June 7, 1936

The Rev. Dr. Albert G. Butzer, pastor of Westminster Church, Buffalo, drew the text for his baccalaureate sermon from John 8:14, “For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you know neither of these two things.” He urged the Class of 1936 to recognize that millions in the modern world had been brought into chaos through their failure to integrate their lives through a belief in God.

“When we lift these words,” he said, “from their ancient settings and drop them down into our modern life, how accurately they describe the plight in which multitudes of young people find themselves at this moment…. Too many of us have been trying to make something out of life with nothing but a chemical accident at the beginning of it, and nothing but utter extinction at the end of it.”

The New York Times