Good morning! Continuing with what I began last year, here are my remarks to our school’s 8th grade class at their promotion ceremony (slightly edited for your reading and student and teacher names were removed or changed):

Tonight, I want to talk to our 8th graders about being Peacemakers. Note that I said peacemakers and not peacekeepers. What is the difference you ask? A peacekeeper is someone who follows one or a group who already did the work to bring about peace. The peacemaker is someone or a group who has to get their hands dirty and work in and with difficult situations to bring about a positive solution or compromise.

Being a peacemaker costs you something—sometimes even your life-but just think what the world would be like without them. Almost every evil action in the world today will continue until it is confronted by one or more peacemakers.

So, do we have peacemakers in this country now? Eric Metaxas said recently in a Breakpoint commentary, “Being the author of biographies on William Wilberforce (who helped bring an end to the slave trade in England) and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (who, as a Christian, stood up for Jews and against the Nazis in his native Germany during World War II) makes it especially tough for me to witness what a nation of spectators America has become. You see, both (Wilberforce and Bonhoeffer) looked at the condition their societies were in, and did something. They didn’t simply curse the darkness, as the saying goes. They lit candles.”

What are we doing to develop peacemakers right now? In schools today we are told to focus on college and career readiness. That’s great, and we all need to develop certain skills to earn a living. But, the danger in focusing only on college and career readiness is that you could avoid agonizing–and it is agonizing–over the most important questions that all people have. Questions like, “What is the purpose of my life?” “How can I live a life of significance that builds a legacy after I’m gone?” Now, thankfully in our school, we certainly do teach the skills needed for college and career readiness—but we also are not afraid to tackle the issues that our students will confront in life. In 5th grade we begin to have meaningful conversations with students and teaching them to ask themselves and their parents about life’s big questions. In 6th grade, we explore racism and its roots in our country and how peacemakers have tried to change minds and hearts. In 7th grade, we learn about the Holocaust and the rise of the Nazis. Students learn how easily evil can rise in a society and they learn what the cost is to defeat evil. In 8th grade, students complete a social issues project. The students get to pick a topic to research (some examples have been abortion, terrorism, murder, modern-day slavery, mental health issues, and child abuse).

Through these projects our students learn that it is hard to be a peacemaker unless you have seen the darkness in the world and have been moved to take action by it.

We are not shying away from guiding our students into thinking through difficult issues. We shouldn’t tell them what to think about these issues, but we should help them to begin to think through the difficult issues of the day. One of our 8th graders entered and won the Barnes and Noble “My favorite teacher” essay content. This quote is from their winning essay, “Every day I look forward to going to English class, which is ironic because it’s usually the class we have the most homework in. The things we learn, discuss, or share in class is very raw or real as well. Mrs. Smith (not her name) doesn’t sugar coat things, and lets students talk and debate about serious situations. It’s very pleasant to know an adult is willing to discuss serious topics with you (a teenager) and is willing to listen or answer your questions.” Isn’t this one of the core values of a school?

Some look at this generation and are pretty worried. I can’t speak for the whole generation, but for these students here in front of me I can see people who are developing into people who will change the world as peacemakers. In this class before me, I see students that will impact future generations. Students, the future is in your hands. What will you make it? Will you be someone who is not afraid of doing something hard….I mean something very hard that most people want nothing to do with. Will you choose to live the difficult, yet rewarding life of a peacemaker? I think many of you will. I see it everyday when you are at school. You see, I have been doing this job long enough now to know that when I look out at you I see engineers, doctors, electricians, plumbers, pastors, teachers and tech specialists. This next sentence is meant for many, many years down the road, but I also see students that will become faithful mothers and faithful fathers, people who will have hopes and dreams for their own kids. Now, I know I just fast-forwarded through a large part of your life and you have a LOT of good decisions to make between now and then…. but you need to know that myself, your parents, your teachers, and others see more in you than perhaps you see in yourself right now.

More to come…
Jeremy