Zach's OLPH Commencement Address

On Saturday, Zach was the Commencement speaker for the 8th grade promotion at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. OLPH is the Catholic church and school in his hometown of Downey, CA, and the outreach coordinator, Diane Davis, became a follower of Team Rubicon when they were on Hugh Hewitt's radio program back in January and February. She asked Zach to speak, which he was honored to do. Zach is great in front of people, but I think he got a little nervous when he was told that Larry Elder was their speaker last year! (At least, that made me nervous for him!) But he did great. Zach is always quite personable and conversational, and he is able to be the same in front of groups as he is one-on-one. I was really proud of both the content and delivery of his speech.

Zach's message to the kids was to commit themselves to a lifetime of service, especially as they enter high school. He based his address on St Ignatius' Prayer for Generosity, which Zach learned staying with the Jesuits in Haiti while working with Team Rubicon. This prayer was part of their evening exercises, and it has really stuck with Zach and with other members of his team. Zach had everyone repeat the prayer with him, then broke the concepts down, line-by-line, and gave examples and personal anecdotes of how everyone can perform acts of service, both large and small. Here is the text of the beautiful prayer:

Lord, teach me to be generous.

Teach me to serve you as you deserve;

to give and not to count the cost,

to fight and not to heed the wounds,

to toil and not to seek for rest,

to labor and not to ask for reward,

save that of knowing that I do your will.