“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy,
because great is your reward in heaven”
Luke 6:23 (NIV)

            Graduation Day

   As a parent who recently experienced his son’s graduation from college and will soon experience his daughter’s graduation from high school, I am compelled to ponder these momentous occasions. They can be truly counted among the high points of one’s life. But, like an unleashed helium balloon with “Congrats Grad!” printed on it, whatever goes up must eventually come down. The aftermath is often a nervous and sobering experience. No one has faced the looming uncertainty of life after graduation without first visiting the twin towers of excitement and fear.
<   The excitement is the freedom, the opportunity, the beginning of a whole new life; a feeling that one can live unencumbered by debt or sickness and plow through to brave new worlds. Our Christian faith helps to embrace this exuberance:

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV)

   The fear is the uncertainty, the limitations, the anxiety of a failure; a feeling that one must fly without a safety net through stormy darkness carrying only a weak flashlight. Our Christian faith helps to rectify our timidity:

“All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children’s peace. In righteousness, you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Isaiah 54:13, 14 (NIV)