My children, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare will they give you. (Proverbs 3:1)
One of the delights of seeing children grow up and form families of their own is that they supply grandchildren. Of the many places I’ve travelled and the many amazing things I’ve gotten to do, visiting grandkids and spending time with them remain at the top of the list of my favorite pastimes.
So it is with mixed emotions that I now attend their high school graduations. On the one hand, it is gratifying to see them mature and prepare to take their own places in the family and society as adults. On the other hand, well, that means they’ll be out and about on their own. They’ll now focus on launching their own independent lives and whatever time we manage to share will be very different than it has been for the past many years. Such is the passage of time from each generation to the next.
I’ll not try to improve on the many fine messages delivered to the current crop of high school and college graduates. I’ll settle for resorting to the very ancient wisdom captured in these words above from Proverbs.
The measure of true success is what one does to improve the situation for others – on an individual, group, community, or global scale. Jobs come and go. Families grow and change. To truly find happiness and peace in life, we must learn to do what we can to give those gifts to others.
That is my wish for every young person walking across a stage this season. Find a way to add to the happiness and peace of others. Like a boomerang it will come back to you.
Congratulations to all of you. Especially Erin Kathleen Mahaffey – a high school graduate as of May 24, 2015.