Celebrating Graduates: Thursday's Reflection

On many front yards of our neighborhood signs are posted to honor 2020 graduates, including this one for my alma mater, St Olaf. I must admit my heart aches when I see these, for I know this is not the way families and graduates intended to celebrate. 

In the shadow of these signs is another sign, an invisible sign that says, "Now what?" 

When I graduated from high school, I knew what was next. In the fall I would move into my dorm on the St Olaf campus, and my life would begin, my real life. I had moved many times during my childhood, including spring of my junior year of high school. I was eager for four years in the same place.

When I graduated from college, I knew that in the fall I would move into an apartment and begin teaching junior high English in Rochester, MN. I had done my student teaching there and had been offered a job, one I was thrilled to accept. And the next stage of my life would begin. 

Did I know then how fortunate I was? I like to think I did, but probably not. 

These new graduates, whether middle school, high school, college or graduate school, face uncertainty and confusion. The plans made may exist only on paper. Now what?





My inclination is to reassure them. My father often said, "This too shall pass," and, of course, he was right, but what about right now? Julian of Norwich's refrain, "All will be well," just doesn't seem enough when decisions need to be made in what seems like a swirling void. 

All I can really do is be steadfast in my love. Hold our young people in love. Be a presence of God's love in their lives. Pray for them, listen to them when they need an ear and a heart, and breathe blessings in their direction. 

Marianne Williamson says it so well in her "Prayer for Our Children" found in her book, Illuminata, A Return to Prayer. 

           Dear God,
           There are not words for the depth of love for this child.
           I pray for her care and her protection.
           I surrender her into Your hands.
           Please, dear God, send Your angels to bless and surround her 
                 always.
           May she be protected from the darkness of our times.
           May her heart grow strong,
           To love You and serve You. ...

            May she learn from me kindness.
            May she learn from me strength.
            May she learn from me the lessons of power:
            That she has it and
            Must surrender it to You, to be used for Your purposes
                  throughout her life.
            For thus shall You be gladdened,
            And thus shall she be free,
            To live most fully and love most deeply.
            That is my wish.
            That is my prayer for her and for me forever.
            Amen.



(And let's not forget to celebrate and pray for the teachers, too.)











An Invitation
Is there someone in your life who needs to be celebrated? I would love to know.