This year my son graduated in Boston. He was studying engineering. Chuck Colson of Watergate notoriety or Prison Fellowship fame was the speaker and although I never got to speak to him I did get to sit on the stage. I had been invited to take part in the program. The Massachusetts sky threatened rain but only a few drops made it to earth, yet nothing dampened the high spirits of the large crowd seated below us. They were there to rejoice in jobs well done no matter what happened. They came to clap, yell, high five, whistle and some even toted powerful air horns that made passing 18 wheelers swerve and brake. Celebration was in the air.
Some of the more miserly-inclined like myself were thinking, "Ah, at last the end of the college cash drain." Those dressed in the funny hats were musing about how finally those study assignments had drawn to a close. Speaking of weird headgear just before we processed in the guy behind me remarked that you have to have been educated into a self-image sufficiently strong to bear being seen in public with such an odd shaped hat. Mine never fits right.
A few moms were crying because this was the end of their baby's school years and I'm sure a sibling or two rejoiced that the shared room would finally be all their own. If there were such a thing as a forward thinking college student they would have been considering this day the end of their youthful freedoms. You think studying every day is hard….you haven't met some of the bosses we adults have to please on an hour by hour basis!
Yet it was only today when I was asked to pen this article that I realized how much my thoughts had been on endings. Graduation isn't about stopping. Yes the college time is over, but another name for the ceremony is rightly called Commencements.
See the ceremony as a doorway into the next chapter of your life. Kindergarten, Primary or High School or College has been preparing you for new challenges. Life is full of such moments. Press on. What looks like the end will turn out to be only the beginning. Last night I stood by a hospital bed as someone made the transition to eternity. It too looked like an end but needs to be seen as a commencement.
The Bible has a verse about pressing on to the line where the prize of the heavenward calling of God will be handed out. The graduate who only worked with the diploma in mind might think of the day as the end of his task, but the scholar who saw college as the road to career success way beyond graduation has the better idea. What if this life is but the college and death the graduation? Are you living now with the commencement in mind? Jesus said only those who have been born from above or born a second time during their natural lifetime can expect to see the Kingdom of God. Develop your intimate personal relationship with God now, for the commencement exercises are awaiting each of us. They will hold no joy for the heedless.
Just before we assembled for the processional my son showed me the lab project he had to complete before getting his degree. I could see it meant a lot to him. It represented many hours of work. It soaked up a year's thought and planning. In this life God gives you some projects to get done too. Can you say with the poet: "All my work is for the Master, He is all my heart's desire. Oh that He will count me faithful in the day that tries by fire"? Ask God to show you the purpose for your life. Then work at it with an eye to eternity.