Pi Pi Rho
May 2001, 35th anniv. Love Feast
Intro at IC convo several years ago.. What Intros are sometimes worth: Cerro Gordo.. Famous Authors Day… FHA convention
San Francisco Harbor…. Alcatraz
Life is 10% what happens to you, 90% how you react to it.
Pi Pi Rho is at that juncture right now. I’ve received various emails explaining the crisis. We have experienced the 10%. A declining membership.. We are now ready for the 90%….how we react to it.
I was met at the door of Barnes House in 1967 by the Dean of students, Don Eldred. He called me by name. He’d memorized all of our pictures. Things have changed little. Only details… Beanies, (show.. jock strap) dorm visitations, food is better. ‘60’s… tried to protest but there was little to protest at IC Thompson… atop chapel… no feet… now lawyer for State of Illinois. Bill Beeson… lead protest against compulsory chapel, hid under desk.. Now: Dr. Bill Beeson….Episcopal Priest, I think.. Drama ministry Mary… protest Queen. Now.. Jr High social studies teacher Tried a streak off.. then Channel 20 turned on cameras.
One thing that hasn’t changed.. IC is still a good place to dream. I’ve taught for 30 years.. and… . . Frankly, what you know about Windows 98 impresses me less and less. What you know about people could change someone’s life.
Even Bill Gates: “Don’t send me any more computer geniuses. The world has enough of them. Send me more dreamers.” Thank God, Illinois College still teaches a young person to dream and a literary society can be a marvelous place to experiment..to nudge and color and play with your dreams.
Buy this premise or the rest of the speech makes no sense at all:
Most of our happiness depends upon our reaction to life, not the events in it. Our society’s declining membership means very little. Our reaction to it means everything. S’field church asked me to evaluate… It was dull for THEM. MATTHEW: Seek Ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Whatever I have desired in my entire life, began first with me. The rejunivation of any organization begins with the individual. In other words, make Pi Pi Rho a great organization for the individual and let the numbers take care of themselves.
Helen Dickens: I’ll call her with prayer request: “Oh, Praise God!” “Jesus Loves you and I do, too.” Helen’s response to a life of tragedy is “What an opportunity!” MS, wheelchair, Cardinals, lifts blocks
I’ve known this for a long time, but it’s never more evident than when traveling.
I entered IC, 1967.. Undertaker/moritician.. Then, met a man who changed my mind.. (new buildings nice.. Science Center.. but ed is still a person to person proposition.. Tony Campello) A man who turned me on to the world of words and travel.. Dr. Charles Frank. Would interrupt his lectures on Shakespeare and Chaucer at least four times a class period to tell of his travels.
1979.. my first tour.. Taking students around the world..
They say before you choose a college roommate or marry someone, you should first travel with them. I lived in 211 Gardner.. and made the mistake of not traveling with mine first. He and I lived together our freshman year, pledged Pi Pi Rho together, graduated together and didn’t speak for the next ten years. Good friends now.
No better proof of the 10% 90% theory than in traveling.
I spoke on this at a convocation some years ago and some of the seniors said they’d like to hear it again. Since it was a convo,they weren’t paying attention the first time.
Alaska one week from today..went several years ago.. nearly all were Illinois College grads or current students.. met a group from Carbondale.. Priest.. “Hey! I went to Illinois College!”
Mark Twain: I HAVE FOUND THAT THERE AIN’T NO SURER WAY TO FIND Out WHETHER YOU LIKE PEOPLE OR HATE THEM THAN TO TRAVEL WITH THEM
But you don’t have to be a college student to show this attitude toward life. ---Beardstown Ladies...King’s Cross...Sydney Australia Even in their 70’s and 80’s (2 IC grads) they knew about the 10% 90% theory.
---PROBLEM-FREE JOURNIES ARE OFTEN THE DULLEST (Thank God, I’ve never had one) ....Tahiti (Maroa), Jeremy, Paul Gogan Landed in Hawaii: FBI. (“My mom found out about the pictures.”) Jeremy Scott, international terrorist. Jeremy entered his photos in a National Geographic photo contest: won the JR division. Life is 10% what happens to you, 90% how you react to it.
John Stenbeck: A JOURNEY IS LIKE MARRIAGE. THE CERTAIN WAY TO BE WRONG IS TO THINK YOU CONTROL IT.
---Beth K & Eric M...Bullfight (Beth: J’ville’s 1st lady firefighter)
Noel Coward opinion on air travel: “HOW WAS YOUR FLIGHT?” WELL, AERONAUTICALLY IT WAS A GREAT SUCCESS. SOCIALLY, IT LEFT QUITE A BIT TO BE DESIRED.
...Air Italia...cockpit window.
I enjoy rating airlines: S’field, Boston, (American, United, TWA) Air New Zealand: by far the best.
---Worst airline ever: Aeoflat..Aro-flop.. Most takeoffs and landings landed three times each time. (But best security) (no flight attendants.. they got off…. Russians: drunk. Kids took charge) Champaign Dave...getting out of Soviet Union. Continental: My vote for the worst domestic airlines.. Cleveland… van cab ….. propane
MUST HAVE THE 90%-10% ATTITUDE to handle foreign CUSTOMS: ..Unisex Toilets...concentration.. Jodi and Susan...bathtubs. . . Moscow: restoom attendants
Southern Spain…. brushed teeth with Pepsi … rabies epidemic ..French Bidet...Rick: (now a J’ville lawyer) Sock washer...wet pant legs ..Greatest shock: “What time would you like your girls knocked up?”
Life is truly 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
TRULY UNFORGETABLE MOMENTS: ..Ireland...Preacher Frank from West Virginia clearing out a bar for church .. I hardly remember the 10%, the problems. I’ll never forget the 90, the faces of the Irish barflies bowed in prayer. ..Assisi... Two olive-skinned ladies on tour Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it.
--The Alps.....Thomas Gray in 1739 on viewing the Alps: THERE ARE CERTAIN SCENES THAT WOULD AWE AN ATHEIST INTO BELIEF, WITHOUT THE HELP OF ANY OTHER ARGUMENT> --Craig, Lucerne, Richard, communion
Richard: Les Miz, Miss Saigon, English Music Hall (Me: writing V’Ville show) (2 girls on the way out)
....FINALLY: The story I never tell if any future travelers in the audience. Part of it was printed in USA TODAY last year. (Eric: now one of your J’ville UPS men) .Paris-Madrid train. Bottom line: everyone had the time of their life… They took the 90% and ran with it.
The nation’s leading architect, Johnstone, (90 years old) said on Charlie Rose some time ago…. “The hottest places in hell are reserved for whiners and complainers. If life were 100 times longer, there would still be no time for negativity.”
Life is truly 10% what happens to you and 90% what you do with it. Pi Pi Rho now stands between the 10% and the 90%.
Former IC student, Jeff Westerfield.. tied up and robbed.
You are blessed to be a part of the Illinois College experience. You are blessed to be a member of Pi Pi Rho. Most of the 10% experiences in your life, you cannot control. But because of what you’ve been given.. an IC education and the experience of being with this group of men, the 90% is well within your grasp. Grab it.
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