by Darryl Wilkinson
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by Darryl Wilkinson
Most of us smirk about graduation speeches. But I think I’ll remember a point made last Saturday by PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer during his talk before our daughter, Jill, walked across the stage during graduation ceremonies at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Mr. Lehrer recalled a personal incident while attending MU. He was a journalism student from Texas, wanting a sheepskin to cover his intellectual nakedness. As he approached his final semester, he realized he lacked credits in history to graduate.
Classes were already filled. His only chance was to enroll in what he quickly learned to be a graduate level course.
He feared he would fail. He tried his best. And he failed.
His father was already en route from Texas, traveling toward Columbia by borrowed company car because the family simply didn’t have the money for one. He wasn’t sure what the costs of another semester might mean …or even if that expense was possible.
It was a personal crisis with no ready solution, a fork in the road of what was then Jim Lehrer’s future.
Last Saturday Jim Lehrer could have talked about his work in providing continuous live coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings, for which he won an Emmy award. He could have talked about being solo anchor for PBS coverage of the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment inquiry of Richard Nixon. He might have talked about his work with Robert MacNeil on the news show which won more than 30 awards, including the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in 1980.
Or about his interviews with former presidential and vice presidential candidates in “Debating Our Destiny: Forty Years of Presidential Debates.” Or his insight from moderating nine of the nationally televised debates, including sole moderator of dates in 1996 and 2000 — an accomplishment previously unmatched.
Or he could have plugged one of his 13 novels or perhaps any of the three plays he’s written or one of his two memoirs. He holds a National Humanities Medal, was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame, and has many other prestigious journalism honors. He could have talked about success.
Instead, he shared what must have been a most humbling failure. He literally begged that history professor for a passing credit to no avail. He then frantically sought help from a college dean — and found it. Some little bit of history about guns studied during a summer military camp was enough for the Dean to grant the necessary credits.
And …well, the rest, as they say, is history.
At a mature age 60, Mr. Lehrer seems mindful of how we all need help along life’s way.
And I was left pondering how if we sometimes can benefit from man’s grace, how much more can we count upon God’s grace — especially when we fail.
One of this nation’s most celebrated journalists, Jim Lehrer, knows he is no self-made man. His Commencement message, oddly …no, make that appropriately, focused on a failure. Without exception, we all fall short of the mark. Receiving unearned grace does not necessarily foster personal failure. You learn from failure, and simply move on.
A failure is the one who fails to keep on trying.