Turning Lead into Gold:
September 11, 2009

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the first Chapel Service in the 109th year of Hillfield Strathallan College.  Welcome back to all returning students and faculty members!

I hope that you had a great summer and that you are beginning to adjust to the routines of yet another school year.  I would like to extend a particularly warm welcome to all of the people who are attending their first HSC Chapel Service.  This year, we are being joined by ten new teachers, and over 170 new students. 
Thank you for choosing HSC.  Each of you brings unique gifts that will help to make this an even better place. 
How about if all the veterans in the room join me in giving them an enthusiastic HSC welcome?

Since this is our first Chapel Service, I’m going to take a few minutes to provide some context for what happens here in the Page Gym every Friday morning.  First of all, it’s important to recognize that Chapel is an important tradition here at HSC.  We do not have any denominational affiliations.  Nevertheless, Chapel has been part of school life since 1901.  In fact, some of our most significant occasions in the school year are Chapel Services.  That would include Prefect Installation next Friday, our annual Remembrance Day Chapel Service which brings back a large number of older alumni (some of whom served in the Second World War), and of course, the Carol Service, which last year attracted about 300 recent graduates.

Chapel allows us to acknowledge our spirituality, and to reflect on important ethical issues — how we can live better lives, and what can we do to make our school and our world better places. It also allows us to celebrate our sense of community, by bringing together students and teachers from all four schools—we do that all too rarely.  Most important of all, Chapel provides us with a forum to celebrate student accomplishments and to enjoy student performances.  I think everyone would agree that the musical performances are, by far, the most enjoyable part of our weekly Chapel services.

Today, of course, is September 11—the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington that resulted in the deaths of almost 3,000 innocent people. Many of us can clearly remember what we were doing when we first learned of the attacks on the Twin Towers.  That image of the collapsing towers is etched in our collective memory.  I don’t know about you, but every year around this time I find myself thinking about the horror of the attacks and the impact they have had on the lives of so many thousands of people.  Try to imagine what it would have been like to have lost a loved one on September 11th.  

I am reminded of a Japanese woman named Yachiyo Kuge whose son, Toshiya, died in the crash of United Flight 93.  Although she lives in Osaka Japan, she has made the pilgrimage to the crash site in rural Pennsylvania three times.  “I want to breathe the same air as where my son was,” she says.  “You have to feel this place.  I have to be here to feel that I am with him.”

Similarly, the father of Bobby McIlvaine, a 26 year-old who died in the World Trade Centre, continues to battle his sometimes overwhelming sense of loss.  “The grief can be so intense,” he confides, “that there are some days when I feel like dead man.  What do you expect?  My son was murdered.  But I realize that I can’t stay in a depressed state and that I have to move forward.  Every day is a learning experience for me.”

Despite the horror of the attacks, one of the themes that emerges from these stories is how so many family members have moved beyond their grief, their anger and their confusion, and in doing so, have managed to find a new purpose to their lives.  For example, rather than allowing themselves to be consumed by anger and hatred, a surprising number have dedicated their lives to noble causes such as world peace, international understanding and the elimination of world hunger.

I recently read a very moving book by Abigail Carter, a Canadian woman whose husband died in the north tower.  She describes her attempts to deal with her loss as a form of “spiritual alchemy.” As you may know, alchemy is the process through which alchemists believed lead could be turned into gold by means of three-steps, concluding with a magic powder made from the philosopher’s stone.  Abigail Carter experienced incredible pain and anguish in the months and years following her husband’s death, but eventually she came to terms with her loss by turning lead into gold; by resolving to live a purposeful life, a life that is full, and at times, even joyful; for her sake, as well as for the sake of her two young children.

As we begin a new school year, a year full of excitement and promise, let us pause for a moment to reflect on the events of 9/11.  We remember those who died, as well as their loved ones.  Let us draw inspiration from people such as Abigail Carter.  May we have the strength of character to turn lead into gold.  May we learn from our mistakes, as well as from life’s setbacks and disappointments, and may we transform life’s challenges into opportunities.

As we begin a new school year, let us do our best to live deliberately.  As one of my favourite high school teachers used to say, the real purpose of life is to live a life of purpose.  And surely that purpose must have something to do with helping others.  As Albert Schweitzer observed, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

All of the world’s great faith traditions tell us that we have a responsibility to help others, and in doing so, to elevate our lives and the life of our community.  An obvious way to start is by reaching out to our new colleagues and classmates. That alone will go a long way in helping to make HSC a better place.

In conclusion, I wish all of you a happy, productive and purposeful school year.  Be kind.  Set high but achievable goals.  Get involved, and make the most of the opportunities presented to you.  Be tenacious.  Remain hopeful and confident, regardless of the challenges. And at the end of every day, we all will be able to say, we have done our best.  We are living a life of purpose!