Yesterday I had the privilege to attend the Commencement of University of Washington. The speaker was William Gates (Senior). A distinguished chap in his own right not just for being the father of Bill.
He spoke about a change in his life of how he felt about public service. Something that he now felt all of us at some point should do. His message to the Class of 2010 was that they should consider that their mission should be one of Global Equality. In his lifetime he had gone from seeing his own country change where Black People were killed – in his example – for not moving off the road for Whites, to seeing an African American in the White House. But perhaps his most telling statement was a very simple message. “People are dying and we can save them.” As Co-Chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation he is doing just that. So I hope that all of us can remember that – we hold in our hands some incredible weapons. Let us try and use them for Good. And if we can save a life – directly or indirectly – then we have a responsibility to do it.
Thank you
There is an old Jewish tradition based on the Talmud - "To save one life is as if you have saved the world".
ReplyDeleteThank you for you comments today. It's always good to have a reminder of what's important in our often mundane lives where we sometimes seem to be more concerned about checking e-mail, who won the latest world cup match, or saving a few dollars on an airline ticket.