2022 Graduation Magazine

Page 68 CLASS OF 2022 LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.COM MAY / JUNE 2022 What Dalrymple said is represented is a tapestry stretching over multiple panels. Then there is a weaver of the tapestry and a storyteller who must interpret and reinterpret what the tapestry means. With that tale in mind, Dalrymple said he wanted to share two stories. The first was his own. The second is the very familiar story of Joseph. Years ago, Dalrymple’s dreams were unfolding in front of him like a blazing tapestry of many colors. At fifteen, Dalrymple was a national championship gymnast who imagined Olympic glory. Six days a week, Dalrymple trained tirelessly with other Olympic hopefuls soldiering on through countless injuries. He had all the skills he had to succeed. In 1996, Dalrymple was at the Olympic trials on the verge of achieving his dreams. Then Dalrymple fell from a high bar and broke his neck, ending his gymnastic career. The Biblical story of Joseph also has a tapestry. Joseph was a brilliant and charismatic young man of dreams. He had the world at his fingertips, but then his brothers threw him in a cistern and sold him to slave traders bound for Egypt. A life filled with so much promise was literally thrown into the pit. The reason Dalrymple was telling these stories is that for the graduates today is a day of dreams fulfilled and dreams scarcely begun. Dalrymple said many of them today are in the early tapestry of their lives. Some may have the next thing lined up. Others are not sure what will come next and are frightened. It is hard to know what the next panel in their tapestry will bring. He asked, “What if that is good news?” The first key point Dalrymple shared was “You cannot comprehend the tapestry of your life.” Though Joseph who had early ideas of where God would take him, there was no way he could have known the twists and turns fate had in store. The last few years have taught us we cannot know what the next panel of the tapestry will be. We do not know what will happen next year or next month. After Dalrymple’s injury, he wrestled with the purpose of all those years of training. With his dreams dashed, Dalrymple had to figure out what to do. Friends told Dalrymple since he learned how to be successful at one thing, he could also be successful doing something else. Continue 8