I shared this in the bulletin yesterday, but it seemed like it should be shared here as well…
As graduation day nears, high school seniors are stepping out of the comforts of school and—after the brief respite in the summer—are soon to begin the next phase of their lives. I remember when I graduated. Several of us spent the entire evening on a little plot of land in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a fire, just talking and reflecting. A person graduating from high school often thinks, “I don’t know how I’m going to live without this friend or that.” And while this may not be true of every graduate, in my experience, it’s easier to live without them than you think. Maybe that’s cynical, but I’d say it’s realistic.
In my case, half of my class was composed of people I had never associated with (and there were only 30 of us!). Those are the people I only knew because I saw them five days a week, seven hours a day. Honestly, I can’t even remember most of their names. It’s been almost a quarter-century for me, and I don’t know if I’d recognize them if I saw them walking around the Morrilton Walmart (though, to be fair, I try to avoid going there just in case I run into someone I grew up with). The rest of the kids in my class (the ones I actually associated with) I keep up with on Facebook. It’s a small number, just a few really close friends I might actually talk to, two or three times a year on Facebook. That’s it.
Most will spend their graduation night thinking, “How will I live without these people?” and a decade later, you will realize it wasn’t that hard at all.
Graduation is a big, life-changing moment; it is society’s way of validating a young person’s gradual transition from child to adult. Before, you were just a kid in school. After, you are expected to be a productive member of society. The only thing that changed was they handed you a diploma. In reality, you’re the exact same person the Monday after graduation that you were on your last Friday before graduation. Nothing’s changed with you, only with the way people perceive you.
I said all that to say this: Graduation is a big moment, but after a while, it won’t matter much. There are other big moments still to come: college graduation, marriage, parenthood, buying a house, etc. Those are all events just as monumental, if not more, but like high school graduation, they all share something in common: They all involve the here and now. They all involve our continued maturing and our growth in this life.
As life-altering as it is to graduate (or do any of those other “big” things in life), the fact is, life will one day end. It’s more important to ensure that our souls are secure, that our hearts are right, and that our lives are hidden in Christ. Graduation will one day be a distant memory.
Eternity is forever.
~Matthew