The Rev. John Thomas, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ, delivered the sermon at Elon's Baccalaureate service May 24. Details...
Members of the Class of 2002 and their families attended the annual service in Alumni Gym. Seniors David Smith, Jennifer Bartlett and Amy Gewant sang solos, while senior class vice president Patrick Gallagher offered remembrances of the past four years.
Thomas’ sermon, “Boredom is the Original Sin,” implored students to stay busy in their post-Elon lives. He told students that curiosity, courage and commitment are the tools necessary to fight boredom.
“Curiosity without discipline can be a bad thing,” Thomas said. “But disciplined curiosity contends with boredom and can ultimately defeat it. Beyond all the content you have learned here, the ability to engage and express your curiosity may be Elon’s greatest gift to you.”
He told seniors of the courage he saw in the eyes of Tibetan students during a recent trip to China. “They face all sorts of adversity when they come to China for the opportunity of a better education,” Thomas said. “They face students who are better prepared, a culture which is much faster than their own, and discrimination. I saw no boredom in the eyes of those Tibetan students.”
Thomas said boredom leads to waste, tragedy and lament. “So cultivate the virtues of curiosity, commitment and courage, the virtues God has given you this day. If you cultivate those virtues, you will never be bored, as some others are, quite literally, to death, and you will never be a bore to others.”
Members of the Class of 1952 also took part in the processional, marching in gold robes to mark their status as new members of Elon’s Golden Alumni club. Golden Alumni are those who have been Elon graduates for at least 50 years.