This year, we are celebrating 10 years of Acton University and 25 years of the Acton Institute.
Should you look up traditional gifts for wedding anniversaries, you will find that couples celebrating 10 years of marriage traditionally give one another gifts of tin, and for 25 years, silver. As far as I know, there are no lists for the proper gifts for think tank anniversaries, so I will use these traditional wedding gifts to make my point.
“We must shield not only ourselves but also the weakest and most vulnerable around us.”
Tin does not sound like a very exciting gift. We tend to think of things made of tin as cheap and not durable. Yet if you look at the chemical characteristics of tin, you find that it withstands corrosion very well. Acids and salts have very little effect on it.
One of the reasons we started Acton University was to not only promote a free and virtuous society but also equip others to help build such a society. We live in corrosive times. We are assaulted daily with the “acids” of hatred, misunderstanding, vice, poverty, and crime. We must shield not only ourselves but also the weakest and most vulnerable around us. Furthermore, we must do all we can to promote freedom and virtue. Knowing the characteristics of tin, it may just be the right “gift” to associate with Acton University.
Silver seems to be a much richer gift, as it should be. Making anything work well for 25 years takes both perseverance and grace. That is true for a marriage as well a business or any organization. While most of us tend to think of silver for its use in jewelry and decorative items, silver— better than any other element—conducts electricity. With electricity comes light, and with light, illumination.
My hope (and I know I share this hope with Kris Mauren, Acton’s executive director and cofounder) is that the Acton Institute illuminates for you the world in which we live. Acton endeavors daily to enlighten you regarding religious liberty, economics, faith, work, and culture. Our goal is to help you make sense of this world and bring the light that only faith can give.
Tin and silver: two elements, two traditional gifts. We hope to continue to be an elemental part of your life and even a gift to you in your journey of building a free and virtuous society.
