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After the Future

Saying Yes

Stephen Colbert at Knox College Commencement: Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly cynics.…

Stephen Colbert at Knox College Commencement:

Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blinder, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us.

Cynics always say no. But saying yes begins things. Saying yes is how things grow. Saying yes leads to knowledge. Yes is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say yes.

And that’s The Word.

Couldn’t agree more.  But the trick is to find that which is worthy of your Yes. Is there any quest that is more important for a young man or woman?  It’s those that don’t bother, that passively find themselves on life’s conveyor belt who will be easy marks for demagogues. There is no merit in a Yes to falsehood masquerading as truth. 

I think it should be also pointed out, if it is not obvious, that Colbert’s satire is not in the service of cynicism, but of uncovering the truth.  The mockery of that which is contemptible is an essential exercise for anyone who wishes to remain sane in a world where contempt for the truth is standard operating procedure.

So the No is important, but it can’t stop there.  Our Yes has to be a light that shines in the murk of so much negativity.  In the long run what matters is not our shrewdness in saying No, but in the amount of light we have emitted over the course of our lives in saying Yes.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer talked about "cheap grace."  Well I think in the
same sense you can talk about the Cheap Yes and contrast it with the Yes
which is dearly bought. And so the quality of the light that you emit will correlate with the quality of that to which you give your Yes.

Comments

2 responses

  1. Adrienne Avatar
    Adrienne

    From a young person desperately searching for some truth and wisdom – What is your Yes to, Jack?

    Reply
  2. Jack Whelan Avatar
    Jack Whelan

    It’s good that you asked, because asking is what it’s all about. But I’m afraid you’re going to have to read between the lines of what I write to get that out of me, Adrienne. It’s not as if there is “The Answer” and I could just write it here so that you and everyone else would know it.
    It’s more about the quality of the questions you ask and your persistence in searching out the answers to them. That’s been my experience, anyway. Just keep at it.
    I will tell you that a book that came into my life that had a profound impact was Valentin Tomberg’s Meditations on the Tarot. There’s no better book I know which better describes the nature of the search. He wrote it anonymously, but it’s an open secret that he’s the author. It’s not primarily about the Tarot, so don’t be put of by that if its divination connotations are a turn off for you. It’s not at all about divination. You can read about it here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585421618/qid=1149556710/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-6399259-5105616?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
    It’s clearly not for everybody, but if you decide you’d like to read it, write to me about it, especially if there are parts that you find hard to understand, and I’ll you my best take on it. I’ve read it four or five times now.

    Reply

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