Friday, May 18
Do you remember how very good it felt when you graduated from high school? I do! It seemed that I had achieved a level of freedom never known to any mortal man before. How naïve was I to believe that the days of reading, writing, meeting deadlines for assignments, and a regimented daily schedule were finally over? Now, I would begin a life of freedom and be an adult! How dumb can one boy be!!!!! Isn’t it amazing how when we are in school, we long to be out. And, once we are out, we always look back to the “good old days” when we were so young and were students?
Graduations are rampant this time of year. High schools, tech schools, and universities are churning out the black-robed idealists who are out to change the world (or at least to find a job!). Each graduate’s journey is unique but each has spent the time seeking to make sure that they learned the courses’ materials and are now ready to be a viable professional, or member of someone’s business or service industry. Some have continually thought about how costly an education is, but “if you think an education is expensive, try ignorance”! (Andy McIntyre).
Graduation exercises are called “commencements”. That is true. The launching of a life’s journey is begun when one leaves the halls of educational institutions to put into practice the lessons that were learned. Truth is, what was learned is only the foundation. We spend a life time growing in our understanding. Someone once said, “The real object of an education is to have a person in the condition of continually asking questions”. God made us to be inquisitive. The more we know the hunger to know increases. Whether we “become” all that we can be is more about our trust in God and the determination from within our hearts to achieve. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” (Henry S. Haskins).
The greatest knowledge is knowing God. “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord”. The greatest commandment given to us by Jesus was, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matt.22:37-38). That means that relationship to God is supreme for success and relationship to others is more important that riches. I love the following illustration that brings that point home to all of us…..
During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. "Absolutely," the professor said. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello." I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy. (Joann C. Jones).
