Graduation season is upon us and people want to know what to tell those who are preparing to go off to college, find a job or experience a little rest and relaxation. After the flurry of fist bumps, endless hugs, countless celebrations and a few speeches; graduates will be left, just as we were, to figure out how their years of education can pay dividends.

Teachers hope that graduates are now ready for the “real world,” parents expect that the world is ready for their graduate, colleges will sing their praises while recruiting students to spend the next four years “investing” at their particular institution, and employers might wonder how much they listened while in school!

One thing will be certain though: every graduate will be faced with the reality of finding their place in a world that sometimes seems so out of whack that no young person would ever be able to discover anything on which to believe. When I graduated from high school, I was pretty sure President Reagan was going to nuke the planet so the future looked pretty grim. Popular movies explored the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust and how the world would be propelled into a perpetual winter of death and destruction. It wasn’t the most appetizing future but somehow we survived and the 80s ended up pretty well!

Young people today are faced with a threat we didn’t have to worry about: radicalized terrorism and some Americans driven by fear who think that placating the threats will make them disappear. It’s worrisome that so many people who make up our elected officials and leaders are so concerned about political correctness and not offending people that defining a problem would be so painfully disjointed.

I hope that the graduates of 2015 have courage and won’t be afraid to do what is right instead of hiding behind vague laws and pretend policies that have too often produced what C.S Lewis described as, “men without chests.”

I hope the graduates of 2015 will take a position, know what they believe, and make a commitment to something that advances the fact that our country is a land of goodwill and hope. For all of America’s mistakes and missteps, we possess a future worth believing in and protecting. You will be called graduates — I hope you have the courage to answer.