Articles

Atlantans need to help new generation help others

By James Laney
For the Journal-Constitution
March 31, 2008

In a few weeks one of the largest cohorts of college graduates in history will receive their diplomas. They may well be the best educated and brightest ever to cross the commencement stage. They will need all their gifts, for they enter a sobered world.

Often characterized as seeking only fame and fortune, they have nevertheless compiled admirable records of participation in volunteer activities in school. While mastering their courses, they have also tutored, worked with neighborhood groups, rebuilt damaged homes and made themselves available to less fortunate segments of our society. They have learned firsthand about a society that lies beyond the privileged boundaries of the campus. They have experienced the satisfaction of doing for and with others things that were not driven by self-interest.

We need their enthusiasm, their derring-do. For all of a sudden we as a nation are tired —- tired of a long and exhausting war, of an economy in the doldrums, of fractious politics.

While hardly idealists, these new graduates do bring a much-needed dose of hopefulness. Yes, and a sense of service so often lacking in our pursuit of wealth at any price.

That is why I am heartened by what I see happening among so many of this new generation. This compelling sense of service among young people is especially evident in one of Atlanta's most effective nonprofit organizations, The Fund for Theological Education. During the 10 years it has been in Atlanta it has awarded $16 million in fellowships to 1,600 students to pursue lives of service in ministry and teaching. The young people who receive these fellowships are capable of doing anything they want to. They are bright. They come from all backgrounds. They seek informed dialogue with their own traditions and with people of other faiths.

Turning away from more lucrative paths, FTE Fellows are reinvigorating congregations, re-energizing schools and transforming communities. When I meet with them I find their enthusiasm contagious. They are convinced that there is a latent longing in us all to live for more than ourselves, that as a people we are spiritually hungry.

These young people have sensed that longing and are prepared to share with others what lives of service can mean, not just individually but for our society. They speak unabashedly of servanthood, of the greater good, of community and yes, of love. And they have discovered that servanthood is really the sturdy form of love of neighbor.

Promising members of this new generation are not just speaking out against the unbridled greed and narcissism that threatens the very soul of our nation. They are seeking to lead lives that in their own way embody the vision of what made America great in the first place. And they need our encouragement.

Now is the time for colleges, churches and civic organizations to offer them robust support to provide help for their journey. For they are convinced that all people should have the opportunity, under the grace of God, to fashion lives of honor and worth for themselves, their neighbors and for the least of these.

The world needs such a generation of transformational leaders. How blessed we are that Atlanta has an organization like the Fund for Theological Education taking the lead in calling young people to such creative lives of service.

James T. Laney is president emeritus of Emory University and former ambassador to South Korea.

Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

(FATC ed. note: Dr. Laney is also a cofounder, former chairperson of Faith And The City.)

Source: http://www.ajc.com/search/content/opinion
/stories/2008/03/31/laneyed0331.htm

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