Good evening Ridgecroft faculty and staff, parents, family,
friends, and you, the Class of 2008.
It’s an honor to be speaking tonight at this auspicious occasion, along
with Rev. Greg Barrick. Congratulations
to you, the Class of 2008!
As I prepared for tonight I thought back to when I was 17,
18. What would I have wanted my
Baccalaureate speaker to say that I didn’t already know? That would have been a non-existent speech, because
at 17 and 18, I already knew everything.
But if there HAD to be a speech, I’d want them at least to tell me the
truth and speak to me as an adult! Well,
tonight there HAVE to be speeches, two in fact.
So I’m going to talk to you like adults and tell you the truth about
some things. Listen up!
Show of hands: how
many of you know, right now, exactly what you’re going to do with your life
after graduation? You’ve got your plans for your future mapped out and you’re
ready to begin? How many, raise your
hands. Ok, hands down. Everybody else that’s over 30, show of hands,
think back to when you were 17 or 18 and ready to graduate from high
school. Try and remember, how many of
you had your life planned and mapped out and you knew exactly what you wanted
to do with your life and you knew exactly how your life would be? Education, career, future family, and
anything else. Be honest! Show of hands. Now, for all of you with your hands raised,
how many of you would say that those high school plans panned out just like you
had figured? Put your hands down if life has not worked out just like you had
originally planned.
Seniors, remember that.
Parents, remember that when your child comes home and says they’re
changing their major and they’ll have to stay in college another semester,
another year. Remember that when they
come home and say “I’m getting married…next month!”
When I was your age, my bags were packed for Meredith
College where I was going to major in Biology and one day discover the cure for
cancer. Before that first semester was
over I was going to also take photography so I could take pictures for
textbooks that showed stuff under the microscope…and…cure cancer. By the end of my freshman year, I was making
plans to transfer to Chowan, major in Religion and plan my wedding. When I was 33 I got “the call” and I was
going to do what I needed to do to be a prison chaplain rejoicing that God had
NOT called me to the pulpit where I’d have to PREACH! We plan and God laughs and he still gets
laughs with that one! It took several
more years, but now I preach twice each Sunday, two different pulpits! You will make God laugh! I promise!
And that’s OK!
Don’t be so married to your plans that you don’t leave room
for LIFE! Keep growing and
learning. You’ll learn new things about
yourself. You’ll discover interests and talents that right now you don’t know
you have. Life is in a constant state of
flux. Does that mean not to make
plans? No! Absolutely not! Make plans but don’t set them in stone and
sign them with blood! Allow for life’s
twists and turns, because they WILL happen!
That well-known quote-meister, the Apostle Paul, once wrote,
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned
like a child. But when I became an
adult, I set aside childish ways.” Class
of 2008, you are leaving your childhood behind and your adult years loom. You’ve had people tell you that you are our
future. Well, there’s something else you need to know, adult to adult. You are our “right now”! You always have been. You don’t have to wait for some distant,
magical time when you can, all of a sudden, matter in this world and make a
difference. Sometimes we older adults
can get cynical and think one person doesn’t matter; one person can’t change
the world. Class of 2008, that’s so
wrong! You have the power and the
ability to change the world, but first you have to CHOOSE to. You have the choice of how to spend your
time. You choose whether to use your
time constructively, destructively, or just waste it. You choose whether to make someone’s day brighter,
to lend a helping hand, to think beyond yourself, to be part of something
bigger than yourself. You choose! And when you change just ONE person’s day for
the better…you’ve changed the world. You
don’t know the ripple effect that will take place from one simple act of
kindness. You make a difference by being
here. YOU choose the kind of difference
you’ll make.
I’m going to tell you something else, adult to adult. You have a purpose in this world! You weren’t put here because God had nothing better
to do that day. You’re here because God
has a plan and you fit in it. There are
certain facts in this world and you can’t change them by simply saying I don’t
believe and you can’t change facts because you may not like particular
facts. I’ve never understood why four
plus four equals eight. But it
does. Seems rather arbitrary to me. Why can’t four plus four equal twenty-three? I can go around saying I believe 4 + 4= 23
and I can live my life as if that’s true.
But I cannot change the fact that 4 + 4=8.
No matter how you live your life and no matter what you may
say you believe, you cannot change the fact of God’s existence and you cannot
change the fact that he loves you, has a purpose for you, and wants to direct
your steps and hear from you in prayer.
You are important!
Your life matters! What you do
with it now and in the future is important!
You graduate high school tomorrow and you will all be choosing different
paths. Some of you will go to college. You may get a job. You may get married. You may join the military. You may still not know what you want to
do. Look at the big picture; think with
your brain and maybe sometimes your heart, but not with your hormones. When you think you know all the answers,
accept the fact that maybe you don’t and ask for help and wisdom. Look at your parents. They really do know a lot! They really are in your corner! They really do love you with every fiber of
their being! They really are so proud of
you they burst every time they think of you!
They really don’t think they’re only here to annoy you. They have devoted themselves to raising you
and sacrificed to provide for you because they love you and want the best for
you.
As you take your place in the adult world, make them proud.
Be honorable and honest, compassionate and polite, intelligent and
disciplined. Be adults. Wear your seatbelts. Pay your bills, live within your means, be
responsible, take responsibility, don’t point the finger of blame. Be an adult.
Don’t take your diploma tomorrow and rest on the laurels of that
accomplishment. Be an adult and move on
to your next goal.
When I was your age I often asked permission to do things
and sometimes my Mama would say, “No.” and my Daddy would say, “Bettie, we have
to let her try her wings.” I knew that
meant I’d get to do what I wanted. I
never understood how hard those words were for my Daddy to say until I had
children of my own. It’s not always easy
to watch you try your wings. We, your
parents, your grandparents, your teachers and Sunday school teachers, all those
who have played a part in your life, know some of life’s lessons that you have
yet to learn and we’ve tried to prepare you.
The time has come for you to do more than just try your
wings. The time has come for you to
fly! Don’t just settle for
“flying!” SOAR! Soar like eagles! And when you look at us and you see a glimmer
of tears in our eyes, know that they’re not tears of sadness. They are tears that reflect the pride in our
hearts. The road hasn’t always been easy
to get you to this point; there have been pebbles and maybe a few rocks. But you will always be our children and we
will always be here for you, encouraging your flight. The flight won’t always be smooth; you will
have times you swoop and times you dodge and times you have mid-air
collisions. Sometimes you’ll have to
come in for a landing and re-evaluate your flight plan. That’s OK.
We can let you take flight because we know the One who flies with
you.
You are each in different places on your spiritual
journeys. Some of you may have strong
faith; some of you have doubts and questions; some of you have disbelief. Wherever you are, God’s there and we place
our trust and hope in Him.
Soar. Grow. Dream.
Achieve. And do it in
abundance! And may God hold you in the
palm of His hand. Amen.
Rev. Carol Taylor, Mom of James Mitchell Taylor, Class of
2008, Baccalaureate, May 29
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you.