Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim’s Invocation At 05/19/2021 Common Council Meeting–“In all that you do, in all your life, I wish you the strength and the grace to make those choices which will allow you and your neighbor to become the best of whoever you are”

Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) gave her first invocation as a new member of the Common Council during the 05/19/2021 Common Council meeting.

Mayor Woodford: Tonight’s invocation will be delivered by Alderperson Hartzheim

Alderperson Hartzheim: In 2002 Fred Rogers of PBS’s Mister Rogers Neighborhood gave a commencement address for Dartmouth College and since it’s commencement season I thought an excerpt fitting for tonight. Mr. Rogers asked the graduates to take a moment of silence to honor those who had cared about them along the way. And he followed that silence with this: “Whomever you’ve been thinking about, imagine how grateful they must be that during your silent times you remember how important they are to you. It’s not the honors and the prizes and the fancy outsides of life which ultimately nourish our souls. It’s the knowing that we can be trusted, that we never have to fear the truth, that the bedrock of our lives from which we make our choices is very good stuff. There’s a neighborhood song that is meant for the child in each of us and I’d like to give you the words of that song right now. ‘It’s you I like. It’s not the things you wear. It’s not the way you do you hair. But it’s you I like. The way you are now. The way down deep inside you. Not the things that hide you. Not your caps and gowns, they’re just beside you. But it’s you I like. Every part of you–your skin, your eyes, your feelings whether old or new. I hope that you remember even when you’re feeling blue that it’s you I like. It’s you yourself. It’s you.’ And what that ultimately means of course is that you don’t ever have to do anything sensational for people to love you. When I say it’s you I like, I’m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch–that deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate. Peace that rises triumphant over war. And justice that proves more powerful than greed. So in all that you do, in all your life I wish you the strength and the grace to make those choices which will allow you and your neighbor to become the best of whoever you are.”