Last night, our son was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa — an honor society for scholarship. We’re utterly proud of him, of course. Part of the ritual is to give each inductee a white rose — the symbol of purity. His is now gracing our home and it makes me smile.
It’s hard not to love a society that uses flowers as a symbol of success and aspiration. PTK’s call to wisdom, aspiration, and purity seems almost old fashioned in this world of text messaging and tabloid media.
Such lofty goals to aspire to: such worthy goals to achieve. Watching my son, oblivious to his parents in the audience, say his pledge and receive his rose surrounded by his peers– reminds me how important it is to have these sorts of aspirations. No matter what it is we do, reaching for something beyond ourselves while in the company of others with the same goals is important.
We need all need community. Finding a community that can sing your song, dream your dream, well–that’s the hard part.
And it’s worth the endeavor.
