Reflections on Endings and Beginnings, Part 1

This is graduation season.  Thousands of people all over the country are celebrating as they cross an educational finish line.  Multiplied more friends and family cheer loudly at the graduation ceremonies as their loved one’s name is mentioned and they watch them walk, jump, and/or fist-pump their way across a stage to shake hands, receive a diploma (or a representation thereof), and have their picture taken.

Over the last couple of weeks, I was privileged to be among the cheering, picture-taking throng three times as two of my sons and my daughter-in-law received their degrees: an M.Div., B.A., and a B.S.  respectively.  We are pleased and proud of their academic accomplishments and even more so at the people that God has shaped them to be.  I imagine that I am not alone.  As I watched many families blow their air horns, hand out their over-sized balloons, and buy over-priced commemorative T-shirts (oh, wait, I did that, too), I know that many people are thrilled and excited for their loved one and this milestone in their life.

Typically, we call that gathering for the conferring of degrees a Commencement ceremony.  It is a reminder that this event is not the end.  It does mark the conclusion of something, but it boasts more profoundly a new beginning.  Rather than a depressing dirge, Pomp and Circumstance is played – a victorious march that symbolizes both solemnity, success, and a hope for the future.  One chapter closes while the next one opens.  For many of these newest alumni, financial and vocational uncertainty creates new pressures and fears. However, for followers of Christ, the spot on the stage where the handshake occurs can become the doorstep for fresh adventures, opportunities to trust God in new ways, and untold possibilities for being used by Him and for Him.  Once again, there is an occasion to discover that God is faithful throughout the entire story of life, not just in one of the chapters.

The truth is, every day is a Commencement Day.  Every day can be a fresh start... a new opportunity to trust the Lord, to follow Him, to recalibrate our priorities to Worship, Connect, Grow, Serve and Share.  I know I don’t always live that way, but what a difference that would make!  What hope that could bring! 

May God help us to trust Him in all of our endings, beginnings, and everything in between.