The following speech was proposed to Amador Valley High School on Wed. June 16, 1999. The items italicized were censored.

I would like to dedicate the following speech to my grandfather. He had planned to be sitting out in the audience today, but last Saturday he went home to be with the Lord. While he would have enjoyed seeing me give this speech, I am certain that he is in a much better place right now.

In the future, humans will live on the moon.

In the future, there will be manned visits to Jupiter.

In the future, sickness will be eradicated.

In the future, babies will be born in test tubes.

In the future, Big Brother will be watching you.

The future is not what it used to be.

Roughly thirty years ago, our parents graduated from high school. They sat in the stands and listened to many people tell them that they were the future. But they lived in a different world than we live in now. The Civil Rights movements were only a few years old. Neil Armstrong had just stepped on the moon. President Nixon was still in office. Our parents were told that they were the future, that they could make this world a better place. It is my opinion that they were ... less than successful.

It is said that we reap what we sow. Some of the seeds that our parents generation sowed were: "Don't trust anyone over 30," "Make Love not War," "If it feels good, do it." Today we are reaping the fruits of those seeds. The headlines of our time include the O.J. Simpson trial, the Oklahoma City bombing, President Clinton's impeachment trials, school shootings, and violent arguments about abortion on demand as an acceptable method of birth control. The morals of this country are dying, and I am supposed to say that we are the future? That everything will turn out great? No, I want to tell you that we need to change. We don't need stricter laws. We don't need more government spending. We need to focus our attention on that which is truly important...

We stand now at a crossroad. Some of us are going to college. Some are heading straight to work. Others are still undecided on the path to take. But one thing is certain; the next few years will play a strong part on our lives. Our time at Amador has been fun, but it has been somewhat sheltered. We now step into the hostile world, where the careless are caught up in grief and disparity. We have been trained to use our best abilities to stay on track, and now it is time for us to be tested. Some will stumble and some will fall. Our abilities and friends might fail us, but there is one source of support that is never changing. I urge you to seek out the Lord, and let Him guide you. Through His power, you can stand tall in the face of darkness, and survive the trends of "modern society."

As Psalm 146 says, "Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot even save themselves. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them-- the Lord, who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked."

Historians are constantly reminding us that if we fail to remember history, we are doomed to repeat it. History is full of examples of nations that have fallen because of their moral decay. Change does not come easy. Radical change only happens when a new generation takes over. The moral values of my grandfather's generation were radically changed by our parent's generation. As we step into the leadership role, we have the opportunity to learn from their errors and reestablish this nation's sense of morality and accountability. As philosophers are fond of saying, the future is ours, but we must "Seize the day!"

When all is said and done, it does not matter how much money you have made. Nor does it matter how many degrees you earned. Nor does it matter how many people you have met. What truly matters is if you have invested your time not in what is here today and gone tomorrow, but in that which lives forever, your soul. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Have you accepted the gift, or will you pay the ultimate price...?