What To Say

On Wednesday, May 17th, the Preacher will be speaking at the Baccalaureate Service for the local High School. There are 44 graduates, and the Ministerial Alliance will be giving all of them a very useable copy of God’s Word. There will be singing, and refreshments, and the honoring of students, parents, and grandparents.

The Preacher asked me what I though he ought to say. I told him, of course, “not much.” He has the capacity to be brief, but chooses most often to forego that. I also told him to use a manuscript, stay on task, and that the shorter the delivery, the better the response.

The last thing a group of High School students want to hear from the “old man” is deeply intellectual hyperbole delivered with solemnity and gravitas. So I helped him write a speech that will take about six minutes to deliver. Surely they can sit through that!

He will talk about the “moral imperative” of work. It is something all of us, old and young, need to hear. It is so easy to be lazy these days, especially as we get older and less dependent on a job that stresses us from start to finish. Finding something, rather, that is fulfilling, challenging, and at which we can be successful regardless of where we are in life is a “good” thing. One point he will not have time to make is that we need never be spending our time looking back. What is past is gone, and we need a clear focus on the future. However many years, or months, or days, lie ahead, the future must constantly be reached for with enthusiasm and joy. That does not preclude our memories, our successes, our friends and family that are part of who we were and are, but a constant forward motion brings a renewal of hope for each day. James (Jesus’s brother) said, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:15)

Look every day for the Lord’s design for your life. He absolutely knows what is right and best for you. No fear, no doubt, no regret, no quit. Wish I had put that in his speech!