Graduating to Begin
'Tis the season.
Ceremonies, parties, dresses, gifts, diplomas, celebrations. This spring I attended a high school graduation (professional) and a grad school graduation (personal--but not me. My sweet hubby.) I loved hearing the clickety-click of high heels as young girls, soon to be women, dashed down the hall to their place in line, hand grasping their cap. I loved watching big boys, soon to be men, walk across the stage and nonchalantly glance around the room to find mom and dad. So much joy in the accomplishment. A milestone reached. The end of a season, so to speak.
But now what? Graduation may well be an end of season, but in many ways, it is just the beginning.
Excitement. Anticipation. Expectation.
And the beginning of anything isn't easy. It takes perseverance, boldness, and strength. It takes creativity, tenacity, and endless, consistent prayer. It takes patience and lots of breathing exercises to keep from hyperventilating and drinking at least one pot of coffee a day---for energy.
But most of all, I think beginnings have mastered the art of surprise. When I was sixteen years old, my mom and friends planned a surprise birthday party for me. To make a long story short, I burst into the house crying (because a friend had been unkind to me, only to get me to go home for the surprise--it worked) and my friends, braced to jump out in happy salutations, instead stood somewhat paralyzed as I choked and gasped between my sobs. Yep, awkward and embarrassed only scratch the surface. Since then, I haven't been that great with surprises, so imagine my shock when the doctor said, "Yes, it's malignant." Or when my brother said, "Dad had a heart attack today.....and he didn't make it."
The thing is, life is really just a series of surprises, surprised designed by an omnipotent God. As much as we plan, assume and attempt to manipulate, we have no control. Only God does. Once upon a time, I learned that looking to the future and having fear or worry or arrogance or assurance was looking to a future without God. Besides the promise of "I will never leave you, nor forsake you" and the assurance of our salvation, I don't know if God is very specific to the details of our every day life. Of course, there is that chapter in James about trials and tribulations. But we are creatures of comfort. And comfort doesn't mix well with trials and tribulations, does it?
Expectations. Projections. Assumptions.
Sometimes these are what we live and breathe each day. I've often examined my own heart and questioned, am I really trusting? Am I really living by faith or am I saying that and secretly creating expectation, projection, and assumption because that is more comfortable? I'm sure I run a marathon of chatter in my mind most days, spinning and twisting different scenarios and outcomes to allow me comfort.
I love this quote by Frederick Buechner. He's my summer protein reading of choice. (I divide my reading in three groups--protein is essential and good for my soul, fat is something I don't need too much of, but it swells with importance, and carbs are a bit of an indulgence--some is good, too much makes me fat.)
"Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . . even your own life is not your business. It also is God’s business. Leave it to God. It is an astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought . . . unclench the fists of your spirit and take it easy . . . What deadens us most to God’s presence within us, I think, is the inner dialogue that we are continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human thought. I suspect that there is nothing more crucial to true spiritual comfort . . . than being able from time to time to stop that chatter . . . "
— Frederick Buechner (Telling Secrets)
So as we face our graduations--and our beginnings, we don't want to miss God's presence within us.
And I'm thinking that means quiet the chatter.....
Shhhh.
Ceremonies, parties, dresses, gifts, diplomas, celebrations. This spring I attended a high school graduation (professional) and a grad school graduation (personal--but not me. My sweet hubby.) I loved hearing the clickety-click of high heels as young girls, soon to be women, dashed down the hall to their place in line, hand grasping their cap. I loved watching big boys, soon to be men, walk across the stage and nonchalantly glance around the room to find mom and dad. So much joy in the accomplishment. A milestone reached. The end of a season, so to speak.
But now what? Graduation may well be an end of season, but in many ways, it is just the beginning.
Excitement. Anticipation. Expectation.
And the beginning of anything isn't easy. It takes perseverance, boldness, and strength. It takes creativity, tenacity, and endless, consistent prayer. It takes patience and lots of breathing exercises to keep from hyperventilating and drinking at least one pot of coffee a day---for energy.
But most of all, I think beginnings have mastered the art of surprise. When I was sixteen years old, my mom and friends planned a surprise birthday party for me. To make a long story short, I burst into the house crying (because a friend had been unkind to me, only to get me to go home for the surprise--it worked) and my friends, braced to jump out in happy salutations, instead stood somewhat paralyzed as I choked and gasped between my sobs. Yep, awkward and embarrassed only scratch the surface. Since then, I haven't been that great with surprises, so imagine my shock when the doctor said, "Yes, it's malignant." Or when my brother said, "Dad had a heart attack today.....and he didn't make it."
The thing is, life is really just a series of surprises, surprised designed by an omnipotent God. As much as we plan, assume and attempt to manipulate, we have no control. Only God does. Once upon a time, I learned that looking to the future and having fear or worry or arrogance or assurance was looking to a future without God. Besides the promise of "I will never leave you, nor forsake you" and the assurance of our salvation, I don't know if God is very specific to the details of our every day life. Of course, there is that chapter in James about trials and tribulations. But we are creatures of comfort. And comfort doesn't mix well with trials and tribulations, does it?
Expectations. Projections. Assumptions.
Sometimes these are what we live and breathe each day. I've often examined my own heart and questioned, am I really trusting? Am I really living by faith or am I saying that and secretly creating expectation, projection, and assumption because that is more comfortable? I'm sure I run a marathon of chatter in my mind most days, spinning and twisting different scenarios and outcomes to allow me comfort.
I love this quote by Frederick Buechner. He's my summer protein reading of choice. (I divide my reading in three groups--protein is essential and good for my soul, fat is something I don't need too much of, but it swells with importance, and carbs are a bit of an indulgence--some is good, too much makes me fat.)
"Stop trying to protect, to rescue, to judge, to manage the lives around you . . . remember that the lives of others are not your business. They are their business. They are God’s business . . . even your own life is not your business. It also is God’s business. Leave it to God. It is an astonishing thought. It can become a life-transforming thought . . . unclench the fists of your spirit and take it easy . . . What deadens us most to God’s presence within us, I think, is the inner dialogue that we are continuously engaged in with ourselves, the endless chatter of human thought. I suspect that there is nothing more crucial to true spiritual comfort . . . than being able from time to time to stop that chatter . . . "
— Frederick Buechner (Telling Secrets)
So as we face our graduations--and our beginnings, we don't want to miss God's presence within us.
And I'm thinking that means quiet the chatter.....
Shhhh.
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