endings and beginnings

We’re right in the middle of all the celebrations for commencement. Tonight was the baccalaureate service, and it was truly wonderful. Sarah Walker offered a wonderful take on it in her blog tonight, and I affirm her comments here by reference!

Everything is striking me very deeply in these times. The part of the service that grabbed me was the prayers of the people. When they are done well, they are often my favorite part of the service, and tonight was one of those times. I don’t remember how it all went, but there was a lot about beginnings and endings, and it wasn’t some trite anecdote about commencement being a beginning that you’ve heard at two hundred high school graduations. These beginnings and endings seemed more real than they have before as Mark Douglas prayed. Maybe it was in the growth I can see in myself over the last three years — but maybe it was actually in the ways in which I see that I have also stayed the same.

I don’t really understand it, but can we understand it? I don’t think I can really wish for that real understanding, but as the ending comes extremely near, lots is coming together as it never has before. Tonight I heard “alpha” and “omega” in an entirely new way, and that was unsettling — but yet comforting. I’ll have to quote Sarah, for she is more eloquent than I could imagine to be tonight:

All I needed was to hear it. Hear the promise. I needed the reminder. I have the faith. I believe the promises. I just needed to hear them. And I needed the rest of the service too. It reminded me of who I am and Whose I am. It reminded me of what is important and in Whom I place my trust and my life. It reminded me of how to live.