Writing as a form of prayer: a speech by Frank Paci

If the Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature can be taken as authoritative, then former Sault high school teacher Frank Paci is "the most important Italian-Canadian novelist writing in English, both because of the number of his publications and the consistent quality of his writing."

Paci (shown), who now teaches and writes in Mississauga, Ontario, has published ten novels.

On Saturday, Algoma University College President Celia Ross presented Paci with an honorary doctor of letters degree.

The following is the full text of Dr. Paci's convocation address.

This material is copyright and appears on SooToday.com by gracious permission of the author.

SooToday.com photo: Meet the Paci family

**************************************************************************** Writing as a form of prayer

I have to admit that I'm a little apprehensive speaking in public like this. But if Algoma is going to honour me with a degree the least I could so is risk making an ass of myself.

Those who know me know me as a private person. I ply my trade as a writer in my cave, I call it, in an invisible way. And I've learned to function as an invisible writer in more ways than one. So when I go out in public like this I truly don't know what's going to happen. I can't play a role in public, it's as simple as that. If I don't mean something in a genuine way I can't even say it. I have to be honest with you. My son is the actor in the family, not me.

So we'll see what happens.

Of course I feel honoured to be here and receive this degree and I'd like to thank the Senate and the Board of Governors of Algoma U and Laurentian for this honour. And especially Jim Gibson for his support and Celia Ross for her fine work to keep this school afloat.

I'd also like to acknowledge, my wife, Christine, who has been behind me, with me, and in front of me for the past thirty years or so. We're here mainly of course to honour the graduates.

I suppose I'm obligated to give an inspirational speech. How can I give an inspirational speech, though? I don't do it for a living. And I'm sure whatever I say you've heard before.

How about if I summarize everything into one tidy sentence?

Find something that you love to do with such a passion that it becomes a joy that it becomes mere play that when you get your paycheque you feel guilty at making money from your work.

You've probably heard that before, or a variant thereof. I'd like to think, therefore, that all I'm doing is refreshing your memory. I'm simply bringing to the light of day what you have inside you already.

Sometimes in my other work as a teacher I try to prod my students to be awake and focused at all times. They think I mean awake as opposed to being asleep. But I also mean to be awake to higher states of consciousness.

The learning process, to me, is not just learning about literature and science and math. It's learning who we truly are as human beings. Learning about our essential self. Learning our place in the world. And learning what we're supposed to do with our lives.

(Just as an aside, the Greatest Adventure in life for me is not to explore the galaxies. Is not to gain power and prestige. Is not to amass a fortune. It's to discover who we truly are as human beings. It's to explore the workings of consciousness. Levels of consciousness.

And to do that, all we need is keen perception and good listening skills. And a decent library.

And I must say, thank God for Algoma University College and for the library and teachers. The Soo desperately needs you. All those who hunger for knowledge desperately need you.

I think there is a battle going on in the modern world. In the western world at least. The battle is between those who are interested in the Power Game and those who are interested in serving human kind. The battle is between self-interest and human interest. Self-interest is not only one's individual power. It's the power of the family and the clan and the nation and the religion too. And often the battle is fought on the battleground of language. Language these days is too often used and abused. Language is losing ground to image. To surface. To bells and whistles. And isn't it ironic that in this information age, with the media and talk shows everywhere, more and more people are talking but not much is being said?

Let's face it, the Power Game always wins. But I'd like to think that I'm a sort of guardian of language. I think of the poet as the guardian of language. We serve language because language manifests the consciousness of human kind.)

Anyway, being a true student to me is a never-ending process.

Here's a definition of a teacher I picked up long ago. I forget what the source is.

A true teacher is simply someone who is more of a student that his or her students. A true teacher never stops learning - and is simply one or two steps ahead of his or her students.

And I'd like to think that I've never stopped learning. Just ask my wife who sees me reading all the time. And who tells me to keep all the books orderly. And to clean up after myself.

So I say to all the graduates. We celebrate your hard work in getting you where you are now. We wish you luck in the future. But please don't stop being a student. Never stop learning. Never stop reading and being inquisitive and trying to achieve a higher state of consciousness. Because the whole purpose of learning, I think, is a self-transforming activity. I think Plato was right. Knowledge does make us better human beings. The ability to see all sides of an issue. To understand the workings of the human heart. To know that we are essentially the same as human beings. Whether we're Hindu or Catholic, Polish or Italian, Chinese or African. For without compassion knowledge is nothing.

I've seen too often people who graduate, find a job, start a family, and say: I don't have time to read and learn anymore.

Well, I don't buy that. I think that one of the greatest traps that we can fall into is smugness. Please, let's never get smug. Let's always be willing to take risks. To draw a line in the sand. To cross the Rubicon. Or whatever cliche you like to use.

I think one of the great values of a liberal education is learning how to think for ourselves and learning about our essential natures as human beings.

Now my son, who has just finished his second year of university, takes me to task every so often. Knowing is not enough, he says. We have to do something. We have to act in some way. We have to change the world for the better in our own small way.

Yes, I agree with him. But before we start changing the world, let's take the mote from our own eyes. Let's learn to first think on our own. Let's not be just a cog in the machine. Let's learn who we truly are before we even presume to tell others who they are.

To read the conclusion of this address, please click here.