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THE SUNDAY
OF HOPE: HOW AUDACIOUS
By Dr. Bill Adkins
National Chaplain
I shouted with joy as I read the report from IHQ and Brother
Richard Snow that we had raised almost $250,000 via our SUNDAY
OF HOPE effort. We expect to exceed the quarter million dollar
mark by the time we celebrate at St. Jude Children's Research
Hospital in Memphis in May. Kappa Alpha Psi embraced one of
the noblest causes of benevolence and philanthropy in America,
St. Jude. We will undoubtedly reach our goal of $500,000 well
ahead of our scheduled five-year timeline. For this effort
St. Jude will name an area in the research facility for Kappa
Alpha Psi. Surely the Founders are observing from the heavenly
cloud with great joy.
I was reading Barack Obama's book, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, when
in his speech at the Democratic Convention in 2004 he stated,
"Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics
of hope?" Cynicism is so easy, safe and conservative. Hope,
however, is risky faith, believing that the impossible can
be made probable. I agree with Senator Obama, hope is audacious.
Grand Polemarch Dwayne Murray believes it as well; he set
us on a course of Creating Inspiration. That whole notion
of "creatively inspiring" proved to be the benchmark for the
Sunday of Hope effort. Decisively, this great and Noble Klan
stepped out of the safety and comfort zone of the mundane
and mediocre, snubbing brief nuances of cynicism to accept
the challenge before us. In that audacious burst of "risky
faith" we believed we could do it.
The French writer and aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupery once
said, "If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together
to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but
rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the
sea." Saint-Exupery understood the principle of hope. People
must be focused on the greater goal, the greater good, the
"endless immensity of the sea," versus the laborious work.
Of course I can easily find God and religion in everything.
My theology is not defined by my ophthalmology (what I can
see or not see), but rather by a foundation of hope. This
kind of hope is grounded in an audacity that believes not
just for the sake of believing but also more importantly,
for the sake of accomplishing. With God at the head of our
ambitions, dreams and goals, all things are possible. "Faith
is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). When we hope, audaciously, we confirm
our belief and trust in things we cannot see. Grandmamma taught
me, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to
thine own understandings" (Proverbs. 3:5). Believing without
evidence of an assured success is the act of trusting. How
audacious is that? Every Kappa everywhere should be proud
of this accomplishment. In closing I will use the undisputable
and irrefutable words of our Executive Director, "It's good
to be a Kappa."
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