I've been doing some checking around. And it turns out that not all that much has changed since I was sitting right out there where you are.

I hear Mr. Beim-Esche is still rolling around on the floor and teaching great English classes. Mrs. Penick is still talking 100 miles an hour in Spanish. Mr. Simon still lets you hang out in his office and drink hot chocolate. Mr. Bay is still coaching. I played C Football for him. Well, I was on the team. I just didn't go in much during the games. And Coach Morse. He's still showing that amazing video in history class from the Vietnam War. Some other things are probably the same too.

Seniors, four years of high school have blown right by. You've taken all those tests and written all those papers. You've gone to all those chapels. (In four years, by the way, you sat through 120 Monday morning chapels.) You've gone to all those practices and games. You've walked to Straub's a million times. You've spent all those nights at Steak 'N Shake - and the Comedy Club and the Techno Dance.

Now you're about to walk across this stage. And it seems to me there's a basic question facing you right now. (And you freshmen, sophomores, juniors, this question will be here for you before you know it.)

The question is: How do you take high school and wrap it up — package it — in a way that helps you after you leave here? You've just made it through four of the hardest and most fun years of your life so far. Now what do you do with all of it?

Well, in a way, it's really simple. What we get at this place called Prin — what we can take with us — is an inkling about prayer. In fact, when you think about it, hasn't this high school actually gotten you ready to pray big prayers — prayers that work, prayers that heal, prayers that help you and your friends and your neighbors on this planet?

What do I mean by big prayers? Because when I left here, I didn't feel like I knew all that much about prayer. I was ready for small prayers, maybe. But big ones?

Well, Mary Baker Eddy boils it down for us. "The test of all prayer," she says, is "Do we love our neighbor better" after praying (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 9:5-7)? Do we love our neighbor better? That's the test.

Jesus gave us just one prayer — the Lord's Prayer. And it doesn't go, "My father, which art in heaven," "Give me this day my daily bread!" It's about "our" and "us." Jesus also tells us to do just two things: Love God, and love your neighbor. That's it.

So prayers are big when they're about more than just our problems. They're big when we include our neighbors and care about them. And big prayers work, because they're not about just trying to shoo evil away from us. They are about smacking down error — declaring it can't attack anyone anywhere and that Good protects everyone, everywhere.

OK, but wait, what does this high school in Missouri have to do with big prayers — and with loving our neighbors?

Well, I hear you've done a lot of neighborly things this year. There was the Run for Lidieth. There was James King's video about the senior class "neighborhood." And in your classes, for instance, you've been learning all about your neighbors in this world.

In Current Issues, maybe you read about the Palestinian girl who blew herself up and killed a Jewish girl. And you wondered how could things be so bad that she would kill her neighbor? In drama maybe you totally got into your character in Steel Magnolias — and started to see how she views the world.

One neighborly thing happened with a certain sophomore girl I know. One time a friend of hers was having a really bad day. Lots of people were just asking if this friend was OK. But this sophomore girl asked if the friend wanted to go for a walk — and talk about it. They did. In fact, they walked around the Green three times. She said a few things — but she mostly just listened. She was a comforter that day. She was helping her neighbor.

Another friend is teaching at a top prep school in New York City. Her neighbors are kids who live just a few blocks from Ground Zero.

So pretty soon your neighbors are going to be people all over this planet. And how you treat them — and care about them — is going to have a big impact on the world. In fact, I've been learning at The Christian Science Monitor that my big prayers help me and help my neighbors.

One time I saw this was on September 13 — two days after the terrorist attacks. Early that morning, I went into the Monitor office — which is two blocks from the White House — to write a story about how President Bush was responding to the attacks.

But before I started writing, I opened the Bible to the 91st Psalm. In reading it, I realized that God does two things for us when we're in trouble: He protects us and He comforts us.

So I just quietly declared that we as a nation — all my neighbors in this country — could expect to be protected and comforted — and that we could see those qualities expressed by our nation's leaders, including Mr. Bush.

Remember, this was only two days after the attacks. And up to that point, Bush had done pretty well on the protecting part. He was being a tough Commander in Chief — rallying the military and talking to the allies. But he hadn't done much of the comforting part — of being Pastor in Chief — of consoling and reassuring the nation. And I began writing that in my story.

But as I was typing away on deadline, I looked over at the TV and saw Francine Kiefer, another Monitor writer. She was standing in the Oval Office across from Bush. She asked him how he was praying and thinking about the tragedy. He leaned forward, his eyes beginning to glisten, and said, "Well, I don't think of myself right now. I think about the families, the children." And then, as his mouth quivered and his eyes filled with tears, he said, "This country will not relent until we have saved ourselves, and others, from the terrible tragedy that came upon America."

This was the first time Bush had shown any emotion about the attacks — the first time he'd talked about how tough it was for him and for the nation. He's being empathetic. He's being the Pastor in Chief. He's showing the comfort of the 91st Psalm.

Right then, my editor from Boston called. She said, "Francine just made the President cry. Get that in your story!" And suddenly my story was about how Bush was exhibiting both qualities — and how that would bless the country. And it happened right in time for deadline!

There were lots of big prayers after Sept. 11. And this was one example I saw of them blessing lots of people. In fact, you know, one of the best things about working for The Christian Science Monitor is that it's introduced me to a lot of new neighbors.

Someone once said that Monitor stories are either about "healed" or "unhealed events." And standing right there watching some of these "healed" and "unhealed" events has helped me pay better attention to my neighbors. It's helped me pray big prayers.

But you don't have to work for the Monitor for this to happen. You can just read it. The best piece I read this week was by Howard LaFranchi. It was about the election in Columbia. But it was really about way more than that. Howard took you on a whole tour of Latin America, talking about how democracy is working and not working, and what people are dealing with. In 900 words, I got Latin America. I got what my neighbors down south are up to.

So, the Monitor is a place where we connect with our neighbors — to check and see how they need help — or how they're doing better. And that's important, because in order for us to pass this "test of all prayer" — our prayers have to include our neighbors. They have to be big.

Another thing that happened with big prayers was during the 2000 election campaign when I traveled down the Mississippi on Al Gore's riverboat. I was the new kid on the block — probably the youngest reporter there. I was the freshman.

Now on this boat, we reporters were kept down on the bottom deck. We weren't allowed on the middle deck where the staff and Secret Service were — or on the top deck where the Gores were. (It's so high school, by the way. All those cliques.) So I'm thinking, "Great, how am I going to get a story out of this?"

Well, when I'm stuck — and don't know what to do or how to pray — I just get quiet and then flip open the Bible or Science and Health and read the first thing I see. So, that afternoon, I flipped open Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and read this: "Break up cliques, level wealth with honesty, let worth be judged according to wisdom, and we get better views of humanity" (page 239:7).

At first I thought, OK, God, how does this relate to me and a riverboat and a campaign? But then a few things occurred to me. It says, "Break up cliques…." There were definitely three cliques on the boat: the press, the staff, the Gores. I thought, OK, that's interesting.

It also says, "… let worth be judged according to wisdom…." Well, this trip was right after "The Big Kiss." Tipper Gore — Al's wife — had planted a big kiss on him at the convention — and the press had gone wild. Everybody was talking about "The Kiss." Well, that was great, I thought, but wouldn't it be better if our country picked its president based on wisdom and values and skills — not on how good a kisser he is?

So just for a minute, as the Mississippi rolled by, I prayed a simple prayer. (By the way, big prayers don't have to be long or complicated. They can be short. Because "the test of all prayer" is "whether we love our neighbor better" — not how fancy it is.)

That day, my prayer was that these candidates — and all my voting neighbors in the nation — were totally capable of expressing honesty and wisdom and humanity.

Just then, someone announced that it was Tipper's birthday. There was going to be a party up on the top deck — and the press was invited! The Gores never invited the press to parties! This was like the whole freshman class just got invited to prom!

So, pretty soon, I'm up on the top deck. The music is playing. I'm eating birthday cake. Then I'm talking to Tipper Gore — about yoga of all things. OK, I thought, this is good, those cliques are breaking up. But I still don't have a story. And my deadline is coming fast.

Well, we had one more campaign rally that night. About 10 p.m., we docked in a little town in Iowa. We piled off the boat and into the town square, where a big crowd was waiting.

Now, Al Gore was usually a stiff, robotic guy who would often give the same speech over and over and over again. But on that warm August night, something amazing happened. He just started talking. He was loose. He was funny. He was sweet-talking the crowd. He was whispering. He was growling. He was saying things like, "Now I know you don't think politicians are worth much, but I really want to change this country." And by the end, the crowd was crazy for him. Tipper and Al were swing dancing on stage. Confetti was falling all around. People in the crowd were rushing to volunteer for the campaign.

And back on the press bus, the reporters were amazed. They were asking: "Where did that come from?" "What happened to the real Al Gore?" "Did they kidnap him?"

I heard later that the speech in Iowa was the best one Al Gore ever gave during the campaign. So on that summer night, we reporters — and all the people in that crowd — got "better views" of Al Gore's "humanity." And, by the way, I suddenly had a story — about how Gore was doing better — right in time for deadline! So there it is: Big prayers blessing others and blessing us.

So, seniors, I'm out of here. And you're going to walk across this stage. So take with you what you've learned about being peacemakers and boosters and comforters. Take the Bible and Science and Health. Step into the world of new neighbors — in college, in life, and in The Christian Science Monitor.

As you go, pray short prayers, pray long prayers, just make sure they're big prayers — prayers that include your neighbors.

Happy Graduation.