The Foreign Service Journal, April 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | APRIL 2017 15 That is how we do it. That’s the very definition of the work I’ve been privi- leged to do, that I will pursue now in different clothes, and that I leave to you. That’s the sermon, and in a moment I will let you go in peace. First, I want to thank you for so many messages of support and appreciation. One of you here compared the situation to the scene in “Star Wars” when Obi-Wan Kenobi is struck down, and I found that touching. Another compared it to the scene when Princess Leia strangles Jabba the Hutt, and I found that confusing. The most meaningful came frommy son Stefan, a future Nobel laureate in physics, who wrote: “I am proud of your decades of service to this country and the world. You gave everything you could for the people of this world in a slow and painful line of work. You have given more than your share. The values you upheld in your career are part of what makes me who I am.” And that is why we do it. Even if you don’t have your own children, what you do in this building tomorrow can mean another genera- tion will live in a habitable world and can enjoy peace and liberty. If we are firm in our principles, steadfast in our ideals and tireless in our determina- tion to uphold our oath—to “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic”—then for many genera- tions, other Americans will stand in this spot with the same satisfaction and hope I feel today. I leave you with one last thought, from one of my favorite philosophers. If you’ve never read him, or not for many years, I urge you to take the time now. His name is…Winnie the Pooh. And he said: “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” Thank you and God bless you! n