AU Wackerlin Center for Faith and Action

Monthly Musings

June 2007

I watched Emilio Estevez’s Bobby, and I was touched by some of the voice-overs of Robert Kennedy during his presidential campaign. The last few minutes of the film are given over to the madness and confusion after he was shot. But during this cacophony of bloody silence, Bobby’s voice gives great words. It was his speech at the City Club of Cleveland which is usually titled On the Mindless Menace of Violence. It’s a beautiful piece, and towards the end, he speaks these words:

…those who live with us are our brothers…they share with us the same short moment of life…

That “same short moment of life” is what concerns me here.

I’ve spent five years at this school; five years of aches, pains, and blessings both physical and, to a perhaps greater degree, spiritual. And in this last year, I have had the pleasure and honor of serving as the Wackerlin Fellow. The work I have done with Martin Forward, Joe Dunham and our Values Council has given me a taste of just how important it is to celebrate the same short moment of life that Robert Kennedy spoke to back in 1968.

Not much has changed since he voiced his concerns about both the state of our nation and of our world. Too often we hear of pointless violence, blind adherence to nationalisms or dogmas, and apathy in the face of injustice. As Plautus says, “Man is a wolf to man.”  But I have seen hope in the eyes of those younger than myself. The Internet didn’t really exist in 1968, but now a whole generation is growing up in a world where the furthest point on the globe is but a text message away.

This year of work has reinforced my belief in the value of dialogue. We humans are social creatures; story-telling primates who need, nay, require talk in order to further ourselves. I have seen firsthand the sort of personal revelation that can be had in speaking with those of other socio-economic, racial and religious backgrounds. As often as we define our selves in terms of what we are, we define ourselves in terms of what we aren’t. Keep in mind that neither of these self-identification techniques is more positive or negative than the other. The real question then becomes:  how can we know ourselves without knowing others?

And so, in knowing others, and in engaging the life-stories of my friends, peers, coworkers and professional contacts, I have come to better know myself, and I like Tim Brauhn.

The Wackerlin Fellowship has afforded me the opportunity to grow personally and professionally, and to inform our campus community about matters of ultimate value. Our Values Council foments the sort of high-level conversation that is used to explore the presuppositions and heartfelt desires of our students. With co-workers like Martin Forward and Joe Dunham, I’m never at a dearth for a helping hand or a constructive criticism.

I’m going to really miss this place. I’ll say it again, I am really, really going to miss this place. I’ll miss our supportive faculty and administration, and I’ll miss our student body, hungry for opportunities and the sort of learning that can only be found outside of the classroom. I’m leaving for the University of Denver, where I will pursue a Master’s degree in International Studies. I plan on learning how best to become a global citizen, and to make a difference (even a small one) in this gloriously complicated world in which we live. I want to make people more aware of our “same short moment.”

I leave Aurora University behind me, but it is still in the front of my mind. I hope I’ve left it in a better place than when I showed up as a smart-aleck freshman with a bad haircut in 2002. I will no doubt return in the future to find my alma mater building some fancy new building or offering another new program. We are on the rise.

Naturally, I have no idea where exactly this next step in my education will take me, but as another one of my heroes, Captain James T. Kirk, once said, “Second star to the right, and straight on till morning.”

Thank you everyone for everything.

Tim Brauhn