So traditionally, I select a children\u2019s book to share, but I have something a little different for you all. I have a poem I\u2019d like to give you.\u00a0 The poem is by Joyce Rupp with a few tweaks for our occasion.\u00a0 The poem is called Old Maps No Longer Work. Here it is:<\/p>\n
I keep pulling it out \u2013
\nthe old map of my inner path.
\nI squint closely at it,
\ntrying to see some hidden road
\nthat maybe I\u2019ve missed,
\nbut there\u2019s nothing there now
\nexcept some well-travelled paths.
\nthey have seen my footsteps often,
\nheld my laughter, caught my tears.<\/p>\n
I keep going over the old map
\nbut now the roads lead nowhere,
\na meaningless wilderness
\nwhere life is dull and futile.<\/p>\n
\u201ctoss away the old map,\u201d she says
\n\u201cyou must be kidding!\u201d I reply.<\/p>\n
\nshe looks at me with those eyes
\nand repeats, \u201ctoss it away.
\nit\u2019s of no use where you\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to have a map!\u201d I cry,
\n\u201ceven if it takes me nowhere.
\nI can\u2019t be without direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cbut you are without direction,\u201d
\nshe says, \u201cso why not let go, be free?\u201d<\/p>\n
so there I am \u2013 tossing away the old map,
\nsadly fearfully, putting it behind me.
\n\u201cwhatever will I do?\u201d wails my security<\/p>\n
\u201ctrust me\u201d says my soul.<\/p>\n
no map, no specific directions,
\nno \u201cthis way ahead\u201d or \u201ctake a left\u201d.
\nhow will I know where to go?
\nhow will I find my way? no map!<\/p>\n
\nbut then my soul whispers:
\n\u201cthere was a time before maps
\nwhen pilgrims travelled by the stars.\u201d<\/p>\n
it is time for the pilgrim in me
\nto travel in the dark,
\nto learn to read the stars
\nthat shine in my soul.
\nI will walk deeper
\ninto the dark of my night.
\nI will wait for the stars.
\ntrust their guidance.
\nand let their light be enough for me.<\/p>\n
Friends, for the last four years, you\u2019ve been following a map someone else determined for you\u2014Okay,—it was probably me and my curriculum maps.<\/p>\n
But now is the time for you to be your own mapmaker. Let your life be a map in the making. Live your adventure and document the obstacles so that others might travel by the light that guides you until they find the courage to make their own way. Parker Palmer says, \u201cDraw deep on your values and visions for a better world, and follow them even when doing so gets you crosswise with others.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n And know this. There are 86,400 seconds in a day. More than 126 million seconds have passed since you arrived on campus as first year students. See, there is plenty of time. But time is funny–it has a way of slipping by quicker than we\u2019d like on occasion and dragging on indefinitely, especially when we are looking forward to spending our time differently. So, I encourage you to not waste a single second on doubting whether you are ready to make your own map and chart your course. You are.\u00a0 And I, for one, am incredibly grateful for all the time I\u2019ve had with you and for your willingness to trust the maps made for you while you were waiting for this moment to create your own.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So traditionally, I select a children\u2019s book to share, but I have something a little different for you all. I have a poem I\u2019d like to give you.\u00a0 The poem is by Joyce Rupp with a few tweaks for our occasion.\u00a0 The poem is called Old Maps No Longer Work. Here it is: I keep […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[354924],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-time-with-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}