by what you have left. Do not
harbor regrets for lost opportunities or remorse for past actions.
I believe it to be Robert Frost who wrote: “The door not
opened, the road not taken.” It was poet John Donne’s
words, echoed by Ernest Hemmingway in his immortal last lines:
“Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”
Give it all you have. Hold back nothing in reserve so that at
the end, none of us utters, “apologia pro vita mea.”
I end with the words from Oscar Hammerstein’s unfinished
and unpublished lyrics for a song that was never sung. He died
while working on these haunting words.
A bell is not a bell till you ring it,
A song is not a song till you sing it,
The love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay,
For love isn’t love till you give it away.
Let us go forth from this chapel with love in our hearts and
hope in our dreams. May your God bless you and keep you safely
in His arms this day and forever more. This moment will never
happen again—never—never.
Vaya con Dios, my beloved classmates.
Ned R. Mann
President, Class of ’52
