Tag: high school seniors

Sowing Seeds

In our worship this Sunday we will recognize graduating high school seniors. I have known most of those who are graduating for most of their lives. With high school ending and college on the horizon, they step away from here and towards there. In a totally new way we let go of their hand, step back and watch.

Jesus tells a story about a farmer who went out to plant seeds.
Some seed fell on the footpath and was trampled by those who walked along the edge of the field. Some seed fell among the weeds and were smothered by the faster growing weeds. Some seeds were eaten by the birds. But, some seed fell on the field where the soil had been prepared. Those seeds grew producing a plentiful harvest.

I have always liked that story.
Probably because I can relate to the farmer.
For most of my adult life my job has been to sow the seeds I have as carefully and as broadly and as courageously as I can. Sometimes I am privileged to see what happens next. Other times I have to cast my trust on tomorrow.

Back to those who are graduating.
We have done our best to sow the seeds we have.
Now we let go and step back.
Still here, but watching as you move towards there.
Our hope and prayer is this.
May something of the faith and values and vision of who we are find a place in your life as you step towards what which will be.

Unless Someone Like You…

This reflection was written for the morning on which we celebrated graduating high school seniors.

Knowing you are now graduating from high school and ready for more rigorous academic pursuits, I thought I would take a moment this morning and introduce you or reintroduce you to Theodor Geisel, one of the most well known philosophers of the 20th century. And, drawing from his extensive literary work remind you of what I think is important as you take this next step in your life.
Do you recognize his name?
Maybe this will help.
[Put on the Cat in the Hat hat.]

So, here goes…

From The Sneetches

But McBean was quite wrong. I am happy to say
That the Sneetches got really quite smart on that day,
The day they decided that Sneetches are Sneetches
And no kind of Sneetch is best on the beaches.
That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars
And whether they had one, or not, upon thars.

From Horton Hears A Who

Through the high jungle tree tops, the news quickly spread:
“He talks to a dust speck! He’s out of his head!
Just look at him walk with that speck on that flower!”
And Horton walked, worrying, almost an hour.
“Should I put this speck down?…” Horton thought with alarm.|
“If I do, these small persons may come to great harm.
I can’t put it down. And I won’t. After all
A person’s a person. No matter how small.”

From Horton Hatches the Egg

So Horton kept sitting there, day after day.
And soon it was Autumn. The leaves blew away.
And then came the Winter…the snow and the sleet!
And icicles hung
From his truck and his feet.
But Horton kept sitting and said with a sneeze,
“I stay on this egg and I won’t let it freeze.
I meant what I said
And I said what I meant…
An elephant’s faithful
One hundred per cent!”

From Happy Birthday to You

Today you are you! That is truer than true!
There is no one alive who is you-er than you!
Shout loud, “I am lucky to be what I am!
Thank goodness I’m not just a clam or a ham
Or a dusty old jar of gooseberry jam!
I am what I am! That’s a great thing to be!

Get it?

Here is what I mean and what I hope you remember because I think it is important. And not just because I say so or Dr. Seuss says so, but the Bible and the wisdom of our tradition also reminds me it is so.

First this…from The Sneetches.
You are made in the image of God which means there is something of the Holy and the Ultimate wrapped up in your very human, very ordinary, very extraordinary life.
And, not just you, I am made in the image of God.
And, not just you and me, your best friend is made in the image of God.
And, even more important and challenging than that, the person you like the least;
Or who seems the most different;
Or who looks and acts the most different
Is also made in the image of God.
All of us, whether or not I or they or you have a star upon thars, share a common humanity tinged with the holy. Don’t forget.

And, learn from Horton. Listen carefully for those small voices.
So much and so many scream, sometimes literally scream, for your attention, but it is the small voices which need to be heard. The small voice within you reminding you of who you are and of what really matters and and what is really important and what the right thing to do is when all the other voices are urging you to do or to be something different. The Bible reminds us God often speaks in that still, small voice within us. So, listen for that whisper of God amidst the clamor and shouting of the world. And, listen for the small voice of the other. Those who are not big enough or strong enough or in the right position to have others to hear them or to notice them or to pay attention to them or to take them seriously. They are the ones whom God names as our neighbors and someone needs to listen carefully enough in order to hear what they have to say. Maybe that someone is you.

Stand by your word.
Stand up for what is right.
Speak up against that and those which demean and belittle and dismiss others.
Remember who you are and who you are called to be.
Even when…especially when… others find that peculiar.
In those moments, be faithful.
To yourself. To others. To God.
Mean what you say and say what you mean.
If not, one hundred per cent, as least as close to that as you can come.

And, be you.
There is no one alive who is you-er than you!
God needs you to be you.
I need you to be you.
The world needs you to be you.
With your own unique set of gifts and abilities and passion and calling.
You are who you are. That is a great thing to be.

Get it?
Got it?
Good!
Oh…And one more thing.

From The Lorax

And all that the Lorax left here in this mess
Was a small pile of rocks, with the one word…
“UNLESS.”
Whatever that means, well, I just couldn’t guess.
That was long, long ago.
But each day since that day
I’ve sat here and worried
And worried away.
Through the years, while my buildings
Have fallen apart,
I’ve worried about it
With all of my heart.
“But now,” says the Once-ler,
“Now that you’re here,
The word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.
UNLESS someone like you
Cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better.
It’s not.

I Want Them To Know…

“Here is the world.
Beautiful and terrible things will happen.
Do not be afraid.” – Frederick Buechner

Tomorrow morning we will recognize the high school seniors who are a part of our congregation who have or will be graduating this month. A third of those who have grown up here will be able to be here. Others will be on the sports field or with family or away for the weekend or busy with something else. I understand all that. I will be grateful for those who carve out the hour or so to be here and I will miss those who are not.

I want all of them to know, that beyond family and friends, we cared for them and about them, and that our caring will not end as they head off to college. I want them to know this is a place to which they can return. They can walk in by themselves or with another. I want them to know this is a place where they can bring their joys and sorrows, their successes and failures. Our doors are open. I want them to know we have done our best to be honest with them and with ourselves. That their questions are allowed, even encouraged. And, that their searching is a part of life. Is life. None of us have all the answers and all of us figure it out as we go.

I want them to know…

And, I want them to walk into the world with confidence and courage. I want them to leave room in their life for mystery. And to have awe and wonder take their breath away. I want them to see how big and wonderful and heartbreaking the world is and can be, and to be wise enough and strong enough to see and to embrace our shared humanity and, in whatever way they are able, to build a world better tomorrow than it is today.

Along with parents and family and friends and teachers, we have done our best to plant and nurture those seeds, and now they take this next step.
To one and all…
Vaya con Dios.
Go with God.

The Other Questions

A Message for the Sunday We Celebrate Graduating High School Seniors

So, you are off to college.
From Boston to Burlington to Bethlehem to Washington, DC.
From Upstate New York to Durham, NC.
All those places and more.
Can you believe it?
After SATs and ACTs and APs and GPAs, high school is finished.
Some of you have already graduated. For the rest of you, graduation is just around the corner.
Our sincere congratulations.
How wonderful and exciting and a bit scary all that is.
Even though you have looked at countless college websites and visited multiple campuses and had interviews and made the choice about where you would like to go, my guess is there are still some unanswered questions lurking in the back of your mind.
Will I like it as much as I think I will?
What will my classes be like? Will they be hard? Harder than high school?
Will I make friends?
Will I like my roommate?
Will my roommate like me?
When I have had my own room what will it be like to share a room with another person and share a bathroom with lots of other people?
And, this crucial question: How will I wake up in the morning if Mom or Dad don’t come in to tell me it is time to get up for school? And, this even more important question: What do I want to do and be when I grow up?

All are very real and very honest questions.
Here is what I can tell you about the questions you are asking.
Some of college will be fun. Some of it will be challenging.
Some of what you learn will come easily. Some of it will make you work harder than you have ever worked before. I hope you like the college you have chosen. If so, great. If not, its okay. It is okay to change your mind. To start again. To go some place different. To change your major. I did, and for the most part I have turned out okay. Classes will be hard. Harder than high school. You will have to learn new ways to study and to take responsibility for the work you have to do. Professors do not take attendance. You go to class or you don’t. Your Mom or Dad won’t be there to wake you up in the morning. You will make friends. Really good friends. Maybe the best friends you will ever make. I don’t know whether or not you will like your roommate. I liked most of mine, but one of my roommates was hard to live with and that was REALLY challenging for me. I hope you take a class or several classes which you can’t wait to attend even if they are scheduled for 8;00 in the morning. I hope some area of study captures not just your intellect, but your heart and soul, as well. And, here is the important part. You don’t have to figure it all out before you head to school in August.

But, here is what I really I want to say to you today.
And, what I hope you remember.
For all the questions, thoughts, hopes, dreams, concerns you have about what it will be like to go off to college, I want to remind you of two additional questions which I think are equally if not even more important than all those other questions.
What kind of person do you want to be?
What kind of world do you want to live in?

And, because I know you and your families.
And, I know the types of things you have already done.
And, the questions you have been asked to think about.
I want you, now, to carry all that and more out the doors of this place and onto your college campuses.
Alongside the question “What do I want to study?”
Ask the question, “What does it mean to be ‘the light of the world?’”
Alongside the question “Will I make friends?”
Ask the question, “How can I treat others the way I would like to be treated?’”
Alongside the question, “What do I need to do in order to be successful?”
Ask the question, “What can I do to make the world a better place not just for me, but for all of the children of earth. All of the children of God.
Alongside the question of what your major will be and what your GPA is;
Leave room for beauty and grace and forgiveness and hope.
In other words, leave room for God.

Surrounded by all of the opportunities before you and the challenges you will face, do this.
Please.
Believe there is good in the world.
Be the good in the world.

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Several things I believe: