Denzel Washington to College Grads: 'Put God First'
In delivering the commencement speech at Dillard University on Sunday, Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington told the college graduates to "put God first" in everything they do, adding that everything he has accomplished in this life was due to "the grace of God."
"Number one: Put God first," he said. "Put God first in everything you do."
"Everything you think you see in me, everything I’ve accomplished, everything you think I have – and I have a few things," said Washington. "Everything that I have is by the grace of God. Understand that. It’s a gift."
In leading up to those remarks, the star of such films as Malcolm X, Training Day, Glory, The Book of Eli, andThe Equalizer, said, “When I was young and started really making it as an actor, I came and talked to my mother and said, ‘Mom, did you think this was going to happen? I’d be so big and I’ll be able to take care of everybody and I can do this and I can do that.’"
"She said, ‘Boy, stop it right there, stop it right there, stop it right there!" he continued. "She said, ‘If you only knew how many people been praying for you.’ How many prayer groups she put together, how many prayer talks she gave, how many times she splashed me with holy water to save my sorry behind."
"She said, ‘Oh, you did it all by yourself,'" recounted Washington. "'I’ll tell you what you can do by yourself: Go outside and get a mop and bucket and clean these windows – you can do that by yourself, superstar.’"
"So, I’m saying that because I want to congratulate all the parents and friends and family and aunties and uncles and grandmother and grandfathers, all the people that helped you get to where you are today," Washington told the graduates. "I’m going to tell you about three stories. I’m going to keep it short. I remember my graduation speaker, got up there and went on forever, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."
"I’m going to keep it short," he said, and then made his point about God and putting Him first in our lives. "Number one: Put God first. Put God first in everything you do. Everything you think you see in me. Everything I’ve accomplished, everything thing you think I have – and I have a few things. Everything that I have is by the grace of God. Understand that. It’s a gift."
Towards the end of his speech, Washington repeated some of the comments he has made over the years about reliance on God. He reminded that crowd that no matter how much you attain in material goods, "you will never see a U-Haul behind a hearse."
http://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/denzel-washington-college-grads-put-god-first
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