A rather peculiar incident occurred on my journey to this very gathering. Determined to arrive punctually, I embarked towards Provo a good fortnight prior. And indeed, it was a fortunate decision. I confess, I am uncertain where I erred in navigation, but before long, road signs pointing towards Jerusalem, Nairobi, Bangalore, and Hong Kong materialized before me! Good heavens, it has been quite the undertaking to finally reach our destination.
The even more unusual aspect is that President Russell M. Nelson himself seemed to be advising me on my route. I do wonder if this is his customary method of directing individuals from Salt Lake to Provo!
Sister Holland and I return to you fresh from an extraordinary chapter in our lives. Imagine, if you will, traversing the globe on a worldwide ministering assignment in the company of the Lord’s prophet and his remarkable wife. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Echoing the timeless words of Oliver Cowdery, these past weeks alongside President and Sister Nelson were undeniably “days never to be forgotten.”
This is neither the opportune moment nor setting to recount tales of our travels, but I stand before you as a witness that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet, divinely ordained by God before the world’s foundation, and he is fulfilling this sacred calling in a manner both magnificent in public and profoundly personal in private. I convey his love to you, as chairman of the BYU Board of Trustees, alongside the affection of all those who serve with him, including Presidents Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring. It is of significant importance, my cherished friends, that those entrusted with the oversight of your alma mater are prophets, seers, and revelators. This is but one more exceptional blessing to acknowledge on this joyous graduation day.
On behalf of every one of you and our esteemed governing board, I extend heartfelt gratitude to President Kevin J Worthen, his administrative colleagues, the distinguished faculty, and the dedicated staff of this university. I am deeply appreciative of their collective efforts in shaping this day into what it is for 6,300 graduates and degree recipients. Acquiring an education is a demanding endeavor, yet providing such an opportunity is equally, if not more, arduous.
For nine wonderful years, I have had the privilege of affirming to students and their families that this exhilarating day of academic triumph is more than deserving of the challenging days endured to reach it—by all involved. I have firsthand knowledge of the unparalleled university experience BYU cultivates, but I am equally, and even more tenderly, aware of the sacrifices, savings, and relentless hard work many students and their parents have undertaken to arrive at this milestone. Bearing in mind this grand sacrifice for a truly noble cause—and education is undeniably a grand cause—I wish this day to be an exceptionally joyous one for each of you. You have earned it. My prayer is that all your days may be equally fulfilling.
I was tasked with offering words of wisdom and originality, but, recognizing my limitations, allow me to simply remind you of a few truths you already possess. You might perceive a degree of collusion among today’s speakers. Rest assured, there has been none, save perhaps that orchestrated in heaven.
I wish you to understand that the sources I am about to reference are drawn from my undergraduate days at BYU. Ah, I can almost hear the collective groan! A history lesson from antiquity, you might say. Lessons from a time predating even the earth’s geological clock. Yes, I am of a certain vintage, but indulge me. I do this partly to demonstrate to the faculty that occasionally, students do retain some of the wisdom imparted here.
Thomas Wolsey—Reining in Ambition and Giving Your All to Service
My initial reminder serves as a cautionary note. It originates from a figure who, in his era, ascended to become the most influential commoner in the entire British realm, the masterful Thomas Wolsey, second only to the legendary Henry VIII himself in his sway over the king’s dominion. His narrative stands as a warning—hopefully unnecessary for you—against pursuing the ladder of success so recklessly that you ultimately realize it was leaning against an unsuitable wall. It’s about ensuring you give youR All to the right pursuits.
Wolsey was the offspring of an unrefined Suffolk butcher, yet his relentless ambition and exceptional talent propelled him on a swift ascent through Oxford University and into the Catholic Church, where he rapidly became chaplain to Henry VII.
However, Wolsey’s fortunes burgeoned even more dramatically upon Henry VIII’s ascension to the throne. Under Henry VIII, Wolsey served as Archbishop of York and eventually cardinal, evolving into arguably the most powerful member ever of a king’s Privy Council, both before and since. He swiftly became the dominant force in all state affairs and every political maneuver undertaken by his monarch. He was enamored with ostentation and opulence. He resided in royal grandeur and reveled in his authority, giving hir all to the king’s desires.
Then Anne Boleyn entered the picture. The youthful King Henry resolved to move heaven, earth, his wife Catherine, and the Roman Catholic Church to possess her, yet the obstacles were nearly insurmountable. Henry instructed Wolsey to overcome them. Wolsey failed, because he was unable, and this failure proved to be his undoing.
Despite such an extraordinary and virtually unparalleled rise to political eminence, Wolsey’s downfall was abrupt and complete. Incapable of securing Rome’s approval for a divorce, Wolsey was stripped by King Henry of every office and possession, accused of treason, and summoned to appear in London for a trial that would likely have resulted in an execution order. In profound distress, he journeyed towards the capital to confront his monarch. En route, he succumbed to illness and passed away.
With the assistance of William Shakespeare, who extends his congratulations to you and requested to be remembered, I invite you to contemplate Cardinal Wolsey’s “farewell” lament. To BYU graduates today, he imparts:
Farewell! a long farewell, to all my greatness! This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms, And bears his blushing honours thick upon him; The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, And . . . nips his root, And then he falls, as I do. . . . . . . My high-blown pride At length broke under me and now has left me, Weary and old with service. . . .
. . . I charge thee, fling away ambition: By that sin fell the angels; how can man, then, The image of his Maker, hope to win by it? Love thyself last: cherish those hearts that hate thee; Corruption wins not more than honesty. . . .
Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies.
What a tragic conclusion to such a promising beginning! What a sorrowful farewell to a life brimming with potential! And where did it deviate from its true course? It went astray when Wolsey’s public ambition eclipsed his personal integrity, when compromising moral principles seemed more advantageous than upholding moral rectitude, when political power and excessive wealth engendered an insatiable hunger for more of the same, until honest living and responsible conduct could no longer satiate that craving and were discarded along the way, never to be recovered. He failed to give your all to what truly mattered.
Were he able, I wonder if Cardinal Wolsey might raise his voice from beyond the grave today, nearly five centuries after his sudden fall, to quote to you a simple scripture he undoubtedly read numerous times in his clerical duties: “For what is a man [or a woman] profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
You depart BYU to enter a political, social, and economic landscape your parents never experienced and your grandparents could scarcely have imagined. Perhaps this holds true for each successive generation in history, but in my advancing years, I, for one, could not have conceived as a BYU student more than half a century ago the world you are now poised to encounter. Much of this world is breathtakingly beautiful and rewarding.
Do you realize that when I was a BYU student, my peers had to await perhaps a 3:00 a.m. opportunity to utilize for a few fleeting minutes the university’s singular mainframe IBM computer on projects you can now almost literally—not quite—pursue on your laptop? (I was tempted to say on your cell phone.) Almost nothing appears insurmountable now in the realms of science, technology, and biomedicine, encompassing domains such as genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and fetal surgery. And now you possess automobiles that navigate autonomously and diminutive devices that play your preferred music, solve your mathematical challenges, inform you of the time in Uzbekistan, and butter your toast—all before you even rise from bed! It’s a world demanding you give your all to keep up.
Yet, not all aspects are equally idyllic for everyone everywhere. In numerous nations across the globe, including segments of our own, we find ourselves in a time foretold by my cherished Irish poet, who cautioned:
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
. . . the centre cannot hold; . . .
. . . everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
I do not concur that “the best lack all conviction” because you, assembled before me in robes and hoods, and a multitude of virtuous individuals across the earth like you, demonstrate otherwise. I believe you to be the very best, and I am relying on you to be imbued with conviction, to give your all to making a difference.
But alas, I fear that in too many instances “the worst [of our day] are full of passionate intensity.” No child should endure the fear of attending school unsure if they will return home to their parents that evening. No citizenry should be compelled to live within a system—select any nation, or place a pin in a world map almost at random—where corruption is pervasive, where chaos reigns, and where statesmanlike character, elevated (not to mention eloquent) discourse, and dignified personal conduct appear to be foreign concepts. No young individuals your age—or any age—ought to confront conditions in so many locales where poverty and abuse (including sexual abuse), malnutrition and disease, and human trafficking and terror remain the norm rather than the exception for far too many people, including countless children.
Well, I have no desire to linger on negativity today, and you might argue that such has always been the case throughout history, and perhaps it has. But it need not be! Therefore, venture forth and ignite a candle. Be a ray of light. Be your best self and allow your character to radiate. Cherish the gospel of Jesus Christ and live in accordance with its principles. The world requires you, and surely your Father in Heaven needs you if His blessed purposes for His children are to prevail. You entered to learn. Now go forth to serve and strengthen. If rectifying all the world’s ills appears a daunting task, so be it. Go forth and be undaunted. If we cannot depend on you to transform the world, pray tell, to whom should we turn? Give your all in this endeavor.
John Donne—Darkness Inevitably Yields to Light and You Must Give Your All to Hope
Herein lies the rationale for your potential for triumph—my second and solitary additional reminder to you today. I offer you encouragement from another Englishman, the gifted son of an ironmonger, a brilliant young man who pursued legal studies, journeyed across the globe, and returned home to discover his true vocation in poetry and the pulpit.
John Donne was arguably the most eminent of all metaphysical poets but also a figure who attained the zenith of ministerial success, becoming the dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral and preaching regularly before Charles I and the royal family. The finest of his sermons remain unparalleled in the annals of the English Church. Largely overlooked for over 300 years before being rediscovered, as it were, approximately a century ago, John Donne returns from his grave to impart to BYU graduates a final word of confidence as you embark upon the path leading resolutely towards your future.
I have just stated that the world you now enter presents challenges and hardships. In the days and years ahead, you may encounter moments of discouragement and disappointment. Occasionally, you might experience genuine despair, whether for yourselves, your children, or the plight and circumstances of others. You may even commit a personal error or two—perhaps serious ones, though I sincerely hope not—and you might fear that any prospect of happiness and security in life has forever eluded you. In these moments, it is vital to give your all to faith.
When such times arise, I implore you to remember this: This is the Church of happy endings. Troubles are never destined to be permanent or fatal. Darkness invariably yields to light. The sun unfailingly rises. Faith, hope, and charity will ultimately triumph. Moreover, they will triumph throughout the journey.
Our English preacher articulated this sentiment:
We ask our daily bread, and God never says you should have come yesterday, he never says [I have run out,] you must [come] again to-morrow, but to-day if you will hear his voice, to-day he will hear you. . . . God . . . brought light out of darkness, not out of a lesser light; he can bring thy summer out of winter, though thou [had] no [hope of] spring; though in the ways of fortune, or [mis]understanding, or conscience, thou [hast] been benighted till now, wintred and frozen, clouded and eclipsed, damp and benumbed, smothered and stupefied till now, . . . God [yet] comes to thee, not as in the dawning of the day, not as in the bud of the spring, but as the sun at [full] noon, to [banish] all shadows, as the sheaves in harvest, to fill all penuries, all occasions invite his mercies, and all times are his seasons.
Alongside all else you have acquired here, may you depart this esteemed institution—which I cherish with all my being—secure in the assurance of God’s unwavering love for you and the redemptive blessings that flow eternally from the gospel of Jesus Christ. You will undoubtedly encounter days, to borrow Mr. Donne’s phrasing, when you may feel dark, cold, “clouded,” or “eclipsed.” Yet, if you yearn for God’s mercy, I pledge that succor will come to you, “not as in the dawning of the day, not as in the bud of the spring, but as the sun at [full] noon, [banishing every shadow].” All circumstances invite divine mercy, and in heaven, it is perpetually harvest time. Be secure and safe, today and always, in the victory of God’s kingdom over the trials and tribulations of mortality. I am more certain of this triumph than of any other truth I have ever learned—in academia or beyond. Give your all to this certainty.
Congratulations on your profoundly significant achievement. As an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I bestow upon you today abundant promise and profound peace, irrespective of the challenges you may currently face or those yet to come. I bless you to cultivate lives of service and spiritual fortitude, lives characterized by integrity and moral fidelity, and lives that will grant you confidence when you stand in the presence of God our Eternal Father, as we all assuredly will on another kind of graduation day yet to unfold. Until then, may the sun perpetually be at full noon for you, dispelling every shadow that might otherwise tarnish your happiness. I express our pride in you and wish you Godspeed on the exhilarating journey you now commence, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
1. Joseph Smith—History 1:71, footnote.
2. William Shakespeare, King Henry the Eighth, act 3, scene 2, lines 351–63, 440–44, 455–57.
3. Matthew 16:26.
4. William Butler Yeats, “The Second Coming” (1921), stanza 1.
5. John Donne, “Sermon II. Preached in the Evening of Christmas Day, 1624,” in The Works of John Donne: With a Memoir of His Life, ed. Henry Alford (London: John W. Parker, 1839), 1:25; emphasis in original.
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Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, delivered this commencement address on April 26, 2018.
See Also
Character
Hope
Leadership
Service
Success
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